Grammar：Cover
【明報專訊】Bill and Pat are trying to bake a cake for Dr Panda's birthday, but they're having a problem..
Bill: Look Pat, the frosting won't cover the cake. It just keeps coming off!
Pat: It's not the right consistency. It's looking a bit thin.
Bill: Maybe it's my fault for not blending it long enough...
Pat: That's impossible! I've read this cookbook from cover to cover. It says right here we should blend the mixture for 15 minutes!
Bill: I don't know...Look at the top of the sponge! It seems to have come off a bit.
Pat: What a disaster! We have to try to fix this or we will ruin Dr Panda's special day.
Bill: This is a nightmare!
Pat: Don't be so pessimistic, Bill! We can try to make a new batch of frosting to cover the hole.
Bill: And cover up the mistake, apparently.
Pat: Less talk, more action!
■English highway
Cover (n)
A thing that is put over or on another thing, usually to protect it or to decorate it.
e.g. Somebody spilled ketchup on the seat cover.
Cover up (phr v)
If you cover up something, you try to hide the truth about a mistake, a crime, etc.
e.g. The scandal was covered up and was never known to the public.
Cover to cover
To read something all the way through from the front cover to the back cover, i.e., from beginning to end.
e.g. She read that book from cover to cover in just a day.
■Gear up
Fill in the blanks with the correct form of (cover/cover up/cover to cover).
1. The politician try to ________ a scandal in the investigation.
2. They ______ the table with a yellow cloth.
3. That novel is worth to be read from __________.
■Glossary
frosting (n) 糖霜
consistency (n) 黏稠度
ruin (v) (完全)毁掉
batch (n) 一批
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[Smarties' Power English 第349期]
