美国国家公共电台 NPR Tilt The Title

 

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST: 

It's time to welcome our first two contestant¹ callers to the show. First up, David Pickett. You're a software engineer calling from Salem, N.H. Welcome.

DAVID PICKETT: Hello, Ophira. It's good to be here.

EISENBERG: Your opponent is Mary Bucklin. And you work for a catering² company, and you're calling from Austin, Texas. Welcome.

MARY BUCKLIN: Thank you. Hi, everyone.

EISENBERG: David and Mary, the first of you who wins two of our games will move on to our final round at the end of the show, so let's go to your first game. We're going to start with a word game called Tilt³ The Title. In this game, you're going to take famous books and rearrange the words in their titles to make new weird⁴ books. Jonathan Coulton has an example.

JONATHAN COULTON: I do. If I said, in this book by John Steinbeck, fruits that are tired of being stomped⁵ on finally take their revenge, you would answer "The Wrath⁶ of Grapes," rearranging the words in "The Grapes Of Wrath."

EISENBERG: Each clue will hint at the original work and the rearranged title. And contestants⁷, even though you're playing on the phone, our underpaid NPR scientists have actually worked out a remote game show buzzer⁸ system. So you're going to buzz in to answer. And the winner will be one step closer to the final round at the end of the show. Here we go. In this book by Stieg Larsson, a man tracking down a killer⁹ receives help from Smaug, who has a tramp stamp of a young woman on his back.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: David.

PICKETT: This would be "The Dragon With a Girl Tattoo¹⁰?"

EISENBERG: Look at that. That's correct.

COULTON: In this Truman Capote novella, that '80s pop singer with the hit "I Think We're Alone Now" is never alone for her morning meal thanks to her neighbor, Holly¹¹.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Mary.

BUCKLIN: "Tiffanys at Breakfast?"

COULTON: (Laughter) Yeah, that's right.

EISENBERG: Yeah.

COULTON: "Breakfast At Tiffany's," that's right.

EISENBERG: But they're at a mall, so it's Panda Express, yum, yum, yum.

COULTON: You know, I really love Panda Express for breakfast.

EISENBERG: (Laughter).

ART CHUNG: What do you get for breakfast there?

EISENBERG: Yeah, what do you get?

COULTON: Whatever they got. But sometimes you get to the airport a little early, it's breakfast time.

EISENBERG: Yeah.

COULTON: The only thing open is the Panda Express. I'm delighted when that happens.

EISENBERG: You know what? I think being the first person of the day to eat Panda Express, you're getting the best Panda Express.

COULTON: The best, the freshest, hottest, Panda Express all day.

EISENBERG: Yup. This nonfiction book by Irma S. Rombauer is a collection of recipes for cannibals who wish to dine on Ms. Behar from "The View."

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Mary.

BUCKLIN: "The Cooking of Joy."

EISENBERG: Yeah, that's right, little cannibal recipe series that we enjoy.

COULTON: We should say NPR does not endorse¹² cannibalism¹³. In this classic by Judy Blume, the man upstairs wants to answer a preteen girl's call but she never picks up.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Mary.

BUCKLIN: "Are you there, Margaret? It's me, God."

COULTON: (Laughter) Yeah, you get it. That's right.

EISENBERG: This non-linear novel by William Burroughs features a wandering junkie who prefers to eat his midday meal without any clothes on.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: David.

PICKETT: "Lunch Naked."

EISENBERG: Yeah, who wouldn't?

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Al fresco¹⁴, dining al fresco we call that.

EISENBERG: (Laughter) Dining al fresco.

COULTON: That's right.

EISENBERG: Don't get the soup unless you have a...

COULTON: You can, but it's risky¹⁵.

EISENBERG: ...A heat-resistant napkin.

COULTON: In this book by Pat Conroy, a therapist helps a man remember that the flow of the ocean is harshly affected¹⁶ by purple rain.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

COULTON: David.

PICKETT: "The Tides Of Prince." (Laughter).

COULTON: (Laughter) Yeah, that's right.

EISENBERG: Yeah. All right, this is your last clue. In this book by Michael Andre, we learn that no one is better at waiting than people who live in Britain.

PICKETT: Oh, wow.

COULTON: This is a hard one.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Mary.

BUCKLIN: "The Patient English."

EISENBERG: "The Patient English" is correct. Yes, they are very patient. They know how to queue. All right, puzzle guru Art Chung, how did our contestants do?

CHUNG: They did great in a tough game, but congratulations to Mary. You're one step closer to moving on to the final round.

1 contestant   

n.竞争者，参加竞赛者

参考例句：

• The company will furnish each contestant with a free ticket.公司将为每个参赛者免费提供一张票。
• The personal appearance and interview of the contestant is another count.参加比赛者的个人仪表和谈话也是一项。

2 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？

3 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

4 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

5 stomped   

v.跺脚，践踏，重踏( stomp的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She stomped angrily out of the office. 她怒气冲冲，重步走出办公室。
• She slammed the door and stomped (off) out of the house. 她砰的一声关上了门，暮暮地走出了屋了。 来自辞典例句

6 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

7 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 buzzer   

n.蜂鸣器；汽笛

参考例句：

• The buzzer went off at eight o'clock.蜂鸣器在8点钟时响了。
• Press the buzzer when you want to talk.你想讲话的时候就按蜂鸣器。

9 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

10 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

11 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

12 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

13 cannibalism   

n.同类相食；吃人肉

参考例句：

• The war is just like the cannibalism of animals.战争就如同动物之间的互相残。
• They were forced to practise cannibalism in order to survive.他们被迫人吃人以求活下去。

14 fresco   

n.壁画；vt.作壁画于

参考例句：

• This huge fresco is extremely clear and just like nature itself.It is very harmonious.这一巨幅壁画，清晰有致且又浑然天成，十分和谐。
• So it is quite necessary to study the influence of visual thinking over fresco.因此，研究视觉思维对壁画的影响和作用是十分必要的。

15 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

16 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。