英语播客 A Cup of English 2016 Sniff The Dessert

Have you ever walked into a house when someone has just made a delicious dessert? What is it that most people do in that situation? Yes, they sniff. I know that when my family comes home from school or work, they are hungry(1). So, when they walk in the house and smell some good food that is ready, I know that it brings a smile to their faces(2). One such dish that smells really good is baked apples. It is a super easy, and healthy alternative to other desserts. The key is to choose the right kind of apples. When apples cook, they go soft and a lot of their juice comes out. Therefore, its important to choose apples that are not too juicy, otherwise, after cooking, you will be left with a very small dessert, and a lot of juice!

After washing the fruit, you have to remove the core, which is tricky(3). The typical kitchen vegetable peeler works well for this job because it has a rounded end that helps you dig out the flesh from the middle of the apple. It is only a small kitchen tool, but it really does the job. Next, the apples go in a glass or ceramic dish with the holes facing up. You pour a mixture of saltanas or raisins, brown sugar, and cinnamon into the holes, and then you put a square (knob) of butter on top, like a little lid. Put the dish in the oven at about 350 degrees for twenty minutes. And that my friends is that. The smell of the cinnamon and cooking caramel will fill your house and make everybody sniff, sniff, sniff.

1. 'Family' with 'is'. Ok, family is a singular noun, so we use a singular verb with it, 'is', 'was', 'goes' etc. However, it implies more than one person, so a sentence that expands on that idea could say, 'they are ...' Think about the sentence in my podcast:

'I know that when my family comes home from school or work, they are hungry.' I could not say 'it is hungry', - that just doesn't sound correct at all. HOWEVER, I could say 'my family is hungry'; that sounds very good.

I could change the sentence to something like this:

'After school or work, my family is hungry.' Let's see some examples of using 'they' or even 'we' after family.

a. When my family gets together for Thanksgiving, they all help with the washing up / or 'everybody helps with the washing up.

b. When my family had a disagreement, they talked about it until they found a solution.

c. When their family goes on vacation, they always choose to go to the beach.

2. 'To bring a smile to someone's face.' This means to make someone happy; it shows the action of the subject on the person who becomes happy.

a. That photo of you really brought a smile to my face.

b. When she sent me a friend request on Facebook, it really brought a smile to my face.

3. 'Tricky' means difficult in many ways.

a. That History exam was very tricky because the questions were worded strangely.

b. Doing the Rubick's cube is tricky; you certainly need to practice it a lot.