《An impressive English lesson》讲解
1. If I am the only parent who still corrects his child\'s English, then perhaps my son is right. To him, I am a tedious oddity: a father he is obliged to listen to and a man absorbed in the rules of grammar, which my son seems allergic to. (Para. 1)
Meaning: My son is probably right if there is no other parent like me who still corrects his child\'s mistakes in English. To my son, I am a boring and strange father, who he has to listen to; I am also the one woh pays lots of attention to grammar rules, which he doesn\'t seem to like.
- tedious: a. boring and continuing for too long 冗长乏味的
Telling the story has become tedious, as I have done it so many times. 讲述这个故事已变得单调乏味,因为我已经讲了这么多次了。
- oddity: n. [C] a strange or unusual person or thing 怪人;怪物;奇特的东西
With his neat suits on, he felt like an oddity walking in this poor neighborhood. 穿着笔挺的西装走在这个贫民区里,他觉得自己像个怪物。
- be / feel obliged to do sth.: if you are obliged to do sth., you have to do it because the situation, the law, a duty, etc. makes it necessary(因形势、法律、义务等关系而)非做不可,迫使
I think Valentine\'s Day is a waste of time, but I still feel obliged to send my wife a card. 我觉得情人节是在浪费时间,但我还是觉得有义务送贺卡给我妻子。