英语趣味课堂：宝石-Jewels, Gems, and Stones

Todd: So, Adrienne, you are really into jewelry. You fix jewelry. Do you know a lot about gems and stones and things like that?

Adrienne: No, I don't know a lot, but I know what I like.

Todd: So what kind of stuff do you like?

Adrienne: Well, I'm actually not a big fan of precious stones like diamonds, rubies, emeralds. I think they are very beautiful but for everyday wear I prefer, I think they are called semi-precious stones, but I'm not even sure if I'm right about that either.

Todd: So, what are some semi-precious stones?

Adrienne: Well, I think either they fall into the semi-precious stone or the rock category. I'm not sure, but one example is I like Jade very much.

Todd: Jade.

Adrienne: Jade.

Todd: OK, what does Jade look like?

Adrienne: Jade is usually green, although you can find white and yellow and even pink Jade, maybe other colors too, but the most popular and the most common Jade you find is green and various shades of green. You have to be careful though when you buy Jade that that is hasn't been dyed by the jeweler because very often they will do... they still call it Jade but it's actually been injected with a color to make it greener than it would be naturally, and I don't care for that bright green color. I like the natural, natural green color of Jade, so and I just like, it's a little bit translucent. If you hold it up to light, you can see light coming through it. It's a really beautiful stone.

Todd: What other rocks do you like? I don't know if they're rocks.

Adrienne: We don't know. I don't know. I wish I new more about this now that you're asking me. Um, carnelian is another one that I like a lot. Carnelian is a red stone. It's got kind of an orange tint to it, so it's orangish-red color and it makes beautiful beads, so very often you will see necklaces and earrings made from carnelian beads, and it polishes very nicely as well.

Todd: OK, so you like Jade and you like carnelian. Anything else?

Adrienne: Yeah, actually, I like all other kinds of rocks, even quartz, crystals, all of those kinds of things that you can wear, but I don't like the shiny crystals, the ones that are trying to look like diamonds or cubic-zerkonia. Yeah, I don't like it to be shiny. I like very natural looking rock. So it should be matte, and also a little but rough on the edges so you can see that it really was a rock, that was maybe mined or pulled out the ground. I don't know. So those are my favorite kinds but I guess I wouldn't mind getting a diamond or two here and there.