 放大圖片
■炎炎夏日，一家人在戶外玩水不失為一良好的親子消暑活動。 資料圖片
When you find that the hot sun above is too much for you, when you sweat a lot and drink even more, when you crave for air-conditioning even though you know that it's not good for the environment, when you take one too many cold drink even if you suspect that your stomach may suffer - you know that summer has certainly come.
Scorching summer
How would you describe summer? The one word that comes to your mind is probably 'hot'. But how are you to describe something that is hotter than hot? A common (and quite cool too) word to use is 'scorching', which just means 'very hot'. So, we can say we're now having a 'scorching summer', and we can also describe the big round hot ball in the sky as the 'scorching sun', we can even say its brightness is 'scorching sunlight', we can complain that the sun is emitting 'scorching heat', and we can say while panting that it's really 'scorching hot' walking in the sun.
Not surprisingly, the adjective 'scorching' comes from the verb 'scorch', and for a person to 'scorch' is to be slightly burned by heat. So we can say: "I've been scorching in high summer all day long!" You may ask: "What is high summer?" Well, the adjective 'high' is used to describe the middle or the most attractive part of a period of time, so 'high summer' is the hottest period during summer.
Summer time
How do we describe the whole period of summer? We can, of course, just use the word 'summer', but to emphasise the whole duration, we can use phrases like 'summer period', 'summer months', 'summer time', or even as one word 'summertime'. For example: "Some museums have specific opening hours during summer time / summertime / the summer period / the summer months." Note that we don't use 'the' in front of 'summer time' or 'summertime', but the definite article is used before 'summer period / months'.
It goes without saying that summer lies in, well, summer. But when does 'Indian summer' lie? And what exactly is it? An 'Indian summer' refers to a period of dry warm weather in the autumn - so it's not in summer at all! Can you guess what this term means when it refers to somebody's career? It is a pleasant period of success or improvement, especially in somebody's later life. So we can say: "A rock star of the 1970s, he's enjoying an Indian summer with a new album this year."
Summer vacation
The reason that students love summer is most probably because it's a long holiday. We can call it the 'summer holiday' or 'summer holidays', or we can call it the 'summer vacation' - but it can't be called the 'summer vacations', since the word 'vacation', unlike 'holiday', necessarily indicates a period of time, and not just one day.
Most students will go up to the next higher grade when school starts again in September, and we can use the verb 'promote' to say it, usually with the passive voice: "Most students will be promoted in the coming September." Happy summer vacation! And 'see' you again here in September!
Questions
1. What is the adjective for 'summer'?
2. 'Summer' can also act as a verb. What does it mean?
3. Complete this idiom: One _______ doesn't make a summer.
Answers
1. Summery.
2. To spend the summer in a particular place.
3. One swallow doesn't make a summer. ■MT Ness
|
放大圖片
