听播客学英语 126 圣诞故事

 　　[This podcast is longer than normal. The first part of the transcript¹ is below. The second part is here and can also be download as a pdf file².]

　　When you learn a new language, often it is the little words that cause the big problems. I am learning³ German. The long words are not a problem, which is good because German has lots of long words. If I find a long word, and I don’t know what it means⁴, I can look it up in a dictionary. No, it is the short words that confuse me in German – words like “doch” and “schon” – what exactly do they mean? How can I use them?

　　Mariano has sent me an e-mail. He asks, please can I make a podcast about two little words that cause him problems. The two words are “still” and “yet”. In this podcast, I shall try to explain how we use “still” and “yet”, and I will tell you a Christmas story.

　　First, I will tell you what I am not going to do. I am not going to give you dictionary definitions⁵ of “still” and “yet”. You can look the words up in a dictionary yourself. You do not need a podcast to do this for you. And I will not tell you about all the different meanings that “still” and “yet” have. The podcast would be very long, and use up all the spare memory in your iPod if I did that. Instead, I will take one of the common meanings of “still” and “yet” and explain to you how we use the words.

　　When I use the word “still”, I want you to think of the words “nothing has changed”. Like this. Kevin is unwell. He telephones his boss to say that he cannot come to work. The next day Kevin is still unwell. That means, he was unwell yesterday. He is unwell today. Nothing has changed. He is still unwell.

　　And how about “yet”? How do we use “yet”? “Yet” means “so far”, or “until now”. We generally use it in questions, and in negative sentences. What is a negative sentence? It is a sentence with “not” or “none” or “no” or another negative word in it. So, Kevin’s boss asks him a question, “Are you better yet?” And Kevin replies with a negative sentence, “No, sorry, I am not better yet.”

　　You have probably guessed this already – very often you can use “not yet” and “still not ” interchangeably. Kevin says, “I am not better yet”. Or he could say. “I am still not better”. These two sentences mean the same.

　　Are you very confused⁶? Are you thinking, why am I listening to this podcast? I understood about “still” and “yet” before the podcast began. Now I don’t understand at all. Never mind. Sit back and listen to a story about a typical English Christmas.

　　[The rest of the transcript is here]

　　Photo of presents around the Christmas tree by gigglejuice/flickr

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 file   

n.档案，公文箱，锉刀；v.列队行进，归档，申请；[计算机]文件

参考例句：

• Fran came in holding a blue file.弗兰拿着一个蓝色的文件夹进来了。
• The door won't fit;you'll have to file it down.这门关不上，你得把它锉一锉。

3 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。

4 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

5 definitions   

定义( definition的名词复数 )； 规定； 清晰（度）； 解释

参考例句：

• Write clear definitions in order to avoid ambiguity. 释义要写清楚以免产生歧义。
• Definitions in this dictionary are printed in roman type. 这本词典里的释义是用罗马体印刷的。

6 confused   

adj.困惑的，烦恼的

参考例句：

• They asked so many questions that they confused me.他们问了许多问题，都把我弄糊涂了。
• A wise man is never confused.智者不惑。