美語訓(xùn)練班 009
B: 歡迎大家來到美語訓(xùn)練班！I'm Donny.
A: 大家好！我不是王怡茹！
B: 那您是....?
A: 我是楊琳！怡茹請(qǐng)假，我來代班。Donny, 請(qǐng)多多關(guān)照哈！
B: No problem, 楊琳. I'm sure you'll do just fine!
A: 希望如此。咱們要先介紹這節(jié)課學(xué)什么，對(duì)不對(duì)？
B: Yes! 今天，我們要討論公司上市有哪些風(fēng)險(xiǎn), 聽朋友講一次糟糕的約會(huì)，聊聊鍛煉身體時(shí)要注意些什么, 還要告訴大家怎么用美語說“小氣鬼”和“白費(fèi)力”。
A: But we always learn a new word before anything else, right?
B: 沒錯(cuò)，咱們先花一分鐘，學(xué)一個(gè)詞！
Learn A Word: wind down
今天我們要學(xué)的詞是 wind down, wind is spelled w-i-n-d, down is spelled d-o-w-n, wind down. Wind down 是逐漸結(jié)束的意思。美國(guó)總統(tǒng)奧巴馬宣布，今年七月開始從阿富汗撤軍，他對(duì)全國(guó)人民說: "It was the beginning, but not the end, of our effort to wind down this war." 這是我們逐漸結(jié)束這場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的開始，而不是結(jié)束。The federal stimulus program is starting to wind down in the state of Wyoming. 懷俄明州的聯(lián)邦經(jīng)濟(jì)刺激項(xiàng)目漸漸落下帷幕。The party is winding down after four hours of craziness. 經(jīng)過四個(gè)小時(shí)的狂歡后，派對(duì)漸漸進(jìn)入尾聲。好的，今天我們學(xué)習(xí)的詞是wind down, wind down, wind down.
B: Hmm, why would people ever want to let the party wind down if everyone's having fun? At my parties, the good times never end.
A: Donny，你可真是個(gè)party animal! 我就不行，我習(xí)慣早睡早起。上個(gè)周末，我鄰居家開party, and it showed no sign of winding down even at 3 o'clock in the morning! 音樂聲，說話聲，吵得我沒法睡覺！
B: That's no good. Did you tell them to keep it down?
A: I did! Three times! 我去鄰居家講了三次，先是客氣地說，后來板著臉說，最后幾乎要報(bào)警了！可等我一走，他們就該干嘛干嘛，一切照舊！
B: Sounds like you've been beating your head against the wall.
A: 用頭撞墻？我看差不多了！大夜里沒法睡覺真能把人逼瘋。
B: Actually, to beat one's head against the wall has another meaning. Let's listen and find out.
Words and Idioms: Beat one's head against the wall
各位聽眾，現(xiàn)在播送<美國(guó)習(xí)慣用語>第 936講。我是楊琳
我是 Douglas Johnson.
我想去買輛新車，為了獲得最好的價(jià)格，我?guī)Я艘粋€(gè)朋友陪我同去。這位朋友很懂車，同時(shí)又很會(huì)砍價(jià)。結(jié)果，在我挑好車后，這位朋友上陣殺價(jià)了。她把自己肚子里和汽車有關(guān)的知識(shí)都用上了，可是，賣車的這位銷售員也相當(dāng)厲害，愣是不松口。我朋友說得嘴都干了，也沒把價(jià)砍下來。這讓我想到了一個(gè)習(xí)慣用語，那就是：
Beat one's head against the wall. Beat is spelled b-e-a-t, head; h-e-a-d, and wall; w-a-l-l.
Beat-one's-head-against-the-wall.
To beat one's head against the wall 意思是白費(fèi)力氣，徒勞無功。因?yàn)槠囦N售員不愿意降價(jià)，我這個(gè)朋友花了好長(zhǎng)時(shí)間講價(jià)，可是，All she managed to do was to beat her head against the wall. 她完全是白費(fèi)唇舌。
在下面這段話中，一個(gè)遇到感情問題的女孩很希望挽回男友的心，但她這么做是不是有用呢？我們來聽一聽：
"My sister hasn't had much luck with relationships lately. She dated a guy for a couple of months, but he broke up with her and got back together with his old girlfriend. My sister couldn't get over it. She spent weeks thinking about what she could have done differently. Why bother? I hated seeing her BEAT HER HEAD AGAINST THE WALL."
這段話是說：[我妹妹最近感情生活頗為不順。她和一個(gè)男人交往了幾個(gè)月，但是這個(gè)人卻提出分手，和他的前女友復(fù)合了。我妹妹怎么也放不下，幾個(gè)星期以來，她總是在想自己當(dāng)初是否做錯(cuò)了什么，導(dǎo)致男友離開她。其實(shí)何必這樣呢？她完全是在浪費(fèi)感情，我不想看到她這個(gè)樣子。]
在感情問題上，最忌諱拖泥帶水，苦苦不放手。男友的心不能挽回，就當(dāng)是倆人有緣無份吧! 繼續(xù)浪費(fèi)時(shí)間，只可能錯(cuò)過真正適合自己的人。好了，我們?cè)賮砺犅爠偛拍嵌卧挘?br />
"My sister hasn't had much luck with relationships lately. She dated a guy for a couple of months, but he broke up with her and got back together with his old girlfriend. My sister couldn't get over it. She spent weeks thinking about what she could have done differently. Why bother? I hated seeing her BEAT HER HEAD AGAINST THE WALL."
小時(shí)候，家長(zhǎng)老師常常教育我們說，要不怕失敗，百折不撓，還總用科學(xué)家的事例來鼓勵(lì)我們。雖然最后我們很多人都無法成為科學(xué)家，但是相信大家在追求自己夢(mèng)想的過程中都會(huì)有一些意外的收獲，就好像下面這個(gè)人：
"History is filled with examples of inventors who were BEATING THEIR HEADS AGAINST THE WALL. Like the pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia who was frustrated when he couldn't find a cure for a headache. Then he created something accidentally that made him world-famous: Coca-Cola."
這段話是說：[歷史上有很多在開始時(shí)白費(fèi)力氣，走進(jìn)死胡同的發(fā)明家。比如美國(guó)喬治亞州亞特蘭大的一個(gè)藥劑師，他一心想發(fā)明一種專治頭痛的藥，可是怎么也不能成功，就在他為此感到沮喪的時(shí)候，卻意外地發(fā)明了一種飲料，并為此變得世界聞名，這個(gè)飲料就是可口可樂。]
不光是可口可樂，橡膠、青霉素、不沾鍋等都是人們?cè)跓o意中發(fā)現(xiàn)或者創(chuàng)造出來的。所以，有時(shí)候當(dāng)你一再失敗的時(shí)候，you're not necessarily beating your heads against the wall. 你并不一定是在做無用功。好了，我們?cè)賮砺犅爠偛拍嵌卧挘?br />
"History is filled with examples of inventors who were BEATING THEIR HEADS AGAINST THE WALL. Like the pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia who was frustrated when he couldn't find a cure for a headache. Then he created something accidentally that made him world-famous: Coca-Cola."
各位聽眾，今天我們學(xué)習(xí)的習(xí)慣用語是beat one's head against the wall，意思是“白費(fèi)精力，徒勞無功”。
A: 中國(guó)人說“不撞南墻不回頭”，所以這個(gè)to beat one's head against the wall 就是“撞了南墻也不回頭”嘍！
B: Correct，所以說是白費(fèi)力氣。However, sometimes when other people think you're headed toward a dead end, they might be wrong.
A: 有道理！ 就拿我來說吧，上大學(xué)時(shí)，我施展個(gè)人魅力，堅(jiān)決要讓系里最帥、最聰明、最受歡迎的男生做我男朋友....
B: And people thought you were beating your head against the wall?
A: 沒錯(cuò)！ But I proved them all wrong! 后來， 我發(fā)奮讀書，堅(jiān)決要考到全額獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金來美國(guó)牛校讀書....
B: And people thought you were, once again, beating your head against the wall. Right?
A: 沒錯(cuò)！ But I proved them all wrong - again! 后來，我跟大家說，兩年內(nèi)掙到人生第一個(gè)100萬....
B: And you proved you were NOT beating your head against the wall? 楊琳，你真牛，你....
A: 呵呵，這個(gè)……不好意思，這次失敗了。
B: 咳！ 沒關(guān)系，我看好你！
A: 行了，咱們繼續(xù)聽節(jié)目吧，下一單元：“美語怎么說”。
How to say it in American English: cheapskate
Donny 在北京學(xué)漢語，他的中國(guó)朋友要是遇到了不知道用美語怎么說的詞，就會(huì)來請(qǐng)教他。今天是Jimmy要問的：摳門。
Donny: Nice suit, Jimmy! You clean up nicely.
Jimmy: 怎么樣？我收拾收拾也挺帥吧!
Donny: You're going to a business dinner?
JIMMY: 對(duì)，我和一個(gè)朋友想作生意，要和投資人談?wù)劇？晌夷桥笥烟負(fù)搁T，上次見投資人時(shí)去的麥當(dāng)勞，還AA制! 對(duì)了，摳門怎么說？He's cheap?
Donny: Yes, you could say that. You could also say he's a cheapskate. c-h-e-a-p-s-k-a-t-e, cheapskate.
JIMMY: Cheapskate，摳門的人。My friend was such a cheapskate!
Donny:Yeah! I can't believe that investor's still interested in working with you after your partner was being so tightfisted!
JIMMY: 哎？ 你說 tightfisted? tight是“緊”的意思，fist是拳頭，所以tightfisted就是手緊，舍不得花錢嘍？
Donny: Correct.
JIMMY: 還好，My tightfisted partner changed his mind. 我那吝嗇的朋友想通了，今天，我們要請(qǐng)投資人吃頓大餐!
Donny: That's nice. But don't act like spendthrifts. Spendthrift is spelled s-p-e-n-d-t-h-r-i-f-t. It refers to people who spend money like crazy.
JIMMY: 哦! spendthrift 指花錢無度，大手大腳的人。我原來有個(gè)室友，He was totally a spendthrift! 他女朋友多得數(shù)不過來，每個(gè)都向他要特貴的禮物。
Donny: That's a textbook case of a spendthrift attracting gold diggers!
JIMMY: Gold digger?
Donny: Yes. It refers to a woman whose primary interest in a relationship is material benefits.
JIMMY: 哦，那就是拜金女唄!
Donny: That's right! Let's see what you've learned today!
JIMMY: 第一，摳門可以說 tightfisted, 小氣鬼則是 cheapskate
第二，大手大腳花錢的人是 spendthrift
第三，拜金女是 gold digger.
A：Donny, 你說要是我勒緊褲腰帶，做cheapskate, 不大手大腳地花錢，不當(dāng)spendthrift, 我那個(gè)100萬的目標(biāo)是不是能快點(diǎn)實(shí)現(xiàn)？
B: I guess so, but you're a woman, and women love shopping, so....
A: 也對(duì)，節(jié)衣縮食，什么都不買，太難受了。要不我當(dāng)個(gè)gold digger? 找個(gè)有錢人當(dāng)我的提款機(jī)？
B: 也不能不講感情??！
A: 這倒也是。再說，無數(shù)的電影小說都在教育我們：男人靠不住??！
B: 呃.....也不全是吧。
A: 怎么不是？你聽聽下面的這個(gè)“美語三級(jí)跳”吧，又是一個(gè)不靠譜的男生！
GoEnglish: Relationship - Advanced
Relationship: Advanced
(取材于 goenglish.me)
各位聽眾，大家好！今天為您播出“美語三級(jí)跳”節(jié)目“戀愛”單元的高級(jí)課程。
Professor: Kevin set up his friend Emily on a date with another one of his friends. Today Kevin and Emily are meeting to talk about how the date went last night.
Kevin: So how did your date with my friend Paul go last night? Don't you think he's a really great guy?
Emily: Unfortunately, Kevin, I can't tell you anything about Paul.
Kevin: Why not? You didn't like him? I was sure you guys would be a good match.
Emily: Actually, Paul stood me up!
Kevin: Paul stood you up? You mean he never came to the date?
Emily: Nope. I waited for a full hour and he never came.
Winnie: 啊？！ "Stand someone up"不是指放別人鴿子么？這么說，Kevin的朋友Paul讓Emily白等了一個(gè)小時(shí)，太過份了！
Professor: No doubt about it, Winnie. It would be bad enough if Emily and Paul didn't get along, but it's much worse that Paul didn't even show up for the date!
Winnie: 是?。〔恢繩evin要怎么解釋。
Professor: In the next section, listen for the phrase "go out for drinks," which means to go to a bar and drink alcohol.
Kevin: Really? Are you sure you were at the right place? Maybe you were confused about where to meet.
Emily: No. He suggested we go out for drinks at a bar downtown, and he gave me the address. I wrote it down on my calendar, so there's no way I was at the wrong place.
Kevin: Well, I guess Paul can be a flake sometimes. He says he's going to be somewhere, and then he either forgets about that appointment, or decides to do something else instead at the last minute.
Emily: I can't stand flaky people, so it probably wouldn't have worked out anyway.
Winnie: Professor Bowman, Kevin說，Paul有時(shí)是個(gè) flake, 是什么意思？
Professor: Winnie, flake is a slang word to describe a person who is not reliable. Also, you can say someone is "flaky."
Winnie: 哦，flake就是那些靠不住，說話不算數(shù)的人。這種人怎么能作男朋友呢？
Professor: Yes, flaky people can be really annoying. In the next section, listen for the phrase "pick-up line" which is a set-phrase men use to introduce themselves to women they don't know.
Kevin: So what happened? You just sat at the bar by yourself?
Emily: Oh, it was terrible. I pretended I was writing text messages on my phone to look busy, but all these guys kept coming over and giving me these lame pick-up lines.
Kevin: Oh no, what kind of pick-up lines?
Emily: Oh you know, they would pretend that we had met before as an excuse to introduce themselves.
Winnie: Emily真夠倒霉的！很多男人過來跟她搭訕，而且他們的 pick-up line 搭訕的話，都很老套，比如假裝以前在哪里見過。 現(xiàn)在誰還會(huì)相信這種話??！
Professor: Winnie, In the next section, listen for the phrase "to blow someone off," which means to show that you are not interested in talking so that the person goes away.
Winnie: 噢，to blow someone off 就是表現(xiàn)出沒興趣，好讓別人走開。
Kevin: Wow, that sounds really awkward. What did you do?
Emily: Well, I kept trying to blow them off, but it didn't work. They just kept trying to talk to me and ask me out on dates.
Kevin: I guess men don't have that problem when they go to bars alone. Usually women don't try to hit on them like that.
Emily: Exactly. Sometimes I wish I were a guy so I could go to a bar and just enjoy my drink and not have anyone bother me.
Winnie: 哎呀，這些男人真煩，Emily不理他們，他們還沒完沒了的搭訕。
Professor: Well, Winnie, you know, a lot of people would like to have Emily's problem.
Kevin: Well I'm sorry your blind date was such a disaster. How can I make it up to you?
Emily: Hmm ... I know! I'm going to find the weirdest girl in the world and make you go on a date with her!
Winnie: Oh no. 為了懲罰 Kevin, Emily 要找個(gè)世界上最奇怪的女孩，讓 Kevin 跟她去約會(huì)。
Professor: So Winnie, the lesson of the story is ...
Winnie: 別隨便給好朋友撮合，否則后果自負(fù)。
A: 看吧！ Paul stood Emily up, 放了Emily的鴿子。害得Emily只能坐在那里假裝發(fā)短信。The date was a total disaster.
B: Well, I have to admit, standing people up is not cool.
A: 對(duì)啊，太不靠譜了！
B: But the date wasn't a total disaster because a lot of guys tried to chat Emily up! That means she's very attractive!
A: 你說得好像也有道理。看來，很多事都是有好的一面，也有不好的一面。說到全面看問題，咱們來聽聽下面的“禮節(jié)美語”，看看公司上市的利與弊。
Business Etiquette: IPO II
公司老板召集手下 Lisa 和 Ken 開會(huì)，商量公司上市的問題。上市有哪些風(fēng)險(xiǎn)呢？Ken 說，
K: Well, the day we offer stock for sale is the day we will see how much faith there is in our company. If people don't think we're very valuable they won't buy our stock. And if no one buys our stock we'll lose a lot of prestige.
L: I think I see the wisdom in Jerry's logic. I see our company as entering a transitory period. We've done very well so far but if we want to see serious growth it might be time to ditch our old business model and go public.
Ken 說，公司上市能看出公眾對(duì)他們公司是不是有信心。Lisa 覺得，Jerry 主張公司上市融資增加公司規(guī)模的邏輯有道理，I see the wisdom in Jerry's logic. 她覺得，公司是應(yīng)該進(jìn)入一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)型期，a transitory period, 放棄原來的商業(yè)模式，改為上市。Lisa 用的 ditch is spelled d-i-t-c-h, ditch 是放棄，拋棄的意思。
K: Yeah...maybe. But I have my doubts. Remember all those companies back during the dot-com bust? They made their IPOs and a short time later, they were history.
J: That's true. But don't forget, some of those companies made a killing.
K: Okay, let's say we make a decision to go public; what kind of price are we thinking about charging for our stock?
Ken 表示，自己還是持懷疑態(tài)度。I have my doubts. Ken 提到的 dot-com bust 是指1995年到2000年間的網(wǎng)絡(luò)泡沫，結(jié)果大批上市公司都成了 history. 形容某人或某事是 history，成為歷史，意思是過氣了，再也不重要了。但是 Jerry 也說，Don't forget, some of those companies made a killing. 別忘了，其中很多公司都足足撈了一大筆。make a killing 意思是取得了巨大成功，尤其是指賺了很多錢。如果真要上市，每股定價(jià)多少呢？
J: I don't think there's a lot of appetite for adventure in the market right now. People are looking for either a good deal or something safe. I think we should offer a good deal and not make our initial price too expensive.
L: That's probably wise. But Jerry, have you really thought this through? You would essentially be giving up the company that your great-grandfather built.
Jerry 覺得，現(xiàn)在市場(chǎng)上大家都在找上算的或是安全穩(wěn)妥的股票，there isn't a lot of appetite for adventure. 沒有多少人愿意冒險(xiǎn)，所以Jerry建議股票定價(jià)不要過高。Lisa同意Jerry的看法，又問Jerry是不是考慮清楚了，think something through 是仔細(xì)考慮的意思。Jerry 會(huì)不會(huì)動(dòng)搖呢？我們下次繼續(xù)聽。
A: 看來，公司上市雖然可能使企業(yè)發(fā)展得更大，但弊端是，如果股票沒人買，公司會(huì)lose a lot of prestige 顏面大跌，甚至可能become history關(guān)門大吉，另外，從個(gè)人角度看， Jerry will have to give up the company his great-grandfather built，失去對(duì)家族企業(yè)的控制權(quán)。
B: 風(fēng)險(xiǎn)和機(jī)遇總是并存的嘛。That's why people spend time weighing the pros and cons before they make big decisions. Preparation is key.
A: 對(duì)，準(zhǔn)備工作要做足。不要說公司上市這么大的事兒，就說咱們下面要聽的“體育美語”里講的這個(gè)跑步，也需要恰當(dāng)?shù)臏?zhǔn)備工作。
B: Let's listen.
American sports English: Getting in Shape
Y: I can't run anymore.
P: Yang Chen, we've only run a half mile. We have four and a half miles to go before we finish!
Y:還有4個(gè)半英里?我要累死了。
P: I wonder why are you so tired. What did you do last night. Shopping again?
Y: But I have to. Macy's had a great sale.又大降價(jià)，50%Off! .
P: But that still doesn't explain it. Yang Chen, let me ask you some questions. Did you stretch before the race?
Y: No.
P: Did you have a meal with plenty of carbohydrates S?
Y: 我不但沒有吃碳水化合物，I didn't eat anything。
P: Why not?
Y That way, I'm lighter and faster!
P: Wow. Did you have any water or sports drinks before the race?
Y: No, but I had some coffee!
P: Ok. I'll be honest. You did everything wrong. Everything. Your body needs carbohydrates (carbs) for the energy that you will use to run.
Y: Ok, 我記住了，下次跑步之前先補(bǔ)充carbs，碳水化合物。
P: Also, you drank the WRONG liquid, Yang Chen.
Y Coffee is the wrong liquid?喝啤酒行嗎?
P No. That's even worse. Coffee is a diuretic. Your body needs to be hydrated H-Y-D-R-A-T-E-D - meaning having enough water - because you will sweat a lot from running. Coffee, as a diuretic D-I-U-R-E-T-I-C, actually makes you Dehydrated - meaning not having enough water in your body. The caffeine in coffee also makes your heart beat too fast, and you will crash!
Y: Well, I'm not going to quit today, Patrick. Let's move forward. 前進(jìn)!
P: Let's stop today. It's really hot outside, and I don't want you to get sick. Look how red your face is! You are totally dehydrated! How many cups of coffee did you have?
Y: I had three - one for each mile!
P: Ok, well now you know what NOT to do. Here comes the bus. We can take the bus home, and you can recover. Otherwise, you will be sent to the hospital again.
A: 原來，運(yùn)動(dòng)前要stretch伸展筋骨，要補(bǔ)充carbs，碳水化合物，還要keep your body hydrated讓身體里有足夠的水分。這么麻煩，我還是當(dāng) couch potato 沙發(fā)土豆吧！
B: 可是，做沙發(fā)土豆會(huì)變胖，身體素質(zhì)下降，那還怎么掙100萬??？
A: 有道理。我得想想....
B：你慢慢想吧。今天的節(jié)目時(shí)間差不多了。這次的撰稿人是曉北，編輯是蔚然。同學(xué)們，我們下次的美語訓(xùn)練班再見!
A：Bye!
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