听播客学英语 41 一切都好

 　　There is a well-known line in Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” which goes, “The course of true love never did run smooth”. It means that when you fall in love, there are always complications¹, and accidents and difficulties. That is the theme of today’s podcast. And there are plenty of phrasal verbs as well, and there is a separate Grammar and Vocabulary note to explain some of them.

　　Kevin and Joanne invite about 20 friends to a party. Among the guests are Jimmy and Carole. They have never met before. Kevin introduces them to each other, and they get talking. And they keep talking all evening, except when Kevin plays music by his favourite punk band “Futile³ Vendetta⁴” so loudly that no-one can make themselves heard. It is obvious that Jimmy and Carole get on well with each other. Before they leave at the end of the evening, Jimmy asks Carole if she would like to go to the cinema with him the next weekend, and Carole says yes. Isn’t that romantic!

　　Now Jimmy is outside the cinema. It is 7.30. Carole agreed to meet him at 7 o’clock. But perhaps he did not hear her properly (Futile Vendetta were singing their all-time hit “I Loathe⁵ the World” at the time). Perhaps Carole actually meant 7.30 or even 8 o’clock. So Jimmy waits and waits. But still no Carole. Perhaps she has forgotten. or perhaps she has decided⁶ not to come. It seems that Carole has let him down. She promised to go to the cinema with him, and now she has not turned up.

　　Meanwhile, outside a different cinema, Carole is looking at her watch. She agreed to meet Jimmy at 7 o’clock. So where is he? Has Jimmy stood her up? She too feels disappointed. She rather liked Jimmy and was looking forward to seeing him again.

　　Then Jimmy has a bright idea. The modern world contains things called mobile⁷ phones. Perhaps Carole has a mobile phone. Unfortunately, Jimmy does not know her number. He tried to ask her at the party, but Futile Vendetta prevented effective communication. But Kevin and Joanne will know, so Jimmy rings them to find out. Kevin answers the phone. Yes, he can help. He looks at the list of phone numbers on the wall beside the telephone, and reads out Carole’s number. “Thanks”, says Jimmy, and rings off. Unfortunately, Kevin has given him the phone number of Joanne’s Aunt Carole, who is a large lady in her 50s with three dogs and six cats. Jimmy has an interesting telephone conversation with Aunt Carole, in which he asks her what she is doing, and she says that she is watching television and eating a box of chocolates, and – no – she does not remember agreeing to go to the cinema with him.

　　Meanwhile, Carole also thinks about telephoning, and she too rings Kevin and Joanne. This time Joanne answers, and tells her Jimmy’s number. Except that it is the number of Jimmy the hairdresser, and not of Jimmy who is standing⁸ in the rain outside the cinema wondering where Carole is. Jimmy the hairdresser tells Carole that she would look simply divine⁹, darling, if he could cut her hair and dye¹⁰ it green.

　　Jimmy and Carole are now both very fed up. Jimmy thinks that Carole has let him down. Carole thinks that Jimmy has stood her up. Jimmy decides to get a bus back home. Carole starts to look for a taxi. Then Jimmy turns a corner and sees Carole on the other side of the road, getting into a taxi. He shouts and waves but Carole does not hear. So Jimmy jumps into another taxi and says to the driver, “Follow that cab²!” The taxi driver, who watches bad spy movies in his spare time, has always wanted someone to jump into his taxi and shout “Follow that cab!” He rises to the occasion¹¹, drives through three red traffic lights and pulls up behind Carole’s taxi just as Carole is getting out.

　　So Jimmy and Carole finally meet up. They have a “where were you – no. I was there, where were you” sort of conversation. And they laugh, and go to the pub¹² round the corner for a drink, and agree to go to the theatre next week to see a play by Shakespeare called, very appropriately, “All’s Well That Ends Well”.

　　And Kevin says to Joanne, “I still don’t understand why Jimmy the hairdresser is going out with your Aunt Carole.”

1 complications   

（新出现的）困难，难题( complication的名词复数 )； 并发症； 曲折

参考例句：

• Complications set in, and the patient died. 病人因出现并发症而死亡。
• Normally there are no complications with the medicine. 服用这种药按理不会产生并发症。

2 cab   

n.计程车，出租车，出租单马车；vi.乘出租马车

参考例句：

• The cab drove over his legs.马车从他腿上碾过。
• Shall we walk or take a cab?我们步行还是坐出租车？

3 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

4 vendetta   

n.世仇，宿怨

参考例句：

• For years he pursued a vendetta against the Morris family.多年来他一直在寻求向莫里斯家族报世仇。
• She conducted a personal vendetta against me.她对我有宿仇。

5 loathe   

v.厌恶，嫌恶

参考例句：

• I loathe the smell of burning rubber.我厌恶燃着的橡胶散发的气味。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 mobile   

adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体

参考例句：

• The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
• She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后，活动量就大多了。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 divine   

adj.神的，上帝的，神圣的，如神的，非凡的

参考例句：

• Jesus is believed by Christians to have been divine.基督教徒们相信耶稣是神。
• The despot claimed to be the chosen instrument of divine providence.专制者声称自己是上天选定的统治工具。

10 dye   

n.染料，染色；v.染，染色

参考例句：

• Black will dye over other colours.黑色能把大多数其他颜色盖住。
• This material does not dye well.这料子染不好。

11 occasion   

n.场合，时机，机会，诱因，理由；vt.惹起，引起

参考例句：

• Her dress was too showy for such a formal occasion.在如此正式的场合，她的服装过分华丽了。
• Her tears were fought back on such an occasion.在这种场合下她忍住了眼泪。

12 pub   

n.[英]旅馆，小店，酒馆

参考例句：

• He is the landlord of this pub.他是这家酒店的店主。
• They saw that four large men marched into the pub.他们看到四个彪形大汉走进了酒吧。