美語訓練班第23課:打擾別人約會的"電燈泡"
A:美語訓練班上課啦！我是楊林！
B：我是Jessica! 楊林，讓我來告訴大家今天的節目內容，怎麼樣？
A：沒問題，go ahead!
B:今天，我們要去打拳擊—boxing!， 回顧經典美劇——六人行, 談談換工作的事兒，還要告訴大家用美語怎麼說“電燈泡”。
A:電燈泡是light bulb，這個大家都知道，我猜，今天我們要教的是那種打擾情侶約會的“電燈泡”，對不對？
B:You'll have to listen and find out. 現在，咱們還是先來學個詞兒吧！
Learn a word Career Path
今天我們要學的詞是career path. Career is spelled c-a-r-e-e-r, career; and path, p-a-t-h, path; career path. Career path 職業生涯。求職顧問建議大家嘗試不同種類的工作。Having a nonlinear career path can make you more interesting to potential employers. 有非直線職業生涯的人在僱人老闆眼裏更有吸引力。According to a new study by the UK Office for National Statistics, the birth month of infants can indicate what career path they will take in the future. 英國國家統計局的一項研究發現，出生月份將決定一個人未來的職業發展方向。好的，今天我們學習的詞是 career path, career path, career path.
B：So the month in which I was born will affect the kind of job I have in the future? That's interesting!
A:對啊。Jessica, 你是幾月份生的？
B：February. So what does that say about my career path?
A:恭喜，According to the study, 二月出生的人最可能成爲藝術家！
B:Wow! that's nice!
A:你說這和星座有關麼？我不是特相信這些東西。
B:I don't know, but sometimes the predictions do come true, and when they do, it boggles the mind!
A:Boggle the mind? 你又說到大家聽不懂的詞了，咱們快來教一下吧！
Word and idioms:boggle the mind
女：各位聽衆，現在播送<美國習慣用語>第 944講。我是曉北。<美國習慣用語>
M：我是 Douglas Johnson.
女：那天我去看微雕，真的很厲害!小小的一塊木頭上雕刻了整整一本紅樓夢! 太不可思議了! 真的驚歎於雕刻師的精湛手藝。這讓我想到一個習慣用語:
M:Boggle the mind. Boggle is spelled b-o-g-g-l-e, and mind; m-i-n-d. Boggle-the-mind. Boggle the mind.
女:boggle本身有吃驚的意思，而mind是思想，頭腦。Boggle the mind, 意思就是“令人驚歎的”。雕刻師在小小的一塊木頭上雕了整整一本書，令人驚歎! 這換了我絕對不行。我們再來看一個例子。大家都知道最初計算機非常沉笨，而現在電腦做得越來越輕便，像最新的I-pad 2 還不到80克! 讓我們來聽聽這令人驚歎的科技進步:
M:"Fifty years ago, the fastest computers ever made took up the space of a football field. Their many vacuum tubes and mechanical parts required constant maintenance. Amazingly, the computing devices we now hold in our hands can do so much more in only a fraction of the time. That BOGGLES THE MIND."
這段話是說：[50年前，世界上運作最快的電腦佔地要達到整個一個足球場那麼大。其中有很多電子管和機械零件，需要經常維修。可現在，我們手中拿的小電腦能在短得多的時間裏做多得多的事情。]
女：這確實令人驚歎。想想我們現在不以爲然的很多東西，摩天大樓，超音速飛機，基因工程，都是令人驚歎的人類發明。50年前，誰能想到現代社會根本就離不開電腦呢? 好，讓我們再來聽聽剛纔那段話：
M:"Fifty years ago, the fastest computers ever made took up the space of a football field. Their many vacuum tubes and mechanical parts required constant maintenance. Amazingly, the computing devices we now hold in our hands can do so much more in only a fraction of the time. That BOGGLES THE MIND."
女：Boggle the mind. 令人驚歎的。 在下面這個例子裏，Linda 在事業上取得了令人驚歎的成就。而她的同事George 卻有別的看法。讓我們來聽聽看:
M:"George was shocked when Linda became his supervisor. She seemed to lack any of the necessary skills to manage employees. Her reports were often inaccurate and she did nothing to improve productivity. How she ever got her promotion BOGGLED HIS MIND. She must have known somebody important at the factory."
這段話是說：[喬治得知琳達變成他的上司之後十分吃驚。她完全沒有管理員工的能力。她的報告經常出現紕漏，而且她完全沒有做任何事情來增加生產力。她是如何晉升的着實令人吃驚。她肯定認識工廠裏的什麼重要人物。]
女:在喬治眼裏，沒有實際能力的琳達能夠晉升令他吃驚。Boggle his mind。大家注意，在boggle the mind 中，我們可以把"the"換成任何人稱代詞，boggle sb's mind， 令某人吃驚。在這裏，George was so baffled by Linda's promotion that it boggled his mind. 琳達的神祕升職令喬治吃驚。好，我們再來聽聽剛纔那段話：
M:"George was shocked when Linda became his supervisor. She seemed to lack any of the necessary skills to manage employees. Her reports were often inaccurate and she did nothing to improve productivity. How she ever got her promotion BOGGLED HIS MIND. She must have known somebody important at the factory."
女：各位聽衆，今天我們學習的習慣用語是BOGGLE THE MIND，意思是“令人驚歎的”。好的，這次[美國習慣用語]就到此結束，我是楊琳，我是 Douglas Johnson。謝謝各位的收聽。
M:Until next time.
女：下次節目再見。
M:This has been Words and Idioms.
B:楊琳, Let me tell you something that's really mind-boggling: a friend of mine got a Ferrari for her birthday! Isn't that something?
A：生日禮物是法拉利？夠牛的。男朋友送的？
B:Yes! I joined them for a drive. It was fantastic!
A：人家情侶開車兜風你非要跟着，真是電燈泡。
B:哈哈，They don't seem to mind. 不過說到電燈泡，Let's find out how to say it in American English!
How to say it:The third wheel
Donny 在北京學漢語，他的中國朋友要是遇到了不知道用美語怎麼說的詞，就會來請教他。今天是瓊燕要問的：電燈泡。
QY:Happy Friday， Donny! 你今天晚上有什麼計劃嗎？
Donny:Hmm, not yet. What do you have in mind?
QY:Let's go salsa!! 我今晚要跟兩個朋友去跳salsa, 可他們倆是一對，我可真不想夾在中間，當大電燈泡--very bright light bulb!
Donny:I see. You don't want to be the third wheel.
QY:The third wheel?
Donny:Yep! Wheel is spelled w-h-e-e-l. The third wheel, 第三個輪子, it's a very colloquial way of saying a third person joining a couple in a social context.
QY:沒錯！我就是不想當 the third wheel!
Donny:Exactly, you wouldn't want to bother any love birds, right?
QY:Wait! Love birds? 愛的鳥兒？
Donny:Yep! In English, we often use the word love birds to refer to a couple who are openly affectionate, especially in public. 就是大庭廣衆之下卿卿我我。你不想打擾這對love birds吧?
QY:可不是嗎！不過這兩個人很配！They are a great match!
Donny:Oh that's nice! You can also say, they are a match made in heaven.
QY:A match made in heaven？ 那不就是中文裏說的天生一對嘛！
Donny:There you go! Since you don't want to be the third wheel, I will go with you! But first, let's see what you learned today!
QY:第一：電燈泡叫做：the third wheel;
第二，如膠似漆的情侶 ，可以說 love birds;
第三，"天生一對"是，a match made in heaven.
A:A match made in heaven 天生一對兒。不過，雖說緣分天註定，有時也得尋覓好多年才能碰上合適的人。
B：That's okay as long as you find the one. The process itself will teach you what love really is. Don't you think so?
A：You're right! 而且這個過程越曲折，愛情故事就越動人。電視劇就是這麼編出來的。
B:Speaking of TV shows, let's listen to GoEnglish. Today, Will and Jane will talk about my favorite sitcom, Friends.
GoEnglish:TV intermediate
各位聽衆，大家好！今天我們爲您播出“美語三級跳”節目“電視節目”單元的中級課程。
Winnie:Will 和 Jane在約會時聊天，談到了"sitcom"， 也就是situation comedy—情景喜劇。
Professor:Hey Winnie, have you ever watched any American sitcoms?
Winnie:我以前看過Friends——“六人行”，這算是個sitcom吧？
Professor:That's right! Now let's see what sitcoms Will and Jane like to watch.
Will:So Jane, I know that you like watching reality TV. But what about sitcoms?
Jane:I used to watch Friends religiously! I cried when it went off the air in 2004.
Will:Oh yeah, Friends was a really popular sitcom. But wasn't it pretty unrealistic? None of the characters worked very often, but they had a huge apartment in New York city.
Jane:Who cares? Sitcoms are supposed to be funny. They're not supposed to be like real life.
Winnie:原來，Jane也是“六人行”的粉絲! 她說得對，sitcom追求的是搞笑、好玩兒，誰會在乎情節的真實性啊! 對了，professor, Jane說她以前 watch Friends “religiously”，這是什麼意思呢？
Professor:It means she was very serious about watching the show.
Winnie:哦，我明白了，如果做什麼事情是本着“religiously”的態度，就表明你是雷打不動，一直在很認真地做。Jane看“六人行”一定是集集不落! 她還說，2004年這個節目 went off the air--“停播”的時候，她都哭了!
Professor:Exactly! Winnie, the opposite of "off the air" is "on the air". You could say that Friends was so popular that it was able to stay on the air for 10 seasons.
Winnie:哦，off the air的反義詞是on the air, 也就是“播出”的意思。
Will:Why did you like Friends so much? Did you think it was really funny?
Jane:Yeah, it was really funny, but it also had a great storyline. All the different episodes were part of the same plot.
Will:That's true. I also thought that the dialogue was really good too.
Jane:Oh yeah, the dialogue was great. I thought everything the characters said to one another was really funny.
Professor:So Winnie, what did Jane like so much about Friends?
Winnie:她說，“六人行”的storyline——“故事情節”特別好。每集的內容相互聯繫，使整個節目有one plot——個完整的故事埂概。
Professor:That's right! But Will has a different reason for liking the show, right?
Winnie:對，Will喜歡裏面的dialogue--對話，覺得這些對話特別好玩兒!
Will:The other thing that made Friends so good was the cast. All the actors were perfect for their characters.
Jane:Oh yeah, the casting was really great. The actor who played Ross did a great job. He was hilarious!
Will:Really? I didn't think he was the funniest. My favorite character was Joey.
Jane:Joey was pretty good, but not as funny as Ross. And the relationship between Ross and Rachel was really romantic too.
Will:It was kind of romantic, but it got old.
Winnie:Will 和Jane都覺得“六人行”的cast——演員陣容選得好。
Professor:That's right. But what does Will say about the relationship between Ross and Rachel on the show?
Winnie:Will說，Ross和Rachel的戀愛的確挺浪漫的，可後來就got old了。Professor, 這是不是說這些情節老演老演，就變得沒勁了？
Professor:Right. It means the plot lost its original appeal because it is too long or gets repeated too many times. For example, "When I first heard Craig's joke, I thought it was funny. But after he told it 10 times, it got old."
Jane:What about you, Will? Do you like sitcoms?
Will:Not anymore. Ever since the series finale of Friends, I haven't found any other sitcoms that I really like.
Jane:Really? So what kinds of programs do you watch on TV now?
Will:Lately, I've gotten really into more serious shows, like crime dramas.
Winnie:啊？自從“六人行”的series finale——“大結局”播完後，Will 就再也沒找到好看的sitcom?!
Professor:That's right. Winnie, you can use the word "finale" in other contexts. For example, at the end of the Olympics there is always a big finale with lots of fireworks.
Winnie:奧運會閉幕式也可以叫“finale.”Will 說，他現在喜歡看crime dramas, 這又是什麼節目呢？
Professor:Listen next time to find out!
A：我也是“六人行”的粉絲呢，I used to follow it religiously!
B：So did I!
A：我還曾經打算也搬到紐約去，找一些可愛又好笑的室友同住，就像Friends那樣去生活！
B:We all want to live the lives portrayed on TV.
A：沒錯，有時候，現實生活太無聊了，我簡直想背個包裹出去流浪。
B：I understand that. We need some change once in a while.
A:說到改變，咱們來聽下面的禮節美語，看看Lisa對自己的生活有什麼新計劃。
Business Etiquette:Looking for a change I
Emily問同事Lisa要不要一起吃飯。
Emily:Hey to grab lunch with me?
Lisa:Sure, Emily. We haven't done that in a while.
E:ally, we haven't hung out at all recently. You seem sort of under the weather. Is there something going on?
L:Well, keep this under your hat, but I think I'm going to quit after New Year.
Emily問Lisa要不要一起吃飯，她在這裏用的動詞是 grab, g-r-a-b, grab, grab lunch 是一種口語裏常用的說法，意思是隨便買點午飯吃，也可以說 to grab something to eat. 聽上去，Lisa跟Emily很久沒一起吃飯聊天了，we haven't hung out at all recently. to hang out 意思是跟朋友待在一起，Emily還說Lisa看上去sort of under the weather似乎有點不舒服，問她怎麼回事。Lisa告訴Emily, 自己新年過後可能要辭職，但要Emily暫時保密，keep this under your hat. To keep something under one's hat 意思是保守祕密，不要告訴別人。Emily聽到這個消息感到很突然。
E:Quit this company? .
L:I know I should be pretty happy here, but I'm not finding the kind of job satisfaction I need. I'm a good graphic designer...
E:One of the best in the company.
L:That's kind of you to say. stuff we do here hasn't really challenged me very much at all.
E:Oh, I get it. Simply put: you're bored, huh?
L:That's one way of putting it. For me, a job needs to stimulate my brain, otherwise it becomes a daily drudgery.
MC:Lisa是公司裏最好的圖像設計師之一, 目前這份工作對她沒有挑戰性，simply put 簡單地說，她覺得現在的工作很無聊。put, p-u-t, put 在這裏意思是說出來，表達出來，上面兩人的對話裏還有 that's one way of putting it. 也是同樣用法，意思是“可以這麼說”。Lisa說，她需要一份能讓她興奮起來的工作，否則的話，工作就變成了a daily drudgery, drudgery is spelled d-r-u-d-g-e-r-y, drudgery, drudgery 意思是無聊乏味的工作。
L:Another thing is that I don't feel there is a decent chance of promotion. I've been here for three years and I'm doing the exact same thing at the exact same salary.
E:That's ries have been frozen for a while and I hear next year it's the same story.
L:I'm finding that I spend a lot of time at work just sitting at my cubicle daydreaming or wasting time. I can's sleep on Sunday nights because I know I have to go back to work the next day.
E: sounds like you're suffering from serious job dissatisfaction. I guess you really do need a change.
Lisa還說，想辭職的另外一個原因是覺得沒有升職的機會，There isn't a decent chance of promotion. Emily 表示贊成，因爲工資已經有一段時間沒漲了，而且她聽說，next year it's the same story. 明年也是一樣。Lisa說，有時候上班就是在自己的小隔間 cubicle 裏發愣，浪費時間，星期天晚上一想到第二天早上還要去上班，就睡不着覺。看來，Lisa真是得換份工作了。
A：工作中覺得無聊、不如意是常事，不過要是像Lisa這樣suffer from serious job dissatisfaction, 那可能就真要考慮換個環境了。
B：Right. It seems like her current job is a dead-end position--no promotion, no pay raise and no fun.
A:對啊，這樣的工作等於是在一天天混日子，浪費時間。不做也罷! 好了，咱們下面換個話題，看場拳擊比賽吧！
American Sports English:boxing
P:Hey Yang Chen, Let's go bowling.
Y:我不會打保齡球。
P:Well don't worry, you are in good hands. I'll teach you how to bowl.
Y:那你可要耐心點兒。Be very patient with me.
P:No problem. First you need to learn how to hold the bowling ball.
Well, first hold the ball in your left hand.
Y:Whoa, 好重啊，差點閃了我的腰。
P:It's not that heavy. Well, now put the first and second fingers of your right had in the top two holes and your thumb in the bottom hole.
Y:OK, Patrick, I'm ready! Now what do I do?
P:Walk up to the line at the top of the bowling lane with the ball and center yourself in the lane.
Y:Okay, 站到bowling lane保齡球道中間。
P:Now, hold the ball with your right hand only. Swing it behind you, and then swing it forward and let it go.
Y:Here it goes! (Thud of ball on the lane sound of going in the gutter).
P:Oh No, Yang Chen. Your ball went into the gutter.
Y:A gutter?
P:Yep, those long troughs on both sides of the bowling lane are gutters G-U-T-T-E-R-S. And when your ball goes in the gutter it is called a gutter ball.
Y:保齡球掉到旁邊的溝裏，就叫gutter ball溝球。
P:And since you didn't hit anything, you don't get any points, but you do get another chance.
Y:Okay, let me try again. 我再來一次。(Sound of ball hitting lane and going in the gutter) Rats! I got another gutterball.
P:It is pretty common to get gutterballs when you first start bowling. You just need practice.
Y:Okay, then let me try again. (Sound of ball hitting lane and going into gutter). Aiya! 又一個gutter ball!
P:Practice makes perfect!
A：原來，在拳擊比賽中扔毛巾就是認輸。Throw the towel 就指放棄，承認失敗。
B:Let me teach you another expression that comes from boxing, to throw one's hat in the ring! It means to announce that you intend to compete for something.
A：哦，to throw one's hat in the ring, 把帽子扔進賽場裏，就表示要參與競爭。
B:沒錯。For example, I threw my hat in the ring and became a candidate for the Student Council President.
A:你競選學生會主席，我支持你！
B:哈哈，thanks, but I'm not really running for that position. I'm not interested in politics.
A：對啊，你是二月生的，要當藝術家纔對啊！
B:Exactly! That's my true calling!
A:好了，今天節目時間差不多了，這次節目的撰稿人是曉北，編輯是蔚然，同學們，咱們下次的美語訓練班節目再見！
B:Bye!
