英语博客：Japanese Koi.

　　way to the basketball game at the weekend, we stopped at a restaurant for dinner. The consensus¹ was that we wanted asian food. So, as we drove along, half of us in the car looked out in one direction, and the rest of us looked in the other, until someone spotted² a chinese restaurant. We turned into the parking lot and looked at the building. It was pink, it had colorful (ourful) accent colors (ours), and its style was very chinese. "I have a bad feeling about this place," said my husband all of a sudden. "What do you mean? Why, just because it's pink?" was my question. He told me to trust his instincts, and to let him drive us to a different restaurant. We turned up at another, very large chinese restaurant that immediately caught our attention because of the huge fish tank full of koi. Wow! There were at least ten, large, brightly colored (oured) koi, swimming around gracefully³. The history of koi is interesting. About 1000 years ago, the carp was bred in China specifically for certain colors, resulting in the goldfish. About four hundred years later, the carp was introduced into Japan. It wasn't until the 1820's that carp were bred for color in Japan. By the 20th century, the famous red and white koi had been established, and were revealed to the world in the Tokyo exhibition in 1914. Koi can live easily for more than 100 years. The longest living recorded koi lived 226 years, and outlived several owners! While the children and I gazed at the fish and oohhed and aahhed, my husband looked up the restaurant on his droid to see what the food was like. Well, it turns out that the food was not worth eating, and the previous restaurant was highly recommended. So, we had a last look at the incredible koi, and then sneaked⁵ out and headed off to the pink restaurant which, in the end, turned out to be the perfect place for chinese food.
Grammar notes.
Useful common verbs: To spot, to turn (into), to outlive, to sneak⁴ out.
1. As I looked through the binoculars⁶, I spotted a golden eagle.
2. The bus slowed down and turned into the parking lot.
3. The parrot outlived two owners before it eventually died.
4. "Children, it's dark. Don't let me catch you sneaking⁷ out!"

1 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

2 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

3 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

4 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

5 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

6 binoculars   

n.双筒望远镜

参考例句：

• He watched the play through his binoculars.他用双筒望远镜看戏。
• If I had binoculars,I could see that comet clearly.如果我有望远镜，我就可以清楚地看见那颗彗星。

7 sneaking   

a.秘密的，不公开的

参考例句：

• She had always had a sneaking affection for him. 以前她一直暗暗倾心于他。
• She ducked the interviewers by sneaking out the back door. 她从后门偷偷溜走，躲开采访者。