ESL Podcast 637 – Planting Flowers and Trees

　　Zuly: Hurry up! Mom will be home any minute and we’re not done planting.
Eric: Whose idea was it anyway to plant a garden for Mom for her birthday? We’ve been working under this hot sun all day and the smell of the fertilizer¹ is really getting to me.
Zuly: It was our idea, remember? We both wanted to give Mom something special this year. Look, we’re almost done. We’ve already picked the weeds, prepared the soil, and dug the holes for the new seeds and flowers. I’m taking the flowers out of their pots now and I’ll have them in the ground in a minute. After that, all we have left to do is to plant the new tree. Keep digging!
Eric: Are you sure the hole needs to be this deep?
Zuly: Yes, the book says that the roots need to have room to grow. That’s the perfect place for it, too. It’ll get a lot of direct sunlight.
Eric: Great, but my arms are so tired, they’re about to fall off.
Zuly: Move over. I’ll dig for a while. Why don’t you water the new flowers?
Eric: Sure, right after I take a little break. In the meantime², I’ll supervise³. Come on. Keep digging. You’re almost there...
Zuly: I think you’d better keep your mouth shut, or I’ll think of some new uses for that fertilizer!
Script⁴ by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 fertilizer   

n.肥料，化肥

参考例句：

• Fertilizer enriches the soil.肥料使土壤肥沃。
• Get some more fertilizer for the garden.给花园再多施些肥料。

2 meantime   

n.其时，其间；adv.同时，当时

参考例句：

• I continued working,meantime,he went out shopping.我继续工作，这期间他出去买东西。
• In the meantime we pressed on with the airlift.与此同时，我们加紧进行空运。

3 supervise   

v.监督，管理，指导

参考例句：

• We must supervise and speed up the fulfilment of assigned tasks.已经布置了的工作，应当认真督促检查。
• Tomorrow he will supervise all the pupils taking the English examination.明天全体学生考英语，他将担任监考。

4 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。