VOA英语教学：美语训练班 052

 　　A: Welcome to American English Mosaic! 欢迎大家来到这期的美语训练班! 我是杨琳！

　　B: 我是Kat! 杨琳，快来给大家介绍一下节目内容吧!

　　A:好! 今天，咱们去打打高尔夫，看看怎么训练小狗，搭个顺风车，还要告诉大家怎么用美语说“爆冷门”和“分手”。

　　B: 训练小狗? I love training my dog, it's so much fun!

　　A: Can he shake? That's my favorite! 不过首先，咱们还是进入第一个单元，Learn a Word!

　　Learn A Word

　　今天我们要学的词是hitch a ride. Hitch is spelled h-i-t-c-h, and ride r-i-d-e, hitch a ride. Hitch a ride 的意思是搭便车，叫顺风车。Can I hitch a ride with you? 意思就是，我能顺路搭你的车么？He was hoping to hitch a ride to the stadium. 他打算找个顺路的人捎他去体育馆。美国航天飞机“发现号”退役后来到了首都华盛顿附近的史秘森博物馆，Thousands in Washington D.C. watched the space shuttle Discovery hitch a ride on top of a Boeing 747 and fly slowly over the city. 在华盛顿，数千人观看“发现号”"搭乘顺风车”--也就是让一架波音747客机背着--缓慢地飞过城市的上空。好的，今天我们学习的词是hitch a ride， hitch a ride， hitch a ride...

　　B: Did you watch the space shuttle Discovery as it hitched a ride on top of the Boeing 747, 杨琳?

　　A: No I missed it! 你看到了吗?

　　A: Yeah! I went to the Mall and saw it fly right over! It was so exciting! 发现号参与了好多航天任务! The U.S. has come a long way in our development of space technology.来听听下面的words and idioms 你就明白了!

　　Words and Idioms

　　现在播送第 962讲。我是杨琳。

　　M：我是 Steve Baragona.

　　侄子邀请我们夫妇俩去看他的乐队演出。我真不敢相信他现在这么棒! 我记得几年前他还在我姐姐的车库里练习，听起来简直就是噪音，可他们如今已经能在全国巡回演出了！我真替他高兴，这也让我想到一句习惯用语，那就是:

　　M：Come a long way. Long is spelled l-o-n-g, and way; w-a-y. Come a long way.

　　Come a long way 的意思与这些词字面的意思不太一样，它的意思是“突飞猛进”。就像我侄子的乐队，they have made considerable progress from when they first started playing together. They've COME A LONG WAY. 他们的水平比刚开始组乐队时进步了一大块，取得了飞越。下面例子里的主人公参加高中同学会，看到了很多高中同学，包括他的老朋友James。我们来看看他们的聚会有什么惊喜:

　　M: "I went to my high school reunion last weekend. That's where I saw my old buddy James. Twenty years ago he was short, overweight and rather shy. Now he's tall, thin and very outgoing. He even runs his own company. He says his life has gotten a lot better. It's clear to me he's COME A LONG WAY."

　　[这段话是说: 我上个周末去参加高中聚会，见到了老朋友James. 他可是大变样! 20年前他又矮又胖，而且很容易害羞。可现在他又瘦又高，非常外向，还自己开了公司! 他说自己的生活改善了很多。很显然，他取得了很大的进步和成功。]

　　提起突飞猛进，我觉得最值得一提的就是科技发展。现在的科技每时每刻都在进步，iPhone, iPad, iTouch....快的让我们觉得赶不上! Technology has come a long way compared to 10 years ago. 现在的科技与10年前相比，简直是突飞猛进。好，回到James身上，我们再来听听刚才那段话:

　　M: "I went to my high school reunion last weekend. That's where I saw my old buddy James. Twenty years ago he was short, overweight and rather shy. Now he's tall, thin and very outgoing. He even runs his own company. He says his life has gotten a lot better. It's clear to me he's COME A LONG WAY."

　　遇到一个要求严格的上司是好事，不过有时候也会让你头疼。下面的例子里，我们来听听要求严格的消防队长对自己的队员说了什么：

　　M: "You all did pretty well in the practice drills we ran. You made significant progress working quickly and working as a team. That doesn't mean you should be satisfied with your achievement. The reality is that more is expected of you. If you're serious about earning the full respect of this community, you'll need to COME A LONG WAY from how you performed today."

　　[这段话是说: 你们演习时表现不错，进步很快，有很强的团队精神。但这不是说你们能就此满足。我对你们的期望远不止这些。基于今天的表现，如果想赢得整个社区的尊重，你们还有很长的路要走。 ]

　　这名消防队长的要求真严格! 我邻居就是一名消防员，而且是一名女消防员! 你知道吗? Years ago women weren't even allowed to be firefighters, they've come a long way. 多年前是不允许女性当消防员的，这方面进步很大。好的，我们再来听听刚才那段话:

　　M: "You all did pretty well in the practice drills we ran. You made significant progress working quickly and working as a team. That doesn't mean you should be satisfied with your achievement. The reality is that more is expected of you. If you're serious about earning the full respect of this community, you'll need to COME A LONG WAY from how you performed today."

　　今天我们学习的习惯用语是COME A LONG WAY，意思是“突飞猛进”。好的，这次[美国习惯用语]就到此结束，我是杨琳，我是 Steve Baragona。谢谢各位的收听。

　　A: 原来 to come a long way是突飞猛进的意思。Kat 你发现没有，My hosting style has come a long way...

　　B: 你又臭美了.... but of course, I should congratulate you on your progress. I know it must be hard-- not everyone can have such obvious hosting talents from birth. From the moment I opened my eyes, I was a born entertainer!

　　A: 啊呀，Kat, 你还真是不谦虚啊! 言归正传，我有个好消息要告诉你! 还记得我朋友Roger么，你觉得特帅的那个!

　　B: Yeah! What about him?

　　A: 他跟他女朋友分手啦! 我们大家都觉得他们其实不合适，现在他们分手了，Kat...你的机会来啦!

　　B: 哈哈，Let the evil planning begin! He will be mine! MWAHAHAHA! But since you mention 分手，let's see how to say it in American English!

　　JESSICA 在北京学汉语，她的中国朋友要是遇到了不知道用美语怎么说的词，就会来请教她。今天是Lulu 要问的：分手。

　　JESSICA: Lulu! Too bad you have to fly to Shanghai for your friend's wedding next month. 我本来想约你一起去听演唱会呢！

　　LL: 嗨，别提了，要结婚的那俩个人，分手啦! Say Bye-Bye啦!

　　JESSICA: What? Did they break up?

　　LL: 分手就是 break up？ b-r-e-a-k, break. u-p up. 没错，分手啦! 这俩人特神，婚期定了，喜贴发了。结果，上礼拜那个女生给我来电话说，她和那男生分手了! 是不是该说 She broke up with her boyfriend？

　　JESSICA: Yes. Break up with someone 就是跟某人分手。不过，Lulu, What happened? Why did they break up?

　　LL: 听说是那个男生劈腿!

　　JESSICA: What's 劈腿？

　　LL: 就是...他还跟别的女生好。He has another girlfriend.

　　JESSICA: Really? He cheated on the girl he was gonna marry?

　　LL: 等会儿，我知道 cheat 是“欺骗”，你说的 cheat on her，就是背着她和别人好，“劈腿”的意思，对不对？

　　JESSICA: That's right!

　　LL: 所以啊，你说，都快结婚了，却发现 Her boyfriend cheated on her, 这女生能不跟他一刀两断吗？！

　　JESSICA: There you go! Cut their ties! If I were her, I would not give that guy another chance either!

　　LL: Cut their ties？ T-i-e-s, ties 就是联系。Cut their ties 就是彻底断绝关系，一刀两断喽？

　　JESSICA: 没错! Now let's see what you've learned today!

　　LL: 第一，情侣分手是 break up；

　　第二，劈腿，对伴侣不忠，是 cheat on someone；

　　第三，说俩人一刀两断叫 cut their ties!

　　这次的“美语怎么说”就到这里了。如果你也有不会说的词，请写信给 JESSICA, 电邮请寄[email protected]

　　B: So why did your friend Roger and his girlfriend break up? Did he cheat or something?

　　A: 没有! 我听说好像是因为他们的爱好特别不同，Roger loves being outdoors, while his girlfriend just wanted to stay in all the time.

　　B: Now that might be a problem! Couples need to have a common hobby or find social activities that they both enjoy.

　　A: Or they can take care of a pet together! 不过在下面的Go English里，Tom和Mindy正在为怎么训练他们的小狗争执不下，咱们听听吧!

　　Cats and Dogs: Intermediate

　　大家好！今天我们为您播出“美语三级跳”节目“宠物”单元的中级课程。

　　Tom说服了Mindy，俩人养了一只狗，可是这狗很不听话，经常惹麻烦，所以，Tom和Mindy打算训练训练它。

　　Professor: Right Winnie. Some dogs are so bad, they need to be trained by a professional.

　　Mindy: Gosh Tom, why did I ever agree to get this dog? It's so badly behaved!

　　Tom: It's OK, honey. We just have to train him. In a couple of weeks he's going to be totally obedient.

　　Mindy: In a couple of weeks? Tom, he will have totally destroyed our new house by then!

　　Tom: I know he's a little wild right now. But trust me, before you know it, he's going to obey every one of my commands.

　　Professor Bowman, Tom 还挺乐观的，他向Mindy保证，自己肯定能把狗训乖，让它很快就obey every one of his commands， 对主人言听计从。

　　Professor: What do you think? Will Tom be able to make the new dog obedient before it destroys their new house?

　　这可不好说。不过，刚入住的新家如果被狗弄得乱七八糟，哪个主人不心疼啊？

　　Tom: OK, the first thing I need to teach him is how to shake hands.

　　Mindy: That's the first trick he needs to learn? Tom, he isn't even house broken, and this morning he ripped apart all the pillows on the couch!

　　Tom: So.... you think I should teach him something else first? Like how to sit?

　　Mindy: Yes, Tom. That would be a good start. Then you can teach him how to heel.

　　如果换成我，第一件事就是要让狗"house broken"，也就是说，在经过训练后，能够到指定地点大小便，从而保持家里的整洁。

　　Professor: That's true. Teaching your dog how to shake hands isn't the number one priority.

　　Professor, Mindy 说的"teach the dog how to heel"是什么意思呢？

　　Professor: It means to make the dog obey you. You can also say that you bring a person to heel. For example, "At first the boss couldn't control her employees. But after she threatened to start firing people, they all came to heel."

　　我明白了，come to heel就是听话，服从的意思。

　　Mindy: Tom, the dog is never going to obey you unless you punish him. When he misbehaves, you have to spank him.

　　Tom: You want me to hit our beloved dog, who is a member of our family? How can you be so cruel?

　　Mindy: Tom, that dog isn't going to be a member of our family much longer unless he learns to behave.

　　Tom: Well, I prefer to reward him for doing something good instead of punishing him for doing something bad.

　　Mindy好像已经失去耐心了。她说，如果这只狗还不听话，就不能继续住在这里了。

　　Professor: Right. But Mindy and Tom have different ways of training the dog, right?

　　是啊，Mindy说，如果狗不听话，就要spank，打屁股，可是Tom说这种惩罚太残忍。

　　Professor: So what does Tom say they should do?

　　Tom认为应该采取鼓励的方法，也就是说，如果狗狗表现得好，就reward--奖励它。

　　Mindy: Tom, this dog is really out of control. Maybe we should take him to the veterinarian to see if he has some health problem.

　　Tom: He doesn't need to go to the vet. He needs to go to a doctor who can cure him psychologically.

　　Mindy: Oh no Tom, you're not talking about a ......

　　Tom: Yes, Mindy. We have to take him to a pet psychologist.

　　Tom 要带狗去看pet psychologist---宠物心理医生？美国真有这种医生么?

　　Professor: I guess so.可是宠物又不会开口说话，这些心理医生怎么能知道宠物的想法呢？八成是骗人的! 对了，Professor, veterinarian，v-e-t-e-r-i-n-a-r-i-an 是兽医的意思，是不是和vet， v-e-t，是一回事?

　　Professor: Yes. The whole word is veterinarian, but most people in America just call them vets.

　　嗯，我倒很想见识见识这个宠物心理医生，看看他是不是真能读懂狗狗的心声!

　　Professor: Well, we'll have to listen next time to find out!

　　A: 所以说，教会宠物如何"house broken"特别重要。It's the top priority!

　　B: It's SO important- I wish I could have had some help house-breaking my ex-boyfriend...

　　A: What? What do you mean?

　　B: I had to teach him how to not behave like a caveman...for example, I had to educate him about the importance of doing dishes, picking up his dirty socks and washing his clothes. If I had had some help, maybe we could have worked out!

　　A: 哈哈哈! 训练男友! 没错! 我现在也在对我男友进行野人改造训练!

　　B: You are doing the right thing, 杨琳! 好了好了，咱们来换个话题， 在下面的business etiquette里，咱们要去学一个高级运动，Golf!

　　礼节美语 Taking up Golf I

　　Mark在公司门口看见同事Robert.

　　Mark: Hey Robert...going on vacation? Looks like you're planning on doing some golfing.

　　Robert: Yes, I will be playing golf, but I'm not going on vacation. I'm meeting up our New York office's senior management team. We'll be playing a few rounds and going over the merger plans.

　　M: Really? So when did you take up the sport?

　　R: Around two years ago I began to realize that if I could get on the golf course with other senior executives, it could open a lot of doors for me. At first I didn't really enjoy it, but now I'm almost a golf fanatic.

　　Robert要跟纽约办公室的高层主管打高尔夫 play a few rounds，同时讨论并购的事。

　　Mark 问他是什么时候开始打高尔夫球的，这里用的动词是 take up, to take up sth. 意思是开始做某件事情。Robert说，他两年前开始觉得，打高尔夫 could open a lot of doors for me. 可以帮助自己打开很多大门，得到更多机会。Robert说，他刚开始打的时候也不太喜欢，但现在已经快变成 golf fanatic 了。fanatic is spelled f-a-n-a-t-i-c, fanatic 是指对某件事疯狂的人，比如，a jazz fanatic 爵士乐迷，a basketball fanatic 篮球迷。Mark 听后说：

　　M: I see. So you meet a lot of business executives on the course, huh?

　　R: Yeah, definitely. It's a good way to network.

　　M: Isn't golf really expensive?

　　R: To be perfectly honest, golf is a bit of a status symbol...and yes...it can be an expensive game. There are green fees, caddy fees and charges for renting the golf cart.

　　M: But the business opportunities are worth it.

　　R: Absolutely. I read somewhere that a high percentage of senior business executives play golf.

　　M: It sounds like it's almost mandatory to learn golf if you want to climb the corporate ladder.

　　Robert说自己在高尔夫球场上能遇到很多商业界高层主管。这里说的 on the course 指的就是 golf course. It's a good way to network. 打高尔夫球是认识人，积累人脉的好办法，network在这里是动词，意思是建立人际关系。打高尔夫球确实需要钱，要交 green fees球场费；caddy fees球童费，cart rental fees 租车费，但是能认识更多的人，得到更多机会，还是值得的。Mark说，看来，如果想在企业里升迁 climb the corporate ladder 就必须学打高尔夫球。

　　R: Networking is a big plus....but I think another reason executives enjoy the golf course is that it gives them an excuse to get out in the fresh air and connect with nature.

　　M: I can understand that. If you turn off your cell phone or Blackberry you can hear birds chirping and enjoy a fresh breeze. It's a nice break from a hectic office.

　　R: It is a good way to recharge, but you're right: golf primarily is a social sport. You get a chance to talk and get to know people on a different level on the golf course than you do in the boardroom.

　　公司高层愿意出去打高尔夫球，除了建立人脉以外，也是为了能离开 hectic office 忙碌的办公室，投入大自然的怀抱，It's a good way to recharge. 是个充电的好办法。Robert 觉得，高尔夫主要还是一种 social sport 社交型运动，让你在董事会议事厅以外，换个环境，换个层面，在高尔夫球场上去彼此了解。

　　B: I tried golf once, but I'm not a huge fan. I think it's just SO S-L-O-W.. and plus it's relatively expensive compared to other sports!

　　A: Maybe you should try again when you are older! You are too young to see the beauty of golf! 好啦，说完高尔夫，咱们再去了解一个体育用语，爆冷门!

　　Jessica 在北京学汉语，她的中国朋友要是遇到了不知道用美语怎么说的词，就会来请教她。今天是Jimmy要问的：爆冷门

　　Jimmy: Jessica, 昨天看学校的足球比赛了吗？爆了个大冷门儿，法学院居然输给了商学院，哎，这大冷门怎么说啊？

　　Jessica：冷门？

　　Jimmy：哦，对啊，就是铁定会输的队，最后居然打赢了。

　　Jessica: Oh, in English we call that an upset.

　　Jimmy: Upset? 那不是不高兴的意思吗？

　　Jessica: That's true. 做形容词的时候，重音在后面，是 upset (emphasis on the second syllable), 指不高兴，但是做名词，重音在前面，upset (emphasis on the first syllable), it means an unexpected win.

　　Jimmy: 哦，我明白了，中文里的爆冷门，在英文里就是 upset. 那原来大家都以为法学院会赢，这种赛前被看好的球队美语里叫什么？

　　Jessica: Easy. That team's called the favorite.

　　Jimmy: 这么说，The law school team was the favorite to win the game. 法学院足球队本来是被看好的热门球队。

　　Jessica: That's right. You can also refer to the team that was expected to lose as the underdog.

　　Jimmy: Underdog. under后面加上dog, underdog 就是在比赛里实力比较差的一方。这么说，我们中文系的排球队，不论跟谁比赛，都是 underdog.

　　Jessica: Jimmy！Isn't your girlfriend Rachel the team captain?

　　Jimmy: 唉，别提了...That's why I always cheer for the underdog...

　　Jessica: hehe.....言归正传，What did you learn today？

　　Jimmy: 第一，爆冷门叫 upset,重音在前面; 第二，赛前被看好的一方叫 favorite，第三，赛前不被看好的一方叫 underdog.

　　Jessica: 不错，我也学了个词儿--upset 叫作“冷门”。

　　次的“美语怎么说”就到这里结束了。如果你也有不会说的词，请写信给Jessica, 电邮请寄[email protected]

　　A: 我也来给大家举个例子。In our kongfu competition, I was the favorite, and Kat was considered the underdog...

　　B: 大家不要忘记，the competition was a huge upset! I WON!

　　A: 哈哈哈，oops! 我怎么忘了比赛结果啦! (笑) 好啦，这次节目时间就到这里。同学们，如果你对我们的节目有什么建议，或者想提什么问题，请发电子邮件到[email protected].

　　B: Tune in next time for American English Mosaic!

　　A: See you next time!