302 Phobias

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 A: Are you excited about your trip next month?                                                                                         
 B: Yes and no. I can’t wait to go to Europe, but at the same time I am terrified.                                                      
 A: Why?                                                                                                                                
 B: Well, I have aero phobia [ˈfoʊbiə]. I have a chronic fear of flying.                                                                
 A:Oh really? I have an uncle who is also terrified of flying. It’s not that bad though, I mean, it is pretty scary to be in this big   
 machine flying through the air at seven hundred miles per hour. I actually  have arachnophobia.                                        
 B: You’re scared of spiders? I actually have two more  phobias. Acrophobia and glossophobia                                            
 A: I guess that explains why you are afraid of flying, but public speaking is not that bad.                                            
 B: Are you kidding? When I get on stage, my palms start to sweat, I get really nervous and I can hardly  speak.                        
 A: Well, I must confess I am a bit claustrophobic. I hate being in an elevator for more than 5 seconds.                                
 B: We are such weirdos right?                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                        
 terrified [ˈterəˌfaɪd]    adj.恐惧；很害怕                                                                                             
 chronic [ˈkrɑnɪk]    adj.长期的；慢性的                                                                                                
 arachnophobia UK: [əˌræknə'fəʊbɪə]      n.蜘蛛恐惧症                                                                                   
 acrophobia     UK: [ˌækrə'fəʊbɪə]      n    Web恐高症                                                                                  
 glossophobia  /ˌɡlɑːs.əˈfoʊ.bi.ə/公开演讲恐惧症                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
 that explains why 这就解释了为什么 ; 怪不得 uk/ɪkˈspleɪn/ us/ɪkˈspleɪn/                                                                
 palm    US: [pɑlm, pɑm]    n.手掌；棕榈(树)                                                                                            
 confess    US: [kənˈfes]    v.忏悔；坦白                                                                                               
 weirdo     US: [ˈwɪrdoʊ]     n.〔心〕古怪偏执的人     Web怪人                                                                          
 claustrophobic    US: [ˌklɔstrəˈfoʊbɪk]    adj.引起幽闭恐怖的；患幽闭恐怖症的    n.幽闭恐怖症患者                                      
                                                                                                    

2

altitude     US: [ˈæltɪˌtud]     n.海拔；海拔高度；                                                                                    
 talkative                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                        
 I cannot wait to go to Europe, but at the same time, I'm terrified.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                        
 Are you kidding?                                                                                                                       
 So this is actually a way of showing some sarcasm when you're talking because public                                                   
 you're being a little bit sarcastic, but at the same time, you're also acting a bit surprised.                                         
                                                                                                                                        
 determined    US: [dɪˈtɜrmɪnd]    adj.决心；决定；决意；坚定                                                                           
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
 So now you brought up an interesting point.                                                                                            
 Our last phobia, we said claustrophobic and now we must make the difference between, for                                               
 example, claustrophobia and being claustrophobic.                                                                                      
 So a phobia, you hear the word, you hear the ending IA, phobia, claustrophobia is a noun.                                              
 That means I can talk about, I have it, I have this fear.                                                                              
 But when you're talking about the adjective, something that describes you, you would have                                              
 to use the ic ending.                                                                                                                  
 I'm claustrophobic.                                                                                                                    
 He is acrophobic.                                                                                                                      
 They are aerophobic.                                                                                                                   
 Okay, so that is the adjective form.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                        
 So when you learn those words, remember that there's two different kinds.                                                              
 There's the IA, there's the IA, a phobia, which is the noun and ic, which is the adjective.