VOA词汇掌故2023 你每天过得都"千篇一律"吗?

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning¹ English.

欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。

In news reports, you can hear about surprising events.

在新闻报道中，你可能会听到令人惊讶的事件。

You can learn about new technologies, new plans, and big changes.

你可能会了解到新技术、新计划和重大变化。

But in today's Words and Their Stories, we consider how to talk about things that do not change — at least not very much.

但在今天的《词汇掌故》节目中，我们要讨论的是如何谈论没有变化（至少变化不大）的事物。

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

太阳从东方升起，在西方落下。

Babies cry when they are hungry.

婴儿饿了就哭。

Water turns to ice when the temperature drops below freezing.

当温度降到冰点以下时，水就会结冰。

These are things we expect.

这些都是我们预料中的事情。

In fact, we are so sure about them that we can bank on them.

事实上，我们很确信它们会发生，所以我们可以依靠它们。

To bank on something means² that you are not taking a chance by saying something is going to happen or that something is true.

To bank on something的意思是你没有在冒险说某事将会发生或某事是真的。

It is a stronger way of saying that you can count on something.

这是一种更强烈的说法，表示你可以依靠某事物。

And there are some days when we feel like nothing new happened, where today seems almost the same as yesterday.

有些日子，我们感觉没有什么新鲜事发生，今天似乎和昨天几乎一样。

In such a situation, we can say same old, same old, which is another way of saying "nothing new or different happened."

在这种情况下，我们可以说千篇一律，这是“没有新鲜的或不同的事情发生”的另一种说法。

Now consider people's behavior.

现在讨论一下人们的行为。

Imagine you are planning to spend time with a friend.

想象一下，你计划与一位朋友共度时光。

You agree to meet your friend at a local market, but when you arrive, your friend is not there.

你和朋友约好在当地的一个市场见面，但当你到达时，你的朋友不在那里。

After waiting almost an hour, you receive a message on your phone.

在等待了近一个小时后，你的手机上收到了一条信息。

It says, "I'm so sorry! I forgot about our meeting! Are you still there?"

上面写着：“对不起！我忘了我们约好见面了！你还在那里吗？”

At this point, you simply say to yourself, "par³ for the course."

这时，你只需对自己说，“在预料之中。”

In this example, par for the course means your friend's behavior was not surprising but expected.

在这个例子中，“par for the course”的意思是你朋友的行为并不令人惊讶，而是在意料之中的。

That is because you know your friend often forgets things.

那是因为你知道你的朋友经常忘事。

But it also means you are not pleased with the behavior.

但这也意味着你对这种行为不满意。

We mostly use par for the course to express both that we do not like a situation and that the situation is the same as what we expected.

我们通常用“par for the course”来表示我们不喜欢某种情况，也表示情况与我们预期的一样。

We can use par for the course to talk about rules or policies⁴ we don't like, but also expect.

我们可以用“par for the course”来谈论我们不喜欢但期待的规则或政策。

For example, regarding⁵ a competition, someone might say, "The rules are so unfair. Unfortunately, that's just par for the course."

例如，关于一场比赛，有人可能会说，“规则太不公平了。不幸的是，这是意料之中的。”

You can also use the expression in a neutral⁶ way—that is, with neither a positive nor a negative feeling.

你也可以以中立的方式使用这个短语——也就是说，既没有积极的感觉，也没有消极的感觉。

This happens when we are trying to make clear that people shouldn't be surprised by something or place too much importance on it.

当我们试图表明人们不应该对某事感到惊讶或过于重视时，就会发生这种情况。

For example, someone might say, "Security⁷ checks at airports are par for the course."

例如，有人可能会说，“机场的安检是意料之中的事。”

Here, the speaker means, "Because security checks are normal at airports, you shouldn't be surprised by them."

在这里，说话者的意思是，“因为安检在机场是很正常的事情，所以你不应该对此感到惊讶。”

The word "par" comes from Latin⁸.

“par”这个词来自拉丁语。

It can mean "that which is equal."

它的意思是“平等的东西”。

Language experts suspect the expression par for the course came from the game of golf, where "par" is the expected score of a skilled⁹ player for part of the golf course, or the whole course.

语言专家怀疑，“par for the course”这个短语来自高尔夫球比赛，“标准杆数”是指熟练的球员在高尔夫球整场比赛或一部分比赛中的预期得分。

Next, we look at an expression in American English: Is that a thing?

接下来，我们来看看美式英语中的一个短语：Is that a thing?

This question asks if something is new or becoming more common.

这个问题问的是某事物是新事物还是越来越普遍的事物。

For example, imagine you travel far from your home.

例如，假设你离家很远。

You see a car with unusual lights on its wheels.

你看到一辆汽车的轮子上有不寻常的灯。

You wonder if that car is the only one with those special lights.

你想知道那辆车是不是唯一一辆有那些特殊灯的车。

But the next day, you see another car with similar lights.

但第二天，你看到另一辆车也有类似的灯。

In this situation, you might ask someone who lives in the area, "Is that a thing?"

在这种情况下，你可能会问住在这个地区的人：“现在人们都用这种灯了吗？”

The person can tell you if the lights are unusual, or if they are starting to become popular with some people.

这个人可能会告诉你这些灯是否不寻常，或者它们是否开始受到一些人的欢迎。

If it's a trend¹⁰, the person can simply answer, "Yeah, it's a thing."

如果这是一种趋势，这个人可以简单地回答：“是的，这是一种趋势。”

We don't ask "Is that a thing?" for something that is already common or expected.

对于已经司空见惯或预料之中的事情，我们不会问“Is that a thing?”。

For example, you would not say "Is that a thing?" for an activity like brushing your teeth.

例如，对于刷牙这样的活动，你不会说“Is that a thing?”。

However, you could ask the question about a new health trend.

然而，你可以问一个关于新的健康趋势的问题。

For example, in 2023, a person might ask if something is "a thing" about using virtual¹¹ reality for health and fitness¹².

例如，在2023年，有人可能会问，使用虚拟现实技术来健身是否是一种趋势。

That is because the technology is still new and not used by most people.

这是因为这项技术还很新，大多数人都没有使用过。

Was today's Words and Their Stories the same old, same old for you? I hope not!

今天的《词汇掌故》节目对你来说是千篇一律的吗？我希望不是！

Listen for the expressions from today's program as you read and listen to English.

在你读英语和听英语的同时，听一下今天节目中的短语。

Then let us know what you find by writing to us in the Comments section.

然后在评论区留言告诉我们你的发现。

I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins.

安德鲁·史密斯、吉尔·罗宾斯共同为您播报。

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

3 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

4 policies   

n.政策( policy的名词复数 )；策略；政府；策略性

参考例句：

• The Chancellor was forced into a humiliating climbdown on his economic policies. 财政大臣被迫狼狈地承认他的经济政策存在失误。
• an angry denunciation of the government's policies 愤怒谴责政府的政策

5 regarding   

prep.关于，至于；就…而论，在…方面

参考例句：

• Regarding John,I will write to him at once.至于约翰，我将立即给他写信。
• Regarding these facts,a special committee is to be appointed.鉴于这些事实，必须成立一个专门委员会。

6 neutral   

adj.中立的，不偏不倚的；中性的

参考例句：

• Behaviour is never culturally neutral.人的行为从来都受文化的影响。
• They have maintained a consistently neutral stance.他们一直持中立态度。

7 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

8 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

9 skilled   

adj.(in)熟练的，有技能的；需要技能的

参考例句：

• Unskilled workers usually earn less money than skilled workers.无技能的工人通常比有技能的工人挣钱少。
• She was skilled enough in French to translate a novel.她法语娴熟，足以翻译小说。

10 trend   

n.趋势，倾向，方位；vi.倾向，转向

参考例句：

• Today's trend is toward less formal clothing.眼下时尚趋向于穿着随便。
• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。

11 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

12 fitness   

n.适合，适当，健康，健身

参考例句：

• They're doing exercises to improve their fitness.他们为增强体质而做体操。
• No one questions her fitness for the job.没人怀疑她能胜任这项工作。