地道英语在线听-Soccer Mom 开车带孩子参加体育运动的妈妈

Vicki: This is Real English from BBC Learning¹ English. I’m Vicki.

Lilly: 大家好，我是杨莉莉.

Vicki: Today we’re going to look at words and phrases that have recently become part of the English language.

Lilly: 在 Real English，也就是《地道英语》节目中，我们会带大家一起来学习和熟悉一些近代英式英语里新出现的词汇和新说法。

Vicki: It’s very important to stay up-to-date² with English as new words and expressions enter the language all the time.

Lilly: I agree, Vicky, 那今天这个地道的新词儿又是什么呢?

Vicki: Today’s expression is ‘soccer mom’.

Lilly: Soccer mom. 我知道 soccer 是美语中足球的意思，mom 是妈妈的意思。那足球,妈妈这两个词放在一起,一定有个什么说法吧？

Vicki: Well, in Britain we use ‘mum’ to mean mother, but in America, they pronounce it ‘mom’. A soccer mom is an American mother who lives in the suburbs³. She spends a lot of her time taking her children to their sports activities.

Lilly: 原来 a soccer mom 就是指那些家住市郊，每天开车接送孩子们参加各种体育活动的妈妈。看来当个称职的妈妈真不易啊!

Vicki: So you could say ‘She’s a real soccer mom. She takes her 3 kids swimming on Mondays, gym on Wednesdays and football on Fridays.’

Insert

A: How is your sister getting on in Chicago?

B: Fine. She’s become a proper soccer mom. She drives a big jeep and spends most days taking the kids to sports practice.

Lilly: Are there soccer moms in the UK?

Vicki: I suppose so, but it’s more an American thing.

Lilly: Really?

Vicki: Yes. Well, in the UK, we call soccer, football anyway!

Lilly: That’s right, 说到足球, 英国人一般都使用football这个词.

Vicki: But there are some mothers who become soccer moms, I guess.

Lilly: 好了，今天我们学的短语就是 soccer mom, 专指那些开车接送孩子们参加体育活动的妈妈们。And that’s it for today.

Vicki: Yes, that’s all we have time for. You’ve been listening to Real English from BBC Learning English.

Lilly: See you next time.再见！

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 up-to-date   

adj.现代化的，最新的；跟上时代的

参考例句：

• The car is a beauty and quite up-to-date.那辆车子很漂亮是最新款的。
• He bought an up-to-date textbook.他买了一本最新的教科书。

3 suburbs   

n.郊区，城郊( suburb的名词复数 )；四乡；隧；四郊

参考例句：

• The poor suburbs traditionally formed the bedrock of the party's support. 贫穷的郊区在传统上构成了支持该党的牢固基础。
• The new college will be located in the suburbs. 这所新建的学院将设在郊区。 来自《简明英汉词典》