Touch: One Word, Many Uses

Touch: One Word, Many Uses

Hello and welcome to Words and Their Stories!

Touch is one of our five senses. It is our only language before birth -- as we develop inside our mothers. Later, touch is important when we are young children learning¹ about the world. On our program today, we explore expressions involving the word "touch." 

Reunions are a great time to touch base or stay in touch with people in your past. Today, come with us as we visit an imaginary² college reunion and learn some touchstone expressions.

It has been 10 years since a group of friends left college. Many of them have been out of touch with each other. But others have stayed in touch.

Now, let us listen as two friends talk about the party they are about to attend.

"Michael, hello! How are you?"

"Hi, Rachel! I’m well!"

"It has been a long time."

"It has! I can’t believe we graduated college 10 years ago. It still feels like yesterday."

"I know. It will be so nice to see old friends. I’ve stayed in touch with many. Have you?"

"No. When I moved across the country, I lost touch with most of the people we graduated with."

"Well today, you can touch base with familiar faces. Speaking of familiar faces, there’s Steve. He looks exactly the same."

"Steve. I wonder if he’s still as touchy³ as he was in college. He would get angry over the smallest comment."

"I actually worked with him on a project recently and he’s not that sensitive⁴ anymore. Marriage, however, is a touchy subject. His wife just left him. So, don’t bring that up."

"Got it. Hey, look. Dana came! I haven’t seen her in years!"

"I’m so happy to see her. She was in a really serious car accident last month."

"Really? That sounds awful."

"Yeah, it was touch-and-go for a couple of weeks. Doctors were not sure if she would survive."

"Oh, wow. I’ve been so out-of-touch with this group. Well, I’m glad to see she is OK. I cannot believe it -- Anthony came! I thought he was overseas⁵."

"Anthony. I hope he has grown up in the past 10 years."

"What do you mean?"

"Anthony was always a little too touchy-feely - always touching⁶ women too much in a really strange way. I actually had to hit his hand once!"

"Well, I’m a guy. So, I never knew his touchy-feely side."

"That is a good thing. I see Natasha is here. She just wrote a book about her work as a midwife. Book reviewers have called it a touching story. She is said to have a magic touch when it comes to helping⁷ women give birth."

"Good for her. And I see she is still married to Gregory. He is also doing well -- in publishing, I believe. He is said to have the Midas touch. Every book deal he touches turns to gold."

"I could use a little of his Midas touch. With the economy⁸ in such a touchy state, it would be helpful if everything I touched turned to gold."

"I hear you. Well, let’s join the party!"

Words in This Story

reunion – n. an organized gathering⁹ of people who have not been together for a long time

touchstone – n. something that is used to make judgments¹⁰ about the quality of other things

Midas touch – n. an uncanny ability for making money in every venture¹¹

touchy – adj. easily hurt or upset by the things that people think or say about you

touchy-feely – adj. openly or excessively emotional and personal

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 imaginary   

adj.想象中的，假想的，虚构的，幻想的；虚数的

参考例句：

• All the characters in this book are imaginary.此书中的所有人物都是虚构的。
• The boy's fears were only imaginary.这小孩的恐惧只是一种想象。

3 touchy   

adj.易怒的；棘手的

参考例句：

• Be careful what you say because he's touchy.你说话小心，因为他容易生气。
• He's a little touchy about his weight.他对自己的体重感到有点儿苦恼。

4 sensitive   

adj.敏感的，灵敏的，过敏的，感光的

参考例句：

• He's very sensitive about his ugly appearance.他对自己丑陋的外貌很敏感。
• It's difficult to avoid stepping on her sensitive feelings.很难不伤害她脆弱的情感。

5 overseas   

adj.海外的；adv.在海外

参考例句：

• Her man has been sent overseas by his employers.她的丈夫已被雇主派往海外。
• Many firms are focusing on increasing their markets overseas.许多商行都专注于扩大国外市场。

6 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 economy   

n.经济；节俭；秩序；机体

参考例句：

• We must do our best to develop the national economy.我们必须努力发展国民经济。
• The country's economy is not very healthy.国家的经济不很景气。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

11 venture   

v.敢于，大胆表示；冒险，拼，闯；n.冒险

参考例句：

• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。
• Don't venture into the jungle without a guide.没有向导，不要冒险到丛林里去。