Prison Break 1《越狱》1（视频精讲之一）

影片对白

Sid: That's it. Can I just, you know, look at it for a minute?

Michael: You're an artist, Sid.

Sid: You're telling me you're just gonna walk out of here and I'm never going to see it again.

Michael: There's a good chance of that, yes.

Sid: Most guys, you know, for the first one, they start with something small. "Mom", girlfriend's initials, something like that. Not you. You get a full set of sleeves, all in a couple of months. Takes guys a few years to get the ink you got.

Mike: I don't have a few years. Wish to hell I did.

Michael: The vault¹. Open it.

Woman: We can't. The branch manager's not here.

Michael: Where is he?

Woman: It's lunchtime. He's at White Castle. 

Michael: White Castle?

Woman: It's a fast food restaurant. They serve those little square burgers.

Michael: I know what it is. I'm not playing games . Open it.

Woman: Sir, you have a half a million dollars cash in your bag. Don't you think it would be better...?

Police: This is the police. You are completely surrounded. Put down your weapon. Put down your weapon now.

Judge: Rarely in the case of armed robbery do we hear a plea of no contest. Are you sure about this, Mr. Scofield?

Michael: I'm sure, Your Honor.

Veronica: Your Honor, we'd like to recess² if we could. My client's a bit confused at the moment.

Michael: I'm not, Your Honor.

Veronica: He is, Your Honor.

Judge: Perhaps you should heed³ your representation's advice, take some additional time to consider your response.

Michael: I've already done that, Your Honor.

Judge: I'll retire to my chambers⁴ to determine sentencing. Court's recessed⁵ until 1:30.

Policeman: Let's go.

LJ: Uncle Mike?

Michael: I didn't want you to come. Go home, LJ. I didn't want you to see this. He's not gonna take this well.

Veronica: Can you blame him? He's your nephew. He's beginning to get that anybody he attaches himself to is gonna end up in prison. And he's not the only one who's starting to feel that way, Michael. Will you give us a minute?

Policeman: One minute.

Veronica: Don't you understand? You just put the book in that woman's hand and she's gonna lob it at you like a grenade. Justice and punishment are the same thing to her.

Michael: I know.

Veronica: Then will you please tell me what's going through your head?

Michael: We've been over this.

Veronica: I've known you my entire life. You don't have a violent bone in your body , and I know you didn't need the money.

Michael: Veronica.

Veronica: Why won't you let me help you?

妙语佳句，活学活用

1. a good chance
“很可能”，例如：There's a good chance he will fail. 他很可能会失败。

2. a full set of sleeves

Have tattoos⁶ all the way around the arm from the shoulders to the wrist, like a shirtsleeve.

3. ink
本意是“墨水”，这里指身上的“刺青/纹身”。

4. play games

意思是“to act in an evasive, deceitful, manipulative, or trifling⁷ manner in dealing⁸ with others”，例如：Don't play games with me-I want to know if you love me or not! 别和我绕弯子了-我想知道你爱不爱我！片段中的这句话I'm not playing games. 意思是“我不是闹着玩的”。

5. Someone doesn't have a ___ bone in his body.

这是一个习惯说法，意思是“某人并没有某种特征”，例如：Andy doesn't have a lazy bone in his body. 意思就是Andy一点都不懒（工作得非常努力）。注意：这个习惯用法只有否定形式，绝不可以用someone has a ___ bone in his body 来表示“某人有某种特征”。

《越狱》电视剧的起源

The origins of Prison Break began as a concept (a man deliberately⁹ getting himself sent to prison in order to break out again) that was suggested to Paul Scheuring by female colleague, Francette Kelley. Although Scheuring thought it was a good idea, he was initially¹⁰ stumped¹¹ as to why someone would embark¹² on such a mission or how he could develop it into a viable¹³ television show. He later came up with the story of the wrongfully accused brother, and the conspiracy¹⁴ subplot. He then started work writing the plot outline and devising the characters. In 2003, he pitched the idea to the Fox Broadcasting Company, but was turned down as Fox felt somewhat nervous about the long-term possibilities of such a series. He subsequently showed the concept to other channels with no luck. The show was later considered as a possible 10-part miniseries, which allegedly drew interest from big names in the film industry such as Steven Spielberg and Bruce Willis. However, the miniseries never materialized. Following the huge popularity of serialized prime time television series such as Lost and 24, the Fox Network had a change of heart and backed the production in 2004.

On October 24, 2006, it was reported by the Associated Press that Donald and Robert Hughes filed a lawsuit¹⁵ against Fox Broadcasting Company and the show's executive producer and creator, Paul Scheuring for copyright infringement¹⁶, seeking unspecified damages and other costs. They claimed that in 2001, they had sent Fox their manuscript which was based on their own experiences of a prison break at a juvenile¹⁷ facility. In the 1960s, Donald Hughes planned and successfully executed a prison escape for his brother, Robert Hughes, who was wrongfully incarcerated¹⁸.

我观之我见

光看题目，就知道这部电视剧一定很刺激，毕竟越狱可是重大的刑事犯罪，无论是什么理由。再看这部电视剧的组成元素：冤案、监狱、地图文身、形形色色的重刑犯、挖地道逃狱……再加上紧凑的剧情，强烈渲染的气氛，层出不穷的矛盾和悬念……所有这些，都让观看者欲罢不能。

《越狱》算得上是搞得很极致的类型片，从某种意义上讲，它非常像好莱坞经典逃狱电影《肖申克的救赎》的加长版。同是充满罪恶和肮脏勾当的监狱，糊涂的司法，Michael的角色和Andy也很像--坚定、坚韧、沉静，天生的战略家。不同的是，Andy 一直在单干，并且他有足够长的时间去慢慢挖个地道逃出监狱，而Michael 却只有两个月的时间来救出他的哥哥。因此他必须借助于一大群声名狼藉的危险人物，还要应付监狱外强大势力的干扰，这个难度大大超出《肖申克救赎》，可算是真正的Mission Impossible。Michael干得怎样呢？最终，他不但确立了自己的领导地位，带出了整个团队，还抽空谈了个恋爱，据说还有一笔500万的潜在收益，想来足够作团队将来的活动经费了。如此成就，估计自由生活在监狱外的你我没几个能取得吧。

考考你

将下面的句子译成英语。

1. Rarely in the case of armed robbery do we hear a plea of no contest.
2. He's beginning to get that anybody he attaches himself to is gonna end up in prison.
3. Then will you please tell me what's going through your head?

Desperate Housewives 1《绝望主妇》1（精讲十二）考考你 参考答案

1. In those last moments, it occurred to her, in addition to being boring, life could also be very cruel.
在最后的时刻，她意识到，生活不仅是乏味的，也是非常残酷的。

2. Uh, could we do a rain check? Edie and I are just looking over the plans to rebuild her house.
哦，我们能不能下次再去？伊迪和我正在检查重建她房子的计划。

1 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

2 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

3 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

4 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

5 recessed   

v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的过去式和过去分词 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭

参考例句：

• My rooms were large, with deeply recessed windows and painted, eighteenth-century panellin. 我住的房间很宽敞，有向里凹陷很深的窗户，油漆过的十八世纪的镶花地板。 来自辞典例句
• The Geneva meeting recessed while Kennety and Khrushchev met in Vienna. 肯尼迪同赫鲁晓夫在维也纳会晤时，日内瓦会议已经休会。 来自辞典例句

6 tattoos   

n.文身( tattoo的名词复数 )；归营鼓；军队夜间表演操；连续有节奏的敲击声v.刺青，文身( tattoo的第三人称单数 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 trifling   

adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的

参考例句：

• They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。
• So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利，不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

10 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

11 stumped   

僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说

参考例句：

• Jack huffed himself up and stumped out of the room. 杰克气喘吁吁地干完活，然后很艰难地走出房间。
• He was stumped by the questions and remained tongue-tied for a good while. 他被问得张口结舌，半天说不出话来。

12 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

13 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

14 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

15 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

16 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯

17 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

18 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白