VOA慢速英语2015 命运让我们聚在一起?

 

Has Fate Brought Us Together? 命运让我们聚在一起?

Is it fate that brings us together today?

No, not fate. It is simply time for Words and Their Stories.

Or maybe it is fate. Maybe just this morning you said to someone, “You know, I really wish VOA Learning English would do a show on the word ‘fate.’”  And here we are. Now, that would be fate.

Fate is a word that can be hard to understand. Fate, to describe it simply, means that something is meant to be.

Fate is a word that has weight. It has power. When we say sealed one’s fate we mean a person has done something that has guaranteed a certain end result -- usually a bad one. Sometimes the result is even a fate worse than death, such as in this example:

A: He totally destroyed his business and now he’s going to jail. And for him, prison is a fate worse than death.

B: Well, if he would rather die than go to prison, he should not have stolen that money from his investors¹. When he did that, he sealed his own fate.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary says fate is a “power that is believed to control what happens in the future.” In fact, fate is so powerful that people are warned not to tempt² fate.

To tempt fate means to do something that involves a risk. Or, it means to be too sure about something. That extreme confidence may cause something unpleasant to happen.

Here is a true story. While on vacation in Thailand I met a woman who tempted³ fate by swimming around a rocky coastline at night. We warned her that she would not make it. And she didn’t. She floated in the ocean all night. A fishing boat rescued her the next morning. She was lucky. Her fate could have much different.

Fate can also change quickly and send your life in a direction you did not plan. When we say something is a twist of fate, we mean something strange or unexpected has happened. But more than that – the outcome⁴ was meant, or fated, to happen.

Newspaper report on the Titanic⁵.Newspaper report on the Titanic.

When something goes wrong, we often say it was ill-fated, or doomed⁶ from the very start. For instance, the Titanic started its ill-fated journey with much celebration and excitement.

No one thought for a moment that its fate would be to lie at the bottom of the ocean. But by a terrible twist of fate, the great ship hit a huge block of ice in the ocean and quickly sank.

A twist of fate does not always mean something bad is meant to happen. Sometimes fate is romantic. Fate and love often go hand in hand. Many people trust fate when looking for their life partner, their soul mate. Others may use online dating services. This man trusted fate.

A: How did you meet your wife?

B: I met my wife completely by accident. She boarded the wrong airplane and was sitting in my seat. As soon as I saw her … I can’t explain it … I knew we would be married one day.

A: Hmm. Was it an accident? Or a strange twist of fate?

B: I’ve never thought about it that way. Maybe I was destined⁷ to meet her all along.

Fate may have served that couple well. But sometimes fate leaves a lover out in the cold.

Words in This Story

romantic – adj. relating to, or involving love between two people

destined – adj. certain to do or to be something

leave out in the cold – expression to leave someone in a bad position

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 tempt   

vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣

参考例句：

• Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
• The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。

3 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

4 outcome   

n.结果，出口，演变

参考例句：

• The outcome of the experiment is in the lap of the gods.实验结果尚难预料。
• The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。

5 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

6 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

7 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。