✨ Magic Tree House 스피킹 연습 기록 18

Magic tree house 2 : The Knight at Dawn – Chapter 8

1️⃣ Summary

Jack and Annie fell into the moat. Jack tried to tread water and dog paddle toward Annie's voice. At first, Annie seemed to be swimming in front of him, but then another splash came from behind. Jack thought it might be a crocodile. He was terrified, but Annie grabbed him from the shore. They crawled over an embankment onto the wet grass. Even though they had reached the shore, they couldn’t see anything. Then the clouds parted, and moonlight shone over them. A knight on a black horse appeared. He seemed to be staring straight at them.

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2️⃣ Sentence Practice

He grabbed them just in time.
→ I added the ingredients just in time.
→ I ran into him on my way to the station just in time.

He coughed and flailed his arms.
→ The snitch flailed frantically.
→ Hedwig flailed so wildly that Harry unlatched the cage.

He tried to tread water and put his glasses back on.
→ I trod on steep roads in Patagonia.
→ The farmer trod on the soil.
→ The farmer tilled the soil.
✔️ "Trod on"은 땅을 밟는 동작을, "tilled"는 땅을 경작하는 의미를 자연스럽게 표현합니다.

📌 tread 관련 표현들

• I need to learn how to tread water before our swimming trip next week.
• Be careful what you say to her today. She's in a bad mood, so tread lightly.
• The boss told us to tread carefully with this new client since they're very important.
  ✔️ 일상에서는 "tread water"(물에서 제자리걸음하다), "tread lightly/carefully"(조심스럽게 행동하다)와 같은 관용 표현으로 자주 쓰입니다.

With his backpack, shoes, and heavy clothes, he could hardly stay afloat.
→ I kept treading water to stay afloat.
→ The boy kept flailing to stay afloat.
→ Swans usually paddle to stay afloat.
✔️ 백조에 대해서는 “paddle”이나 “swim”이 더 자연스럽습니다.

Jack dog-paddled through the cold black water.
→ The easiest swimming method is the dog paddle.
→ The dog paddle is named after the way dogs swim.
→ The dog paddle is a way to swim like a dog.

He couldn’t see anything through his water-streaked glasses.
→ He should turn on the windshield wipers to clean his water-streaked car window.
→ Everything looked blurred through the water-streaked windows.

He imagined a crocodile slithering after him.
→ I imagined my doll coming to life.
→ Anne imagined Green Gables becoming her house.

They crawled over an embankment onto the wet grass.
→ I walked over an embankment to the lighthouse.
→ Many people jumped from an embankment into the ocean.

embankment

 

He shook the water off his glasses and put them back on.
→ I shook the dust off my iPad and put it back into my bag.

He couldn’t even see the moat, much less a crocodile.
→ I haven’t done my homework, much less prepared for the exam.
✔️ much less는 강한 대조를 표현할 때 사용됩니다.
예: I can’t afford lunch, much less dinner.

A pool of light spread through the mist.
→ Everyone has moments in life that shine like a pool of light.
→ I cast a pool of light on that memory with him.

✔️ A pool of light는 어둠 속에서 빛이 국소적으로 비치는 모습을 묘사할 때 사용됩니다.

But he seemed to be staring straight at Jack and Annie.
→ It seemed to be flying off right away.
→ The horse seemed to be running down the hill.

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3️⃣ Short Story

It rained so hard that Harry couldn’t even see the other players, much less the Quidditch snitch.
It was the hardest Quidditch match he’d ever had.
At that moment, Malfoy flew over the barrier toward Harry.
He imagined that Malfoy looked like a snake slithering toward him.
Soon, he couldn’t see anything through his water-streaked glasses.
He shook the water off his glasses and put them back on.
Then, it seemed like a pool of light was shining around something — it was the snitch!
He flew toward it, struggling through the air as if treading water in the pouring rain.
At the last moment, he grabbed it just in time.
The snitch flailed wildly in Harry’s hands.
Harry held up his hand and shouted, “I won!”

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✏️ Today's Reflection
I've read a paper about advancing from B1 to B2 or C1 level in language proficiency. According to this report, I need to listen to more authentic videos or podcasts, read more challenging books, and create lots of sentences.
But the most important thing is this: I have to correct them delicately.
I’ve felt how challenging it is to correct my own speaking and writing.
But I should get over this high mountain — this time, for sure!