Topic: 人生各阶段
一、谈论工作问题
这是一些谈论你的现有工作情形的方式。
I need to do lots of overtime.我需要大量的加班。
I have a lot of responsibility.我有很多的责任。
I need to deal with people's problems.我需要处理人的问题。
There's no time to work on my own projects.没有时间去做我自己的项目。
I spend so much time in meetings.我花太多时间开会。
I get a say in what we decide.我在我们决定做什么方面有话语权。
I often get stressed out.我经常被压得喘不过气来。
It's a well-paid job.这是一个待遇优厚的工作。
二、回忆
使用以下表达来回忆：
Remember when we would make believe that we were married? 还记得我们假扮结婚吗？
Those were the days. I'd swim all summer! 那些日子真美好。我整个夏天都在游泳！
Life was simpler back then. 生活在那时简单得多。
请注意，对于仅发生过一次的过去事件，不可使用 would。
Gale took her first step when she was 10 months old. She would walk and fall around each room of the house, and then she'd start again. 盖尔 10 个月大时，迈出了自己的第一步。她会在每个房间里走动、跌倒，乐此不疲。
三、谈论以前和现在
用used to描述过去的但是不再发生了的常规行为。
I used to complain a lot about this job, but it's taught me so much.关于这个工作我曾经抱怨了很多，但它教会了我很多。
I used to have more responsibility before, but now I'm much more relaxed at work.我之前常有更多的责任，但是现在在工作上我更轻松了。
用didn't use to来描述现在发生但是过去没有发生的事情。注意，在否定形式中，在use to中没有d。
I didn't use to spend so much time dealing with other people's problems.我过去不常花这么多的时间来处理其他人的问题。
In the other department, I didn't use to get a say in the bigger decisions.在另外一个部门，我过去常没有对大的决定的话语权。
四、含有 off 的假期表达
用含有 off 的表达来谈论休假和假期：
A: Are you taking any time off?你要休假吗？
B: Yes. I have a week off in May.是的。我五月份休假一周。
Brent gets New Year's Day off.布伦特在元旦节休假。
She's off next week.她下周休假。
五、带'as if' 和 'as though' 的感官动词
用感官动词 + as if 或 as though 来谈论你对某个情境的认知。
I feel as if I don't have enough time off.我觉得好像自己的休假时间不够。
It looks as though I'll be compensated well.似乎我会拿到很不错的工资。
It sounds as if you worked a lot of overtime.听起来好像你经常加班。
在非正式的交谈中，你会听到 like，而非 as if 或 as though。这从技术角度而言不正确，但却很常见。
It seems like he's been off for a month.他好像已经休假一个月了。
It looks like we'll have to work on the weekend.看样子我们周末也得上班。
六、描述生活方式的短语
这是一些描述许多人典型习惯行为的单词和短语。
I'm on the go all day.我整天都很忙碌。
I usually just grab fast food on my way home.我通常只是在回家的路上吃点快餐。
I get to the gym as often as I can.我尽可能多的去健身房。
I don't meet up with friends so often.我不经常和朋友见面。
You've got to make time for something you enjoy.你得腾出时间做自己喜欢的事情。
I stay in most nights.大多数晚上我呆在家里。
I try to chill out in the evenings.我晚上试着放松。
I meet people for brunch on the weekend.周末我约人吃早午饭。
I try to keep in touch with my friends.我试着和我的朋友们保持联系。
七、浏览
阅读含有统计数据的文章时，首先快速浏览，找出重要的数字。例如，你即将阅读一篇有关全球老龄化人口的文章：
1. 寻找年龄。
2. 寻找年份。
3. 寻找百分比。
使用浏览策略，在以下句子中寻找重要信息。尽量不要阅读每个单词。
In 2005, people who were 65 years or older made up 20 percent of the Japanese population.
八、变化的情况
描述正在改变的情况，我们可以使用像这样的这些短语：
These days, I'm noticing that it's more difficult to stay in touch with everyone.，我注意到和每个人都保持联系更难了。
I think it's getting harder and harder to make time for myself.我认为越来越难找些时间给自己了。
I'm finding myself spending more time staying in and chilling out.我发现我花更多的时间呆在家里和放松了。
Right now, I'm struggling to find time to cook in the evening. I usually just grab takeout.现在，我很难有时间晚上做饭。我通常就是买外卖。
I haven't gotten to the gym in ages.我好久没有去健身房了。
九、谈论计划
当谈论我们未来的计划时，我们可能会指代我们希望保持不变的东西。
I'd like to keep doing the same thing.我想继续做同样的事情。
I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing.我很高兴做我正在做的事情。
I'd like to stay in the same industry.我想留在同行业中。
I have no plans to make a change for now.我没有计划要改变现在。
我们也可能谈论我们希望改变的事情。
I wouldn't mind a change in my career path.我不介意我的职业道路有所变化。
I'd like to move back to the north.我想搬回到北部。
I want to live nearer to my family.我想住得离我的家人近些。
It'd be great to spend more time with the kids.多花些时间和孩子在一起会是很棒的。
十、描述未来
当我们谈论未来时，我们经常用一个带有未来的意义的动词。
I don't want to keep doing the same thing again and again.我不想一次又一次做同样的事情。
I don't plan to change my career path, for now.现在我不打算改变我的职业道路。
当未来不确定时，用would来表明你的想法是暂时的。
Once I've been in this role for a couple of years, I wouldn't mindswitching careers.一旦我在这个职位做几年了，我不介意改变职业。
I think one day it'd be nice to move nearer to my family, and maybe do something a bit less stressful.我想有一天搬到离我的家人近些会是不错的，而且可能做一些不太有压力的事情。
要指代在将来的某一点将要完成的事件，用will + have +过去分词。
By the end of this year, I'll have been with Western for eight years.到今年年底，我就已经在西方做八年了。
I hope by that time I'll have retired.我希望到那个时候我就已经退休了。