美国国家公共电台 NPR Star Trek Species, Energy Drink, Or Infomercial Product?

Star Trek¹ Species, Energy Drink, Or Infomercial Product?

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0006:58repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser² to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST: 

Let's check in with our contestants⁴. Robyn Stype, you say that you work at the "Cheers" of banks.

ROBYN STYPE: I do, yes.

EISENBERG: That's possible, huh? Let's hear why a financial institution is the bar of our dreams where everybody knows our name.

STYPE: We do let people bring their dogs into the bank.

EISENBERG: Yeah.

STYPE: And we have monthly raffle⁵ for pet of the month.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Do you, like - is there a bunch of mattresses⁶ where you put the money underneath⁷. Like, this doesn't sound...

(LAUGHTER)

STYPE: We're very secure.

EISENBERG: You're very secure.

STYPE: Yes (laughter).

EISENBERG: OK, it sounds lovely. It sounds very lovely. Andrea Kebalo, you say you love to travel, but it seems like you just like to travel to one place because you've been to Iceland three times.

ANDREA KEBALO: Yes.

EISENBERG: So why three?

KEBALO: Well, the first time was on purpose just to Iceland. The...

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Yeah.

KEBALO: The...

EISENBERG: Second time was a trick.

KEBALO: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

KEBALO: The other two times, we were just stopping, like, for, like, a day or two.

EISENBERG: Oh, OK.

KEBALO: Yeah.

EISENBERG: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

KEBALO: And then we went off to another place.

EISENBERG: What's your pie-in-the-sky, like, I really would just love to go to this place?

KEBALO: I would love to go to Australia.

EISENBERG: Oh, yeah, you could do that.

KEBALO: Yeah, yeah.

EISENBERG: What about Australia Do you love?

KEBALO: I love the idea of emailing someone from the future or calling them.

EISENBERG: Oh because you are a...

KEBALO: Yeah.

EISENBERG: Yeah, right, you're, like, a day and a few hours in the future.

KEBALO: Yeah.

EISENBERG: And so you can tell them what the future's like.

KEBALO: Yes, exactly.

EISENBERG: Yeah, you should go there, like, early November.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Let's go to your next game. Robyn, what is your favorite, like, as-seen-on-TV product?

STYPE: That microwave omelet maker⁸ really kind of entranced me as a kid when I saw it on TV mostly because I thought there was some fudging involved in the footage that they showed you. And I was - I never bought it, but I was really curious to know if it actually worked.

EISENBERG: The - you mean you think, like, when they put it in and then they reopen the microwave, that's...

STYPE: I think that they cut something out in the middle there.

EISENBERG: Yeah, that's probably right, yeah. How about you, Andrea? What's your favorite seen-on-television product?

KEBALO: So my favorite one is a random⁹ one that I've - that I saw maybe, like, three times on a random app where basically the premise¹⁰ was nachos are way too messy for everyday life. And their thing was, hey, here's a bride, and she's trying to eat nachos, and it gets all over her. And their answer to that was nachos and cheese in a pouch¹¹ that you put in your microwave that you then eat with a fork.

(LAUGHTER)

JONATHAN COULTON: That sounds like a terrible solution in search of a not very real problem.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: OK, so Robyn, Andrea, you get to play one of our favorite games. It's called This, That or The Other. We are going to give you a word, and you have to tell me which of three categories it fits into. And today's categories are "Star Trek" alien species, energy drink brands and products sold on infomercials.

So we're going to alternate back and forth¹². You don't need your buzzers¹³ to buzz in. Robyn, you won the last game, so if you win this, you're going in the final round. Here we go. Robyn, Lucozade...

STYPE: I'm going to guess alien species.

EISENBERG: I'm sorry. That is incorrect. Andrea, can you steal?

KEBALO: Let's go with energy drink.

EISENBERG: Energy drink is correct, yes.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Yeah, energy drinks have weird¹⁴ names. All energy drinks taste to me like they are made of, like, boiled down vitamins mixed with lasers or something - blech (ph). All right, Andrea, Akamarian.

KEBALO: "Star Trek" alien species.

EISENBERG: That is correct, yes.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Of course you remembered them from episode 57, right?

KEBALO: Yes.

EISENBERG: Yeah. Robyn, Flowbee.

STYPE: I'm going to guess energy drink.

EISENBERG: Sounds like it flows right through you. I'm sorry. That is incorrect. Andrea, can you steal?

KEBALO: Is it an infomercial...

EISENBERG: It is.

KEBALO: ...Product?

EISENBERG: Yes, it is a...

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: But it was actually a vacuum with a blade in it that you would use to cut your hair, and the vacuum would vacuum up the cut hair at the same time.

KEBALO: Oh, my gosh.

EISENBERG: And that's what everyone used it for.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Andrea, Grabit.

KEBALO: Infomercial.

EISENBERG: Yes, that is an infomercial product. Can you guess what it does it?

KEBALO: It - oh, does it help you reach and grab things?

EISENBERG: You would think so, but actually it helps you combine gerbils with rabbits - no.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Tired of combining gerbils and rabbits the old way?

EISENBERG: Exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: What a mess.

EISENBERG: You just see someone with pots, (yelling).

COULTON: (Laughter).

EISENBERG: All right, these are your last clues. Robyn, Zorbeez.

STYPE: I'm going to guess alien species.

EISENBERG: I wish.

STYPE: Oh.

EISENBERG: I wish they were. Sorry, that is incorrect. Andrea, can you steal?

KEBALO: Is it an energy drink?

EISENBERG: Oh, no. It is a infomercial product. It's an absorbent towel that absorbs other towels.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: All right, Andrea, Bacchus-D.

KEBALO: "Star Trek" alien.

EISENBERG: Sorry, that is incorrect. Robyn, can you steal?

STYPE: Energy drink.

EISENBERG: Yes, it's an energy drink.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: It is very popular in South Korea. Puzzle Guru Art Chung, how did our contestants do?

ART CHUNG: Congratulations, Andrea. You've tied it up one game apiece.

EISENBERG: Whoa.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

CHUNG: So now it's time for a quick game three. I'm going to give you a category, and you'll have to go back and forth naming things that fall in that category. The first contestant³ to mess up either by guessing incorrectly, taking too long or repeating an answer will be eliminated. You're going to have to buzz in to answer first. Here's your category. Ten cities in North America have hosted either the summer or winter Olympic Games. Name them.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

CHUNG: Robyn, you go first.

STYPE: Atlanta.

CHUNG: Atlanta is correct. Andrea...

KEBALO: Vancouver.

CHUNG: Vancouver is correct. Back to Robyn.

STYPE: Salt Lake City.

CHUNG: That is correct. Back again to Andrea.

KEBALO: Lake Placid¹⁵.

CHUNG: Lake Placid - also correct. Robyn...

STYPE: Shoot (laughter).

CHUNG: Give you three seconds.

STYPE: Boston.

CHUNG: No, I'm sorry. That is incorrect. Congratulations, Andrea. You're moving on to the final round.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Coming up, we'll find out who will face off against Andrea in her final round at the end of the show. And if you are turned on by inventions, we've got a musical parody¹⁶ game that will make you scream eureka. I'm Ophira Eisenberg, and you're listening to ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR.

1 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 contestant   

n.竞争者，参加竞赛者

参考例句：

• The company will furnish each contestant with a free ticket.公司将为每个参赛者免费提供一张票。
• The personal appearance and interview of the contestant is another count.参加比赛者的个人仪表和谈话也是一项。

4 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 raffle   

n.废物，垃圾，抽奖售卖；v.以抽彩出售

参考例句：

• The money was raised by the sale of raffle tickets.这笔款子是通过出售购物彩券筹集的。
• He won a car in the raffle.他在兑奖售物活动中赢得了一辆汽车。

6 mattresses   

褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The straw mattresses are airing there. 草垫子正在那里晾着。
• The researchers tested more than 20 mattresses of various materials. 研究人员试验了二十多个不同材料的床垫。

7 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

8 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

9 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

10 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

11 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

12 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

13 buzzers   

n.门铃( buzzer的名词复数 )；蜂音器（的声音）；发嗡嗡声的东西或人；汽笛

参考例句：

• Scout in with Buzzers(Via The Swarm) or whatever fast unit you have. 用技能召唤的蜂群（或者任何你拥有的快速单位）探路。 来自互联网
• Buzzers have the ability to clear garrisoned structures. 蜂群拥有清除驻军建筑得能力。 来自互联网

14 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

15 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。

16 parody   

n.打油诗文，诙谐的改编诗文，拙劣的模仿；v.拙劣模仿，作模仿诗文

参考例句：

• The parody was just a form of teasing.那个拙劣的模仿只是一种揶揄。
• North Korea looks like a grotesque parody of Mao's centrally controlled China,precisely the sort of system that Beijing has left behind.朝鲜看上去像是毛时代中央集权的中国的怪诞模仿，其体制恰恰是北京方面已经抛弃的。