英語(yǔ)早間課堂:The cat's out of the bag.
To begin with, I would very much like to ask you a question how we can continue with a talk with your friend if he trust you and share his sorrows with you but doesn't want it to be known to others. I think, you'er probably certain to say," It's safe with me." Of course, we learned it last time. However, all good things come to an end. 天下沒有不散的宴席。Maybe someday you have a fight with your buddy, being over impetuous because of your top anger. You would tell all his secrets to the public. So " 你的朋友的秘密被揭穿了"“你朋友的秘密被傳出去了”。How should we put it in English. Of course, you have many of your own answer, but today I would tell the one which is the most classical and the most popular appearing in the American films. Just guess what it is? As usual, let's listen to a simple situational dialogue and you can get it.
【對(duì)話 美語(yǔ)發(fā)音】
A: That movie star and his wife are divorcing.
B : The cat's out of the bag. Now everyone knows.
【答疑解惑】
It is "the-cat-is-out-of -the-bag". The cat's out of the bag which is an ancient idiom indicates "someone tells the secret and many people know it ".
【追蹤尋源】
Once I asked my nephew which is only five years old how he can figure out the meaning of "the cat's out of the bag." He told me: 貓從袋子出來了。原來貓是在袋子里面的，現(xiàn)在出來了，那就是秘密被揭穿了唄。His answer made me hold my sides with laughter, but actually it makes sense. 很可愛的解釋弄得我捧腹大笑，一個(gè)才5歲的小孩的想象力卻也言之有理。Later I told a story to him which is the origin of this classical sentence. "The cat's out of the bag." can be said as "Let the cat out of the bag." as well. It is said 250 years ago. 在一些特殊的場(chǎng)合(如節(jié)日盛宴)，乳豬是采購(gòu)單上一樣很搶手的食物。由于乳豬會(huì)亂動(dòng)，當(dāng)顧客挑選好并結(jié)賬后，商人為了運(yùn)送方便就把豬塞進(jìn)一個(gè)帆布口袋(poke)里遞給顧客。 然而，市場(chǎng)上的許多交易并不是above baord，奸商有時(shí)會(huì)利用顧客一時(shí)走神，把一只貓冒充乳豬放進(jìn)袋子里。直到顧客回家，“把貓從袋子里拿出來”(let the cat out of the bag)，才發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)騙局。This dramatic story has been being from mouth to mouth.
【視野拓展】
這樣說來，"The cat's out of the bag."中的cat可以說是指a certain secret 而且這個(gè)秘密的意義廣泛，不一定是詐人錢財(cái)?shù)尿_局，也可以指掩蓋某企業(yè)的財(cái)務(wù)困境，或者不為人知的戀情，在我們今天的對(duì)話中就說道此：“That movie star and his wife are divorcing.”yeah , a star's private life is always a focus for medias 也可能是在一種新產(chǎn)品上市前秘而不宣，免得競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手得到情報(bào)，甚至還可以是善意地隱瞞真相,【話題暢聊】
I don't know if you have remember the dialogue which we've learnt just a few days ago :
A : I heard Beth's surprise birthday party is on Sunday. B : Keep your mouth shut about that. I don't want her to kow。
Beth的父親為了Beth 在周日前的一次考試復(fù)習(xí)中不分心而隱瞞一個(gè)秘密。Nothing is as toughing as parents’ love. 真是可憐天下父母心呀。
And now I am in Russia. I am paying a visit here for a friendly communicational performance. The performance was very very successful so the Russian reporter interview made me think of my father and mother in China. I cannot fall asleep these days because of excitement so that I made two videos in tears, thanking for my parents. 我先在身居遠(yuǎn)離祖國(guó)的俄羅斯，我因友好交流演出而出訪俄羅斯的首都莫斯科。演出成功極了，記者的采訪是我想到了在中國(guó)的父母親，我這幾天徹夜難眠，于是制作了2期視頻以此感謝我的父母。國(guó)內(nèi)的許多網(wǎng)友也看到了，給我留言了。By the way thank you for my friends.
【即學(xué)即用】
就這此，please translate the following sentences into English.
當(dāng)然，我邀請(qǐng)了Sue最要好的朋友Betty，但是Betty在市場(chǎng)上碰見Sue的時(shí)候泄漏天機(jī)，她對(duì)Sue說自己有多高興下星期五晚上能和她聚聚。Betty可真是破壞了我的驚喜計(jì)劃。
Of course I invited her best friend Betty. But when Betty saw Sue in the market, she let the cat out of the bag and told her how glad she'd be to see her next Friday night. She sure spoiled my surprise.
這是個(gè)丈夫在為太太Sue精心arrange a birthday party。他在Sue最喜愛的餐廳里book a feast，并且遍請(qǐng)親朋好友在Sue生日那晚來take part in it，但是卻讓everyone doesn’t day a word about it，因?yàn)樗虢oSue一個(gè)great surprise?？墒撬麤]有有實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的計(jì)劃。
