迷你对话学地道口语第842期:开空头支票

 　　Subject : I think they are just dangling¹ a carrot in front of us.

　　第一， 迷你对话

　　A: I heard that housing prices will drop in the near future.

　　我听说不久房价会跌下来。

　　B: I think they are just dangling a carrot in front of us.

　　我觉得这只不过在我们面前说空话。

　　第二， 地道表达

　　dangle² a carrot

　　1. 解词释义

　　Dangle a carrot中的dangle意为“使摇晃着悬挂”，carrot是指“胡萝卜”，其字面意思是“是胡萝卜摇晃着悬挂着”，比喻为“开空头支票”“以实现不了的诺言诱惑”。用来指一个人承诺了一件事情，可是让其他人觉得他无法做到。俚语词典解释道：To dangle a carrot in front of someone means to tempt³ someone with an item that is not attainable⁴.

　　2. 拓展范例

　　e.g. My boss promised me a raise but I know he is just dangling a carrot in front of me.

　　老板许诺要给我加薪，可我知道他是在开空头支票。

　　e.g. Dad is trying to persuade Jim by dangling the carrot of higher allowance.

　　爸爸以增加零用钱为饵企图说服吉姆。

　　e.g. The boss told me lf I perform well on the job; we’ll talk about a salary increase next year. But I think he's just dangling a carrot in front of me.

　　老板告诉我，如果我工作表现出色，明年加工资就有商量了。但我想他这不过是开了一张空头支票。

　　第三， 咬文嚼字

　　1. in the near future：在不久的将来

　　e.g. She would miss the company of men in the near future.

　　在最近的将来，她没有机会和男人接触。

　　e.g. I believe man will conquer the weather in the near future.

　　我相信人类在不久的将来将征服天候。

　　2. in front of sb.：在某人面前，当着某人的面

　　e.g. He enjoys posturing⁵ in front of an audience.

　　他喜欢在观众面前装腔作势。

　　e.g. The good harvest scene emerges in front of us.

　　丰收景象在我们面前展现出来。

　　3. housing prices是指“房价”。口头上经常说“房价跌了。”就可以这样说：The housing prices is dropping.

1 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

2 dangle   

v.(使)悬荡，(使)悬垂

参考例句：

• At Christmas,we dangle colored lights around the room.圣诞节时，我们在房间里挂上彩灯。
• He sits on the edge of the table and dangles his legs.他坐在桌子边上，摆动著双腿。

3 tempt   

vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣

参考例句：

• Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
• The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。

4 attainable   

a.可达到的，可获得的

参考例句：

• They set the limits of performance attainable. 它们确定着可达到的运行限度。
• If objectives are to be meaningful to people, they must be clear, attainable, actionable, and verifiable. 如果目标对人们是具有意义的，则目标必须是清晰的，能达到的，可以行动的，以及可供检验的。

5 posturing   

做出某种姿势( posture的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was posturing a model. 她正在摆模特儿的姿势。
• She says the President may just be posturing. 她说总统也许只是在做样子而已。