A Very Useful Letter （数字）K一千

The script of this programme 本节目台词

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Yang Li: Welcome to Authentic Real English 地道英语，我是杨莉，大家好。

Diarmuid: And I'm Diarmuid.

Yang Li: 今天的地道英语词语是一个数字。

Diarmuid: Yes, in English we can use one letter to represent a very big number.

Yang Li: And the letter is...

Diarmuid: K.

Yang Li: K. 你能猜出这个字母表示多少数字吗？

How much is ￡2k worth?

Diarmuid: These words, which start with the letter k, will give you a clue: kilogram.

Yang Li: 一千克。

Diarmuid: Kilowatt.

Yang Li: 一千瓦。

Diarmuid: Kilobyte.

Yang Li: 一千兆。一千兆... ah, I think we get the picture Derm. 所有这些词都含有一个共同的前缀，既表示一千这个数字概念的 kilo, 对不对?

Diarmuid: That's right, kilo means thousand when used as a prefix. When used at the end of a number, the letter k can be used to mean thousand as well. Like this.

Example

A: Did you hear about Richard? Apparently he’s got a new job.

B: Yes. I heard he was on 50k.

Yang Li: 千字经常可以缩短为 k, 50k, 50,000.

Diarmuid: Yes, it's often used when talking about amounts of money, especially salaries.

 

Example

A: So, are you going to apply for that new job?

B: I would, but I really can't accept anything under 20k.

Yang Li: So Derm, what salary are you on. 30k, 40k or 100k?

Diarmuid: Ha ha, I'm afraid I can't tell you that Li!

Yang Li: Yes, British people do tend to be less open about their salaries than the Chinese! 我始终不太明白为什么英国人对谈论工资总是讳莫如深?

Diarmuid: That sounds like a question for Ask About Britain, not Authentic Real English!

Yang Li: 是的，要了解更多英国文化习俗方面的问题，请上网查阅英国问答节目存档，当然你也可以从地道英语这个系列中学习更多的英语俚语和俗语。

Diarmuid: It's all on our website: www.bbcukchina.com. Bye for now.

Yang Li: Bye.

Diarmuid: Bye.