迷你对话学地道口语第836期:走神

 　　Subject : Why are you always out in the left field?

　　第一， 迷你对话

　　A: Why are you always out in the field while listening to the news?

　　为什么你听新闻的时候不专心啊？

　　B: I am listening to the music and I couldn’t help moving my body.

　　我在听歌，就情不自禁地动了起来。

　　第二， 地道表达

　　out in the left field

　　1. 解词释义

　　Out in the left field的字面意思是“外出到田野左边去”，比喻为“（做事）不专心”或“（说话）跑题”的意思。

　　2. 拓展范例

　　e.g. If we are out in the left field at work we'll make a mistake.

　　我们如果不专心工作，就会出差错。

　　e.g. He was a bad student because he is always out in the left field and never paid attention.

　　他是个坏学生，因为他总是偷懒，上课都不专心。

　　e.g. I think you are out in the field. Could we get back to the main point, please?

　　我觉得你跑题了。我们能不能回到主题上来？

　　e.g. You're out in the field again, so please keep to the subject.

　　你又要离开正题了，请不要跑题。

　　第三， 视野拓展

　　1. Out in the left field还可以表示“错得离谱”的意思。例如：

　　Paul tried to answer the teacher's question ,but he was out in left field.

　　保罗努力回答老师的问题，但全错了。

　　Philip tried to guess what the surprise was but he was way out in left field.

　　菲利浦想猜出是什么惊喜,但他猜错了。

　　2. Out in the left field还可以表示“疯的，行为举止怪异荒诞的”。例如：

　　I think your history professor is out in left field.

　　我感觉你们的历史教授有点不正常。

　　After her father was killed by a group of bandits¹, the girl was out in left field.

　　自她父亲被一群匪徒杀害后，那女孩就疯了。

　　第四， 咬文嚼字

　　1. Could not help doing something/something表示情不自禁做某事。例如：

　　She could not help her tears, and yielded² to the overflow³.

　　她禁不住热泪盈眶，接着就听凭眼泪流了下来。

　　I could not help detecting⁴ a note of sadness in his voice.

　　我不由自主地发现他说话时所流露出的那种忧伤情感。

　　2. listen to the news：听新闻 move one’s body：身体晃动

1 bandits   

土匪，强盗( bandit的名词复数 )； 盗匪； 盗贼； 草寇

参考例句：

• After a few hours of fierce fighting,we saw the intruding bandits off. 经过几小时的激烈战斗，我们赶走了入侵的匪徒。
• The bandits struggled to tear her away from the safe. 匪徒使劲想把她从保险柜跟前拉开。

2 yielded   

vt.屈服，投降（yield的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• She yielded me her books. 她把书让给了我。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She yielded her property to me. 她把她的财产让给我了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 overflow   

v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出

参考例句：

• The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
• After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后，河水可能溢出岸来。

4 detecting   

n.探测，检定，检波v.发现，发觉，查明( detect的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• It's a bulb pressure tester for detecting battery leaks. 这是检测电瓶漏气用的胶球压力试验器。 来自辞典例句
• D'Artagnan could not help detecting a note of sadness in his voice. 达塔尼昂不由自主地发现他说话时所流露出的那种忧伤情感。 来自辞典例句