Rebecca
A workbench is a flat table or surface where carpentry or other mechanical or practical work is done. You'll notice that on Rick's workbench, he has a lot of tools and materials on it, proving that is where he does his building work. Ex: I like to make small projects at my workbench. Ex: I cleaned up your workbench for you, it was getting too cluttered.
10/28
1
What does "go away" mean?
"Go away" means to disappear, vanish, or leave. He is telling the children that shadows disappear and cannot be seen when the sun goes down. Ex: Go away! I don't want to talk to you right now. Ex: He made the monsters go away. Ex: Go away or I am calling the police.
2
Isn't it more natural to say "I need people" here?
"Men" here is short for "my men", which refers to the police officers who work under the speaker. He wants them to enter the buildings to aid the situation. He says "men" because his team of police must all be male, which is common.
3
I learn that "long to" is "want desperately to" in dictionary. Then, can I understand "be" in "where I long to be" as "go"?
Good question! "Place I long to be" can be understood as "the place I desperately long to be in/at," as the "be" in this line can be understood as "be in" or "at" (place). It is slightly different from "go." Ex: I long to be in Paris right now. Ex: A: Where do you long to be? B: On a nice sunny beach somewhere.
4
is "stimulant" a countable noun? Why is an article used here?
That's right! It is a countable noun. I think when spoken about generally, the plural term "stimulants" is used, but here they're talking about one kind of stimulant being carried through, so that's why "a" is used. Ex: They have a dish called lobster lasagne at the restaurant, it's so good. Ex: Caffeine is a great stimulant to have in small amounts!
5
Is "really real" a pun?
No, it's not a pun! But I can see why you think it could be. "Really" is just used for emphasis here. But the repetition of "R" at the beginning of the words can be described as the literary device "alliteration," where the same letter is at the beginning of multiple words. And it ends up sounding quite fun and poetic. Ex: Bob's banging burgers. Best bite I've ever had. => banging = amazing Ex: All of Alice's apples are added to the basket. Ex: They're really strange.
Complete the expression with a quiz!
