含糊 open to interpretation
true story 真实故事
one time when correcting students' written assignments i came across the following sentence:“the chickens were too hot to eat.”grammati-tally it was fine，but it was poor english because it wasn't clear which of the following it meant:1.因为太热，那些鸡没吃东西;2.鸡肉太烫了，得等一会儿吃。depending on the meaning, the sen-tence could be more specific i}f written as follows:1.feeling too hot，the chickens wouldn't eat;2.don't eat the chicken just yet;it's too hot.
一次，在批改学生作文的时候，我看到以下句子:"the chickens were too hot to eat.”语法上来讲是可以的，但是这样的英语太鳖脚了，因为不清楚到底是哪种意思:1.因为太热，那些鸡没吃东西;2.鸡肉太烫了，得等一会儿吃。根据意思，这句话可以细分为以下形式:1 .feeling too hot，the chickens wouldn’t eat;2.don't eat the chicken dust yet;it's too hot.
知识扩展
提示：
many chinese people, when they want to say“公鸡”，use the word "cock".a better word，however, would be“rooster”because“cock”is slang for“penis”.
动物词汇：
magpie n.鹊
swallow n.燕子
peacock n，孔雀
parrot n.鹦鹉
duck n.鸭子
flamingo n.火烈鸟
sparrow n.麻雀
owl n.猫头鹰
seagull n.海鸥
canary n.金丝雀
goose n.鹅
pheasant n.锥;野鸡