Vacation at Home原版英文小故事內容：

The two-week vacation at the end of summer school ended yesterday. Kevin had gone nowhere during his vacation. He had the money, but he hated to travel alone. He used to take vacations with Gary, his youngest brother, but they had a big argument at the end of their last vacation. Each of them had spent the last three years waiting for the other to apologize.

Kevin did not feel good about being on non-speaking terms with his favorite brother. But he was not going to ask for forgiveness when, in his mind, this whole misunderstanding was his brother’s fault.

So Kevin’s summer vacation was spent in his own “back yard.” As usual, he had planned to clean up his apartment. As usual, two weeks later his apartment looked just as it had two weeks before.

He did do one thing new and different during his vacation. He went to a new coffee shop on Foothill Street. It served 25 varieties of delicious coffee at reasonable prices, and the staff were genuinely1 friendly.

The coffee shop had a do-it-yourself counter near the entrance. On the counter were lids, straws, and wooden stirrers. There were wraps to insulate2 your hands against the hot coffee inside the cup. There were also individual servings of sugar, sweeteners, and creamers. Kevin used the lids and wraps, but drank his coffee black.

The shop was air-conditioned at a slightly chilly3 temperature. About eight small round tables were inside. Outside were four bigger tables. Each had four white metal chairs around it, and several big umbrellas provided4 shade. Even on hot afternoons, there was usually a pleasant breeze5.

Kevin visited the coffee shop four times during his vacation. He always sat at a table outside by himself and read the free daily paper. Each day he was there, he read most of the newspaper articles while he enjoyed two cups of coffee.

Between articles, he took breaks by watching the nearby traffic and pedestrians6. The coffee shop was next to a huge parking lot. The lot was for customers of a grocery store, movie rental7 store, pharmacy8, bank, and restaurant. Kevin considered his outdoor seat the perfect place for one of his favorite activities—people watching.

The coffee shop, with its excellent location and coffee, had helped make his vacation a pleasant one. But he knew in his heart, had his brother been there to join him just one day, his vacation would have been a perfect one.

1 genuinely ad.真地;確實地

參考例句：

She appeared genuinely surprised by this gesture of affection. 看來她真的被這個愛意的表示驚呆了。

She seems genuinely fond of the children. 她似乎真的喜歡這些小孩。

2 insulate vt.使絕緣，使隔熱，使隔音，隔離，使隔絕

參考例句：

The function of a mammal's fur is to insulate the body.哺乳動物皮毛的功能在于使身體保溫。

The ceiling tiles help to insulate a room.那天花板瓦能使房間隔熱。

3 chilly adj.涼快的，寒冷的

參考例句：

I feel chilly without a coat.我由于沒有穿大衣而感到涼颼颼的。

I grew chilly when the fire went out.爐火熄滅后，寒氣逼人。

4 provided conj.假如，若是;adj.預備好的，由...供給的

參考例句：

Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天氣良好，我們的假日將過得非常愉快。

I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就來。

5 breeze n.微風;輕而易舉的事;vi.來去匆匆，急速走

參考例句：

A little breeze is blowing in from the window.微風從窗戶里吹進來。

The clouds are pale and a light breeze is blowing.云淡風輕。

6 pedestrians n.步行者( pedestrian的名詞復數 )

參考例句：

Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 幾個行人在結冰的人行道上滑倒了。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》

7 rental n.租賃，出租，出租業

參考例句：

The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她這房子年租金是2400元。

We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我們可以安排提供從芝加哥奧黑爾機場出發的租車服務。

8 pharmacy n.藥房，藥劑學，制藥業，配藥業，一批備用藥品

參考例句：

She works at the pharmacy.她在藥房工作。

Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.現代制藥學已經解決了失眠問題。