今天我们要讲的美国习惯用语是:beyond a doubt. Beyond是超出的意思,doubt是怀疑的意思。 昨天晚上电视上播放了一个关于不明飞行物,UFO, 虽然我并不相信UFO的存在,但是我相信, 例句-1:Police investigators in my department searched the crime scene for evidence. Before long, they recovered samples of blood and hair that proved beyond a doubt who committed the murder. But what they weren't so sure of was why he did it. 一名警察在谈到最近一起案子的时候说: Hmmm这让我想起了一个同事。他每天都是第一个上班, ****** 在生活中,我们总会遇到一些人,会给你留下深刻的印象。 例句-2:When my teacher asked me to write about someone I admire, I chose my great aunt. Beyond a doubt, she's the most generous person I've ever known. Even though she doesn't have much money, she's always helped out people who have been in need. In my opinion, there's definitely no one more giving than she. 他说:老师让我写作文,写我最敬佩的人。我选择了我的姨姥姥。 如果你身边有这种热心人,那么算你幸运。无论遇到什么困难, B: 我是Mike! 杨琳,来告诉大家今天都要学什么! A: Sure! 今天,我们要一起看看办公室八卦有多可怕, B: Yeah...I always try to stay away from office gossip. I feel like the more you know, the more likely you are to become a subject of gossip yourself... A: 对啊! 我觉得,对于办公室八卦,最好的方法就是敬而远之! B: Yeah, as if you don't gossip... A: 哎哟,都说了,节目上不能八卦!(both laugh) 好了好了现在,咱们赶快先来进入第一个单元,learn a word! Learn A Word 1679 neighborhood 今天我们要学的词是 neighborhood, neighborhood is spelled n-e-i-g-h-b-o-r-h-o-o-d, neighborhood. neighborhood 居民区,小区。统计数字显示,Almost 20% of people who recently moved regarded living in a Neighborhood close to where they work as a criteria in finding a new home. 最近搬家的人里,将近20% A: Yeah, a good neighborhood is really important. You should be able to feel safe where you live. B: Exactly. I love the neighborhood where I grew up. It's a small town, but everyone was so open and friendly! You don't get the same sense of community when you're living in the big city. A: 是啊! 在大城市里,邻里之间都不来往。 Words and Idioms 821 LAST-DITCH EFFORT 美国习惯用语第 821讲 我昨天晚上特别倒霉,不小心一屁股坐在了自己的眼镜上, M: Last-ditch effort. Ditch is spelled d-i-t-c-h. Last-ditch-effort. Last-ditch effort. Ditch 在中文里是壕沟的意思。Last-ditch effort 这个习惯用语的中文意思是指多次尝试失败后所作的最后努力。 下面这位运动员也有类似经历。让我们一起听听体育评论员的解释。 M: "The Olympic gymnast had scored well on her floor exercises, but not enough to earn a medal. She knows she has one final opportunity, so she's making a LAST-DITCH EFFORT. If she doesn't succeed this time, she'll likely to be too old to try again at the Games in four years." 评论员说,这名奥林匹克体操运动员的自由体操的得分不低, 虽说大多数体操运动员年纪都很轻, 我们办公室有个负责送信的小伙子,最近一直在追求我的一个同事, M: "The Olympic gymnast had scored well on her floor exercises, but not enough to earn a medal. She knows she has one final opportunity, so she's making a LAST-DITCH EFFORT. If she doesn't succeed this time, she'll likely to be too old to try again at the Games in four years." 你喜欢园艺吗?种种花草,甚至可以种点蔬菜,自产自销。我朋友 Jenny 经常说,千万别跟我提种花,我这个人什么也种不活。其实啊, M: "I'd never had much luck in my garden. Everything I'd ever planted failed to grow. I was about to give up. But I thought I'd try one more time by choosing a different location. My LAST-DITCH EFFORT made all the difference. Now I've got more tomatoes than I know what to do with!" 这个人说,我在花园里的运气永远特别差,种什么都活不了, 有时候,园艺确实需要技巧。在英语里, M: "I'd never had much luck in my garden. Everything I'd ever planted failed to grow. I was about to give up. But I thought I'd try one more time by choosing a different location. My LAST-DITCH EFFORT made all the difference. Now I've got more tomatoes than I know what to do with!" Last-ditch effort 这个习惯用语来自军事,大家都知道,在战场上打仗要挖战壕, 好的,这次美国习惯用语就到此结束了。有听众写信给我, M: Until next time. 下次节目再见。 M: This has been Words and Idioms. A: Ok, I'm going to make a last-ditch effort to give you some fashion advise, Mike...You can't wear a green shirt with a yellow tie! B:Ugh....it's only because I didn't have enough time to get ready this morning! My alarm clock didn't wake me up and I had only 5 minutes to get ready for work! A: Okok...你可得注意形象,咱俩可代表节目呢, B: What? You guys were gossiping about me? You two little..... A: 我们是准备善意地帮助你! 不过啊,办公室的闲话确实很可怕,今天的business etiquette里就要谈到这个话题,咱们一块来听听看! 礼节美语BE-221 Office Gossip I Sally 早上遇到同事 Lisa, 马上凑上前去,很神秘地说: Sally: Did you hear the news about Tom and his wife? Lisa: No....what happened? S: Well, Jane told me that Tom has been having an affair! I heard his wife caught him at a hotel with another woman! L: Really? That's a shocker! I always thought Tom was a loyal, devoted family man. S: Hey Mary, did you hear about Tom? Mary: No, what happened? Is he okay? S: Well, keep this under your hat, but it seems Tom has been having an affair! Everyone's talking about it! Sally 告诉 Lisa,她听说 Tom 搞婚外情,被他太太在旅馆里捉奸。Lisa听后很吃惊,说 That's a shocker! 意思是这件事太出人意料了, Mary: You know, to be perfectly honest, I'm not really keen on office gossip. For one thing, how do we even know the rumor is true? Did you hear it straight from the horse's mouth? S: Not exactly. Jane said that Phyllis told her that they overheard a conversation between Katy and her friend Samantha about Tom's affair. M: Well, that doesn't sound like a very accurate source. I really think you should take this rumor with a grain of salt. Mary说,自己对办公室里的这些八卦不感兴趣。I'm not keen on office gossip. 她问Sally, Did you hear it straight from the horse's mouth? Mary在这里用到了一个习惯用语, straight from the horse's mouth. 意思是从当事人本人,或是可靠消息来源那里得到的消息。 L: But Mary, everyone gossips in the office. It's part of office culture. M: That may be true, but sometimes gossip can be counterproductive and even dangerous. Did you ever play the "telephone game" when you were a kid? L: Um....no. What's the "telephone game?" M: Everyone sits in a circle and you start with a sentence of information. For example, "John hates chocolate cookies." Then each person whispers that sentence to the next person in turn. Lisa 觉得,办公室里大家都喜欢传八卦,It's part of office culture. 是办公室文化的一个部分。Mary 却觉得,gossip can be counterproductive. 这样做只会有消极效应。Mary 问 Lisa 小时候玩没玩过 "telephone game"电话游戏,大家做成一圈, A: Sally告诉Lisa,同事Tom有婚外情, B: I agree. Office gossip is a perfect example of the telephone game. The news gets more and more distorted with each telling, especially when it comes to other people's personal lives. A: I agree that you have to respect other's privacy. But sometimes you have to gossip! Its a form of socializing, If you don't do it, you lose the chance to bond with your co-workers. B: What?? I think this may be one of those basic differences between men and women. Let's see what Lisa has to say about this! 礼节美语BE-222 Office Gossip II Sally 跟同事Lisa和Mary议论办公室里关于Tom的传闻, L: Oh, yes! I've played that game! By the time you come to the end of the circle the original sentence has been completely mangled. M: Right! "John hates chocolate cookies" gets transformed into something like, "James likes monkey pudding." S: Ok, I get your point. What you mean is that when information gets passed around, often times it becomes corrupted and incorrect, right? M: Exactly. Also, I think there is a difference between office gossip and commenting on someone's private life. Lisa 记得,小时候确实玩过这个游戏。一圈人,等传到最后一个人, Mary: If the boss was hard on you today and you tell your colleagues about it, well....maybe that's just part of office life. But Tom's private life is no concern of ours. L: But people have been gossiping since the dawn of time! It's sort of a way for people to bond. M: Yes, I understand that. But I worry about spreading personal attacks or revealing secrets about someone's private life. L: You might be right. For one thing, the person we're talking about isn't here to defend himself, and that's not really fair. And like you mentioned, we don't even know if the story is true. Mary说,如果是老板对你过于严厉,if the boss was too hard on you. 你回来跟同事抱怨,这可能是办公室生活很正常的内容,但 Tom 的私生活 is no concern of ours. 完全不是我们应该关心的范畴。Lisa觉得很有道理,而且, S: Those are good points. Tom is actually a really nice guy. I've worked with him for five years and he's always been a good friend. L: For us, if Tom is a good co-worker that's all that really matters. S: All right....I'm not going to discuss this rumor any further. Let's leave it alone. L: Good idea. M: I think we all hope Tom and his wife can work out any troubles they might be having. Let's wish them the best. Sally跟Tom共事过五年,觉得Tom是个很好的人。 A: 真是一点都没错! 办公室传言有时候传得都没谱了! 比如上次吧,我跟小贝在讨论一则新闻, B: Yeah, it must be that someone passed by and overheard part of the conversation, and they started to use their imagination.... A: Exactly. This kind of gossip is really counterproductive. 也不尊重人呀! B: So it's better not to gossip and also stay away from those that do. A: 没错! 好了,这个话题就到这儿吧! 下面咱们再来学个词儿! Learn A Word 1683 literacy 今天我们要学的词是 literacy, literacy is spelled l-i-t-e-r-a-c-y, literacy. Literacy 意思是读写能力。McDonalds stores in the UK will replace the toys which come with its Happy Meals with books to boost child literacy. 英国的麦当劳将把儿童套餐里的玩具换成书籍, A: Financial literacy! 这个我需要,这次报税,我深刻体会到了我的金融文盲程度.... B: Haha, I'm not surprised! (A: what?) Kidding kidding. Yeah, paying taxes in America can be a real hassle. I never really understand any of those complicated forms... A: I hope they can simplify the process and lay it on the line... B: I don't think we will see that in our lifetime. But you just mentioned a very good term: lay it on the line. Let's listen to today's words and idioms and check it out! Words and Idioms 822 LAY ON THE LINE 美国习惯用语第 822讲 我先生的公司有一位资历很深的工程师,一贯迟到早退, M: Lay it on the line. Lay is spelled l-a-y, and line; l-i-n-e. Lay-it-on-the-line. Lay it on the line. Lay it on the line 这个习惯用语的意思是坦率地说明。刚才例子里的公司老板, 下面这个例子里的教授,也不得不对一个叫 Cheryl 的学生采取同样的手段。让我们一起听听他是怎么说的。 M: "I've been too easygoing with Cheryl. She continues to turn her essays in after the deadline. But now I'm going to LAY IT ON THE LINE. If she tries that again, she'll get an 'F' on her paper. Perhaps being firm and clear with her will get her to change." 这个教授说,我对 Cheryl 可能太迁就了。她还是等最后期限过了以后,才把文章交给我。 有些人就是吃硬不吃软。只有 Lay it on the line, 才会真正引起他们的重视。这倒让我想起我们的市长。 M: "I've been too easygoing with Cheryl. She continues to turn her essays in after the deadline. But now I'm going to LAY IT ON THE LINE. If she tries that again, she'll get an 'F' on her paper. Perhaps being firm and clear with her will get her to change." 直截了当,不绕弯子是很多教练的风格。 M: "Our table tennis coach has never been subtle about criticizing our performance. When we're not playing well, she LAYS IT ON THE LINE. Not everyone on the team appreciates her complete honesty, but I think it'll help us be more competitive. 这个队员说,教练在批判我们表现的时候,从来不会拐弯抹角。 乒乓球在美国并不普及,没有多少人喜欢玩, M: "Our table tennis coach has never been subtle about criticizing our performance. When we're not playing well, she LAYS IT ON THE LINE. Not everyone on the team appreciates her complete honesty, but I think it'll help us be more competitive. 你肯定想知道这个习惯用语的出处。I have to LAY IT ON THE LINE with you. 说实话,除了这个习惯用语是从二十世纪二十年代开始出现的以外, M: Until next time. 下次节目再见。 M: This has been Words and Idioms. A: Mike, I have to lay it on the line with you, That shirt and tie combination is making me physically sick! B:Give it time, I promise it will grow on you! A: You mean like mold on a tree?! 好了同学们,这次节目时间就到这里了。 B: Tune in next time for American English Mosaic! |
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