As Busy as Beavers

忙碌的海狸
Beaver advice: Work first, play later 海狸能及时盖好水壩吗?
by Hazel Johansen

Bucky was an eager beaver. “Make way!” he cried. “Why-ah, here comes another log!”
“Aw, Dad!” Junior pined. “We have plenty of logs already. Let’s just make do with the ones we have.”
“Why-ah, certainly not!” replied Bucky. “We must make sure that our lodge by the riverbank is sturdy and strong. We must make use of all the logs we can. Why-ah, after all, when the
floodwaters come, we don’t want our home to be destroyed.”
“Aw, Dad. Our makeshift dam is strong enough. We’ll make out all right. We always have. Besides,” complained Junior, “we’ve been as busy as beavers!”
"Well, after all, junior, we are beavers! his father reminded him.
"But I'd rather do other things! Can't we make time for fishing?" begged Junior. "Or maybe take a little swim?"
"We will, we will," his father promised. "But first we have work to do! Now, let's get back to cutting logs."
"But, Dad!" Junior cried. "My jaw has a gnawing pain. And my teeth hurt. And my..."
"Why-ah，stop making excuses," warned Bucky. "We don't have a minute to spare! Why=ah, if we don't make good time, we won't finish our dam before the rains come!"
Junior wasn't happy about working so hard. but he decided to quit making trouble. He made up his mind to work and to make the best of it. Together, he and his dad cut trees, dragged logs, and stacked sticks. At last, the difficult task was complete.
"Yahoo! Our work is finished!" shouted junior with relief. "Now, let's go fishing! Let's go swimming!"
But there wasn't time, For just then, lightning flashed and dark clouds began to fill the sky.
"Quick! Make a run for it!" Bucky warned. And they scrambled into their newly built lodge. There they waited while the heavy rains fell. The stream flooded. The waters rushed by.
Yet the beaver lodge remained sturdy and strong. After a time the rains stopped, and the sun came out once again.
"We made it!" sighed Bucky, "Why-ah, everything's all right!"
"Yes!" cried Junior. " And our dam made it too. Look, every log is still in place. Now I'm happy that we worked so hard."
"Me, too." agreed his father. "And now that our work is done, I'm going to make good on my promise. Why-ah, let's go swimming!"
"Yahoo!" yelped Junior. And he and his dad went together. Whatever the task, make up your mind to make the best of it! A good attitude really makes a difference.

We want to be person, that will make a difference. have impact on the life of someone else. how do we to do that, No matter what happen, we need to decide, we need to make up our mind that we will be positive that we will try to do the best, and do as we can with a good attitude, a thankful attitude. if we do that, we really will able to help other people, and we even will feel better about our self, and our situation.

Grammar
...after all, junior, we are beaver
after all has many meanings, but here is Let's not forget that
Let's go out and find something to do. After all, it's only 2PM.
There's no need to hurry. We are on vacation, after all.
after all is in the end of sentence, add (,) before after all.
after all is in the beginning of sentence, add (,) after the after all.

pine (v)-sigh
Sally pined for her little lost dog.
lodge (n)- beaver's home, a place you stay as home 海狸的巢，小木屋 水壩
Nick spent his vacation at a lodge in the woods.
*Father beaver was busy building their lodge while mother beaver took care of the babies.
*The couple has a ski lodge they visit every winter. 划雪小木屋.
makeshift (adj)-substitute, for temporary +N. 暂时，临时的
It's raining! I'll use this big plastic bag as a makeshift raincoat.
* The Smiths used their garage as their makeshift office.
*The makeshift refugee camp is in terrible condition.
*After the earthquake, the church was turned into a makeshift shelter.
gnaw- Sandy had a gnawing feeling she had forgotten something at work. 啃，咬，侵蚀
*Nathan has a bad habit of gnawing his fingernails.
*The salty air gnawed at the plumbing of our beach house. 含盐分高的空气侵腐蚀了。。水管
eager-very exciting
make way- make a way, open a road to get through
why-ah-meaningless here, it just is old beaver's way to talk.
make do- get on to work
make sure- check carefully to be certain.
stack (v)-making a stack. stack-file up something. 堆叠，堆起来，叠起来。堆满，堆放。
堆放，堆满某东西，物件用 with
Sam stacked the papers on the corner of his desk.
*Sean stacked all his books on the bookshelves.
*We need to stack up the chairs once the meeting is over.
*The storage room is stacked with old files.
yelp (v)-short loud cry, usually, cry for bad things, here is for happy. 动物吠叫。急促叫喊。尖叫，因疼痛而尖叫。
My puppy yelped last night and woke up the neighbors.
*The dog yelped when I stepped on its foot by accident.
*The boy yelped in pain when the doctor touched his belly. 他的肚子
paddle (v)-use feet to paddle the water. 涉水，不及物动词，用脚玩水，戏水，划水。
Michael paddled across the lake in his boat.
We paddled along the seashore and watched the sunset. 踏着海水，看着夕阳。
*We had to paddle across the creek to get to the next stop. 涉水过溪
*The kids paddled in the puddle and got all wet. 水坑，小水潭。
making trouble-to cause trouble. Not doing what supposed to do.
make up someones mind-set up a goal and for it. set up a mind.
make the best of it- do your best to fight things in the bad situation.
A saying "the life throw you a lemon (sour)but make (it to)a lemonade."
dragging-pulling
make it-success, successfully.

Chat Room 1
advice (n)-I need some advice. I nee your advice-(I need help with something)建议，指点，忠告。名词，发音，第二音节，是发短音
advice (v)-Can you advice me? 动词，重音在第二音节，长母音(ai), ce (z)
giving advice person:
adviser -as financial advisers 顾问， 主动地提议，建议的人
counselor- school counselor, 辅导员， counsel 劝告，劝导，提议，建议
consultant-business consultant. 顾问，不是主动提议，建议的人， 你要向他请教，他才提供意见或建议。

Chat Room 2
in the works (idiom)-you are preparing for something. you are working for something.
all in a day's work (idiom)-这是指一般的日常工作，不足为奇的工作。形容一般认为很困难的工作，你却作的很熟练，驾轻就熟，很平常，就可说all in a day's work.
in the works (idiom)- 在准备中，在进行中的work here mean develop
work your fingers to the bone-work extremely hard 一个人工作把手指的肉都磨掉了只剩下骨头。卖力工作，拚命工作。
work like a charm=work like magic - 很灵，很有效，每次都奏效。refer to plan or scheme works as expected. work 此指运作，使运作，使运转之意
as busy as beaver (idiom)-work hard
An eager beaver (idiom)-exiting, can't wait to do something.
work first, play later= cry first, laugh later 先苦后乐。