when we got embarrassed

 　　我们都有过尴尬的时候。说话不得体弄得自己和他人都很难堪时，会感到尴尬；受到冷遇，坐冷板凳时，会感到尴尬；众目睽睽之下出丑露怯，也会感到尴尬。尴尬的时候，实在是左右为难、手足无措，恨不得找个地缝儿钻进去。应对尴尬局面的六字箴言就是：既来之，则安之；避免尴尬的六字箴言则是：吃一堑，长一智。先来看看下面的五位朋友碰到了怎样的尴尬局面：

　　Amanda: My most embarrassing moment involved me flashing my underpants to a whole bunch of people at my high school.

　　阿曼达：我最尴尬的事是上中学的时候，有一次内裤露出来让一大群人看到了。

　　Stacey: I embarrass myself nearly every day! I'm a bit of a klutz and that can be pretty embarrassing. I once tripped and fell onto a complete stranger in the street! He was pretty nice about it, but I felt pretty silly.

　　斯泰西：我几乎每天都碰到尴尬事。我这个人有点马大哈，有时候会出一些很尴尬的事。有一次在街上，我一脚绊倒扑倒在一个素不相识的陌生人身上。那个人倒没说什么，但我觉得自己这样很可笑。

　　Daniel: A personal favourite was my Year Ten school photo. I was on the top row, felt really sick, and started turning green. The photographer noticed and made me come down in front of my whole year while he elevated¹ my feet and told me to take deep breaths. My green and red face was immortalized in the school photo that year so I will never forget.

　　丹尼尔：我经常讲的一件尴尬事跟我十年级学校照有关。我站在最高一排，当时身体很虚弱，脸色开始发青。摄影师发现了，当着全年级同学的面，搬着我的脚放我下来，让我做几个深呼吸。我的脸青一块，红一块，永远记录在那年学校的合影上，所以我一辈子都忘不了。

　　Glen: In primary school I had a whole afternoon of embarrassment--I split² my pants right around during lunchtime. I couldn't do anything about it until I went home at 4:30pm so I had to spend the afternoon at school and after school with my underpants hanging out of my split pants.

　　格伦：我上小学出了一件糗事，让我难受了一个下午。裤子早不破，晚不破，偏偏吃午饭的时候撕破了。我一点办法也没有，一直挨到下午四点半放学回家。整个下午我的内裤都露在破裤子外面。

　　Olivia: Mine would have to be when I was traveling overseas and all my bags went tumbling³ off my trolley⁴ while going down the escalator because I didn't see the sign. I broke several possessions and my glass bottle of drink spilt everywhere.

　　奥利维亚：说起我最尴尬的事，应该算那次出国的时候，下电梯没看清标志，手推车上的行李全都掉了下来，摔坏了几样东西，玻璃瓶装的饮料洒得到处都是。

　　There are a number of classic reasons for having an embarrassing moment.

　　出现尴尬有许多典型的原因。

　　Firstly, tripping over and landing flat on your face. Normally, this is due to a lack of focus or being distracted⁵. Keep an eye out for where you are going and what you are doing and you will be fine.

　　第一，脚被绊了一下，摔了个嘴啃地。出现这种情况通常是因为注意力不集中或走了神。只要走路或做事的时候留心就不会出洋相。

　　Secondly⁶, having embarrassing information about you being made public knowledge. Whether it's about your family, a guy you like or something silly you have done, make sure you tell private things only to trustworthy people, and you won't have to worry about that information getting out.

　　第二，你的尴尬事让大家都知道了。不管是家人的事，亲朋好友的事，还是你自己干的傻事，记住私事只能跟信得过的人讲，这样就不用担心叫外人知道后取笑你了。

　　Thirdly, clothes and shoes can often be a source of embarrassing moments--when your top is on back to front, your buttons aren't matching up, or the zipper⁷ on your pants is down--there is an easy way to eliminate these embarrassing and common mistakes. Get into the habit of checking your entire outfit⁸ before you leave the room and you will never be caught out.

　　第三，衣服和鞋子经常会让人陷入尴尬，比如上衣后面穿到前面，衣服扣子扣错了，裤子拉链没拉上。要杜绝这些常见的叫人尴尬的错误其实很简单。只要养成出门前检查全套装扮的习惯，就不会被人抓住把柄。

　　Lastly, we all get our words mixed up sometimes. We sometimes say things before thinking about what we are saying. In order to prevent this make sure that you think about what you are about to say first--it's better to take your time and say something worthwhile than to sound silly and you might even save yourself from hurting other people's feelings in the future too.

　　最后一点，每个人都会有说错话的时候。有时候我们不假思索就说了些话。为防止此类事情发生，一定要把你想说的话先考虑一番，与其噼里啪啦说一些傻话，还不如从从容容地说一些有价值的话。这样甚至还可能避免将来出口伤人。

　　While you can't control how others will react to your embarrassing moment, you can control how you will react. The key to surviving the moment is to not freak out and show that you are aware that you're being laughed at. To make it easier, try remembering these three pointers:

　　你碰到尴尬事虽然无法控制别人的反应，但你可以控制自己的反应。这个时候，关键是不要动怒，不要表现出你意识到被人取笑。简单说来，请尽量记住以下三点：

　　1) You'll probably be laughing about it in a few days, so try to see the funny side of it right away.

　　第一，过几天你自己很可能觉得这件事很好笑，何不现在就看到事情可笑的一面?

　　2) If it's something so humiliating that you know you'll never laugh about it, understand that the pain is bound to fade over time.

　　第二，如果这件事让你蒙羞，你一辈子都不会觉得可笑，那么你应该明白一个道理，痛苦会随着时间的流逝而减轻。

　　3) Ask your friends to give you a break and not make fun of you. If you've done the same for them, they're more likely to let it pass.

　　第三，请朋友们饶你一次，不要笑话你。如果你是这样对待他们的，他们会更容易放你一马

1 elevated   

a.提高的，升高的；高贵的，庄严的

参考例句：

• He elevated many of his friends to powerful positions within the government. 他将许多朋友都提拔到政府部门的要职上。
• The house is in an elevated position, overlooking the town. 这栋房子地势较高，可以俯瞰全城。

2 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

3 tumbling   

n.摔跤，翻跟头，翻筋斗adj.歪斜状的v.倒塌( tumble的现在分词 )；翻滚；突然摔倒；恍然大悟

参考例句：

• His eyes were fastened on the boiling, tumbling waves. 他的眼睛凝视着汹涌的波涛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The earthquake sent buildings tumbling into one another like failing dominoes. 地震使大楼哗啦啦倒塌，就像正在倾倒的骨牌一般。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 trolley   

n.手推车，台车；无轨电车；有轨电车

参考例句：

• The waiter had brought the sweet trolley.侍者已经推来了甜食推车。
• In a library,books are moved on a trolley.在图书馆，书籍是放在台车上搬动的。

5 distracted   

a.注意力分散的，思想不集中的

参考例句：

• When working, one should concentrate and not allow oneself to be distracted. 工作时要集中精力，不要分心。
• Noise outside distracted her mind from her studies. 门外的噪音使她心神不宁，无法集中注意力学习。

6 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

7 zipper   

n.拉链；v.拉上拉链

参考例句：

• The zipper is red.这条拉链是红色的。
• The zipper is a wonderful invention.拉链是个了不起的发明。

8 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。