本次的精讀筆記選擇是“Diary of a Wimpy Kid”系列叢書，中文叫《小屁孩日記》。因為之前在國外看到很多小朋友都會拿著這套書看，又看到國內一些英語達人推薦，我也嘗試看了看。其實我并不是一個喜歡看兒童讀物的人，但是看了之后才明白為什么這套叢書深受好評，而且牛人們也會推薦用這套叢書學英語。

1）這本叢書以一個青少年日記的形式，內容非常幽默，而且配以插圖，讀起來生動有趣；

2）現在共游11本，但是每本篇幅不長，閱讀起來比較輕松，而且因為是針對兒童，也比較簡單易懂；

3）雖然簡單易懂，但是不代表沒有值得學習的，書里很多很地道而又實用的英文表達，我們可以借鑒并且以后用到自己的口語和寫作中去。

說了這么多，我們開始讀吧。

SEPTEMBER

Tuesday

First of all, let me get something straight: This is a Journal, not a diary. I know what it says on the cover, but when Mom went out to buy this thing I specifically told her to get one that didn’t say “diary” on it.

first of all 首先

英文解釋：before doing anything else

Comment: 同樣表示首先的還有first; in the first place; in the first instance; first off; (the) first thing; above all; for one thing; for a start; to start with; to begin with，使用不同的詞組可以多元化我們的寫作。

get something straight 把事情講清楚，弄清狀況

英文解釋：to correctly understand something

e.g. We need to get something straight.

我們要弄清楚一些事。

journal:? 日記，日志

英文解釋：A journal is an account which you write of your daily activities.

comment: journal vs. diary

兩者意思相近，journal更加正式，并且偏向于記錄事情本身，diary則口語化一些，除了記錄事情本身，有時也會加入自己的每日心情，一般認為女生記日記更常用diary.

say 告知，宣稱，表明

英文解釋：You can mention the contents of a piece of writing by mentioning what it says or what someone says in it.

e.g. 'Highly inflammable,' it says on the spare canister...

備用罐上寫著“高度易燃”。

specifically 特別地，專門地

英文解釋：You use specifically to emphasize that something is given special attention and considered separately from other things of the same kind.

e.g. advertising that specifically targets children

專門針對兒童的廣告

a magazine aimed specifically at working women

專門面向職業婦女的雜志

Comment: 這個詞挺實用，可以在表達專門/特別做某事，或者表達針對某類人群的產品的時候使用。

Great. All I need is for some jerk to catch me carrying this book around and get the wrong idea.

The other thing I want to clear up right away is that this was mom’s idea, not mine.

But if she thinks I’m going to write down my “feelings” in here or whatever, she’s crazy. So just don’t expect me to be all “Dear Diary” this and “Dear Diary” that.

jerk 蠢人，傻瓜，笨蛋

carry sth. around 隨身攜帶，帶在身上

e.g. In some places, people carry around objects to ward off evil or bring good luck.

在一些地方，人們會隨身攜帶一些飾品給自己辟邪或招來好運。

easy to carry around

便于攜帶

clear up 澄清; 解決

英文解釋：To clear up a problem, misunderstanding, or mystery means to settle it or find a satisfactory explanation for it.

e.g. We ought to clear up problems arising from the old contract.

我們應該清理一下老合同中出現的問題。

expect sb. to do sth. 指望某人做某事

e.g. He can't always expect his colleagues to prop him up.

他不能總指望同事們支持他。

“Dear Diary” this and “Dear Diary” that? “親愛的日記”來“親愛的日記”去的

Comment: 一般女生寫日記會在開頭寫Dear Diary。…this…that是比較口語化的表達，但是很生動，可以學習用這種句型來表達同類型的句子。