湯姆：我們在曼谷換航班，行李會自動轉機嗎?

　　服務員：會直達倫敦。你喜歡坐飛機旅行嗎?

　　湯姆：是的，我喜歡這種感覺。

　　alarm n. ①驚恐，憂慮 ②警鐘，警報;v. 使驚恐

　　例：If the fire alarm is sounded, all residents are requested to assemble in the courtyard. 火警響了之后，所有的住戶都要到院子里集合。搭配：take (the) alarm at 對……感到吃驚;因……而驚恐

　　聽力擴展：Bob was having trouble getting to sleep at night. He went to see his doctor, who prescribed some extra-strong sleeping pills. Sunday night Bob took the pills, slept well and was awake before he heard the alarm. He took his time getting to the office, strolled in and said to his boss, “I didn’t have a bit of trouble getting up this morning.” “That’s fine,” roared the boss, “but where were you Monday and Tuesday?”鮑勃晚上失眠。他去看醫生，醫生給他開了一些強力安眠藥。星期天晚上鮑勃吃了藥，睡得很好，在鬧鐘沒響之前就醒了。他不慌不忙地到了辦公室，悠閑地走進去，對老板說：“我今天早上起床一點麻煩都沒有。”“很好!”老板吼道，“那你星期一和星期二到哪兒去了?”【注】prescribe v. 開藥方;stroll v. 散步;roar v. 大吼

　　alert a. 警覺的，靈敏的，留心的

　　例：The troops were placed on full alert. 部隊處于全面戒備狀態。搭配：on the alert 警戒著，隨時準備著，密切注意著拓展：alertness n. 警戒，機敏 alertly ad. 警惕地

　　allowance n. ①津貼，補貼 ②限額，定量

　　例：Government officials who travel on business are given traveling allowances. 因公出差的政府官員享有出差補貼。搭配：make allowance(s) for sth.把……考慮在內

　　ally n. 同盟國，同盟者;v. 與……結盟，(使)聯合

　　例：Britain has allied itself with other western powers for trade and defence. 英國與其他西方強國結成了貿易及防御聯盟。拓展：rival n. 競爭對手;v. 與……競爭

　　alternative a. 兩者擇一的，另類的;n. 取舍，選擇余地

　　例：Do you have an alternative solution to the problem? 你有沒有其他解決問題的方法?搭配：have no alternative but除……外別無選擇拓展：alternate v. (使)交替，(使)輪換;option n. 可選擇的辦法

　　聽力擴展：

　　M: This scarf is nice, but Debbie really wanted a sweater for her birthday.

　　W: I know. But I didn’t know her size. So I got this as an alternative.

　　男:這條圍巾很漂亮，但黛比很想要一件毛衣作為她的生日禮物。

　　女：我知道。可是我不知道她穿幾碼的，就只好買這個代替了。

　　altitude n. 高度，海拔，高地

　　amateur a. 業余(愛好者)的;n. 業余愛好者，外行

　　例：The competition is open to both amateur and professional photographers. 業余攝影愛好者和職業攝影師均可參賽。

　　聽力擴展： As an amateur pilot, I knew I’d finally made progress with my flight training the day my instructor turned to me and said, “You know, you’re not as much fun since you stopped screaming.” 作為業余飛行愛好者，我終于在飛行訓練上取得了進步。這時教練轉向我對我說：“你知道嗎?自從你不再大喊大叫，就沒意思了。”

　　amaze v. 使吃驚;n. 驚愕

　　例：They were amazed at the soaring drive of our oil workers. 他們對我國石油工人的沖天干勁感到驚奇。拓展：amazed a. 大為驚奇的;amazement n. 驚奇，驚愕;amazing a. 令人大為驚奇的

　　聽力擴展：

　　A commercial airplane is in flight to Chicago, when a blonde woman sitting in economy gets up and moves to an open seat in the first class section. A flight attendant watches her do this, and politely informs the woman of returning to her seat in the economy class.

　　The blonde woman replies, “I’m blonde, I’m beautiful, I’m going to Chicago and I�餸 staying right here.”

　　After no success convincing the woman to return, the flight attendant informs the pilot. The pilot says, “You say she’s blonde? I’ll handle this. I’m married to a blonde. I speak blonde.”

　　He kneels down next to the beauty and whispers quietly in her ear, and she says, “Oh, I’m sorry,” then quickly moves back to her seat in economy class.

　　The flight attendant is amazed and asks him what he said to get her to move back to economy without causing any fuss. “I told her first class isn’t going to Chicago.”

　　一家商務飛機正飛往芝加哥，這時經濟艙一位金發美女起身坐到了頭等艙的空座上。服務員發現后，很有禮貌地勸說她回到自己經濟艙的座位上。