【大紀元2012年02月16日訊】A: 歡迎來到美語訓練班, 我是楊琳！
B：我是Kat, 楊林，今天咱們教甚麼呀？
A: 今天咱們要聊聊中彩票，策劃一場夢幻婚禮，學學怎麼才能培養出淡定的氣場，還要告訴大家怎麼說「搶風頭」。
B: Sounds good! But first, let’s learn a word.
Learn A Word outsource
今天我們要學的詞是outsource. Outsource is spelled o-u-t-s-o-u-r-c-e, outsource. Outsource 外包。奧巴馬政府宣佈將採取新舉措振興就業市場。US President Barack Obama says he will propose new tax incentives to encourage U.S. companies to bring jobs back to the United States instead of outsourcing them abroad. 美國總統奧巴馬表示，他將提議新的稅收方案，鼓勵美國公司將就業機會留在美國市場，而不是外包到外國。Many tech giant companies such as Apple and Microsoft now outsource their assembly lines to China and India. 蘋果和微軟等很多科技巨頭公司現在都將生產線外包到中國和印度。好的，今天我們學習的詞是outsource, outsource, outsource.
A: Some people argue that outsourcing contributes to the high unemployment rate in the U.S. 有人說，產品和服務外包是造成美國失業率高的一個原因。
B: Yeah, they say that by outsourcing production and service jobs to foreign countries, U.S. workers have fewer opportunities to get employed.
A: 所以，奧巴馬要把稅務優惠留給那些在美國本土創造就業機會的公司，這也是為了解決美國工人的就業問題。
B：It sounds like a good plan, but we will have to see how it works out in reality.
A: 好了，咱們說的這些經濟政策啊，失業啊，太嚴肅了，聊點輕鬆的好不好？
B：好啊! 不如就說說–中彩票!
Popular American: Grand; Catch
今天李華要做心理學實驗， 騙Larry說她中了一百萬美元， 看Larry會有甚麼樣的反應。李華會學到兩個常用語：grand 和catch。
LH: Larry, Larry!!
LL: Hi Li Hua. Why are you so excited today?
LH: 我中樂透了！一百萬！我發財了。
LL: Oh really? Are you going to take me out to dinner?
LH: 請你吃飯？你的要求還真不高，我決定啊，分你一半！
LL: You’re giving me half a million?! What’s the catch?
LH: The catch…那是甚麼？
LL: A catch is any tricky or concealed drawback to a deal. You’re definitely not giving me half a million dollars for no reason. It’s okay, tell me. What’s the catch?
LH: A catch 是指某件好事的附帶條件？哦，我明白了，你是不相信我會因為友誼分一半獎金給你，你覺得這麼好的事情一定有catch, 對嗎？
LL: Of course. I wouldn’t give my own brother that much.
LH: 哎，好吧，我交待。其實我沒中獎啦，是心理學課要做研究。我才想要試探試探你的反應。
LL: So this is all for your Psychology class. I knew it. What if you really won a million dollars? Would you share the money?
LH: 如果我真中了獎，當然會分你一點嘍。嗯，一千塊！怎樣，我這朋友夠意思吧？
LL: You’ll only give me one grand?! That’s one-thousandth of a million Li Hua! I thought our friendship was worth more than that…
LH: One ground…是一千塊錢的意思嗎？
LL: Yup. One grand is equivalent to one thousand dollars.
LH: 喔。所以one grand 是一千塊錢的意思。
LL: Yes, that’s right.
LH: 那我就可以把五千塊錢說成 five thousand grands 咯？
LL: No, no, no. “Grand” replaces “thousand dollars”, so you would say five grand.
LH: 原來如此。五千塊要說five grand, 因為grand 代替了thousand dollars 這兩個詞。但為甚麼是說 five grand 而不是 five grands 呢？
LL: Even though five is more than one, you still say grand because the word is already in its plural form.
LH: 喔。因為grand 已經是複數了, 所以要說five grand 而不是five grands, 那我懂了。
LL: Hey, so back to the topic. You’re only giving me a thousand dollars?
LH: Yeah, one grand is a lot of money. 那換做是你，你會給我多少錢呢？
LL: I would give you 10 grand.
LH: 你會給我一萬？你真好！Wait, what would be the catch?
LL: There would be no catch! I treat you as a very close friend.
LH: 真的？我不信。不過，catch 還可以怎麼用？ 能不能多給我幾個例子？
LL: Sure. A catch is any benefit that comes with a drawback. For example, when you go on a web site, and they tell you you have a chance to win a laptop, there’s usually a catch.
LH: 你是說，某些網站如果說你有機會贏一台手提電腦，通常都要回答問卷，訂閱週刊等等好多好多條件，所以這些條件就是the catch 嗎？
LL: Exactly. So whenever someone tells you you’ve won money, or a laptop, don’t believe them. Or else, you’re going to have to expect a big catch that goes with the benefit.
LH: 難怪有一種說法是 “天下沒有白吃的午餐”。 Everything that sounds too good has a catch to it.
LL: That’s very true.
LH: 但我給你一千塊錢絕對沒有別的企圖喔！There is no catch.
LL: But I’m willing to give you ten grand!
LH: 那我也給你ten grand 怎麼樣？
LL: Ten grand. That sounds a lot better…
LH: 那就好。對了，你等下有事嗎？請我去吃牛排吧！
LL: You want me to treat you to steak? A minute ago you were only willing to give me one grand, and now you want me to treat you to steak. Ai, Li Hua!
今天李華從 Larry 那兒學到兩個常用語，一個是 grand, 是一千美元的替代說法；另一個 catch, 指某種好處所附帶的條件。
A: 要是我也能中100萬美元的大獎，我一定不獨吞，Kat, 你說吧，想要甚麼，等我中了獎就買給你， no catch!
B：謝謝了! I’ll do the same for you if I win the lottery.
A: 哎呀，咱們真是有福同享!
B：有難你當!
A：啊？
B：哈哈! Okay, let’s move on to the next program.
A: 好，在今天的美語怎麼說裡，咱們教「搶風頭」。
JESSICA 在北京學漢語，她的中國朋友要是遇到了不知道用美語怎麼說的詞，就會來請教她。今天是怡茹要問的：搶風頭。
YR: Hey hey Jessica!! 你聽說那個大新聞了麼?
JESSICA: What? What happened?
YR: 就是上禮拜話劇社的演出啊! Anna完全不顧原來話劇的劇本，使勁搶戲，女主角的風頭全被她搶去了! 聽說她們倆在後台因此大吵了一架! 對了，這個「搶風頭」用美語要怎麼說啊?
JESSICA: Hmm…搶風頭就是”steal someone’s thunder”. Steal is spelled s-t-e-a-l; and thunder, t-h-u-n-d-e-r, thunder. Basically, steal someone’s thunder means to do something that takes attention away from what someone else has done.
YR: 沒錯! Anna 把本來屬於女主角的戲份都搶去了，She totally stole her thunder! 現在學校裡人人都在說這事兒。
JESSICA: Ha! I think Anna is getting her 15 minutes of fame here!
YR: 15 minutes of fame? 出名15分鐘?…..這是甚麼意思?
JESSICA: 15 minutes of fame means that she’s only famous for a very short period of time.
YR: 哦…我明白了，這也就是短暫出名的意思吧! 就像上回電視真人秀單身女郎裡的女主角，那會兒人人都在談論她，現在節目結束了，她也就銷聲匿跡了。
JESSICA: Yep! Reality shows definitely give a lot of people a chance to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame!
YR: 嗯，沒錯! 聽說Anna原來都沒被選進劇本，可後來她就一直巴結男主角Andy，這麼才慢慢得到角色的!
JESSICA: Hmm. Sounds like she’s riding on Andy’s coattails! Coattail is spelled c-o-a-t-t-a-i-l, coattail. To ride on someone’s coattails means to use someone else’s success to go ahead.
YR:哦，那就是趨炎附勢的意思嘍! So, Anna would not get a role in the drama without riding on the leading man’s coattails! 這麼說對嗎?
JESSICA: Exactly! Now tell me what you’ve learned today!
YR: 第一：搶風頭是steal someone’s thunder.
第二，短暫出名可以說15 minutes of fame ;
第三：趨炎附勢叫ride on someone’s coattails!
A: We all want our 15 minutes of fame. Better yet, make it 15 years!
B: You’re greedy!
A: 哈哈，說起搶風頭，這可是招人討厭的事兒。咱們在以前的節目中討論過參加婚禮時的打扮，還記得麼，女賓的原則是，不能太搶眼，you shouldn’t steal the bride’s thunder!
B: 沒錯! Brides be warned: when you pick your bridesmaids, skip those who are cuter than you!
A: 對，伴娘可不能比新娘漂亮! Wait, I wonder why I got invited to be a bridesmaid so many times!
B: 呃……I’m sure it’s not because you’re not as cute as the brides.
A：哼! 今晚我要打電話問問她們! 難道覺得我醜才讓我當伴娘的？氣死我了!
B：Ah…why don’t we move on and not talk about this, and listen to a couple discussing their wedding plans.
GoEnglish Wedding Beginner
各位聽眾，大家好！今天我們為您播出「美語三級跳」節目「婚禮」單元的初級課程。
John 和 Carmen 訂婚了，倆人商量婚禮該怎麼辦，可發現彼此的想法大相逕庭。
Professor: That’s right, Winnie. Carmen wants a traditional wedding, but John wants to get married in Las Vegas.
John: Carmen, I have a great idea for our wedding.
Carmen: Me too! I want to get married in a small church in my home town.
John: What? That’s so boring. Let’s get married in Las Vegas.
Carmen: Las Vegas? That’s the last place I want to get married.
John想去拉斯維加斯結婚，這也不錯啊! 我聽說，很多名人都在拉斯維加斯結婚，人們還會找模仿貓王的人主持婚禮、載歌載舞呢!
Professor: Yes, but where does Carmen want to get married?
Carmen 想在自己的家鄉，找個小教堂，舉行一個traditional wedding–傳統婚禮。不過John覺得這種婚禮太沒意思，很老套。對了，Professor Bowman, Carmen 說拉斯維加斯是「the last place」 she wants to get married，這是甚麼意思？
Professor: That means it is the worst choice. For example, 「I like to have fun on the weekend, so doing my homework is the last thing I want to do.」
我明白了，就是最差的選擇，是你最不想要的。
John: Carmen, you know I love Elvis. Getting married by Elvis would be a dream come true.
Carmen: My parents are very religious, and I don’t think they like Elvis.
John: We could get married by someone else. What about Michael Jackson?
Carmen: John, I think you’re missing the point.
原來，John 是貓王的粉絲，所以他的夢想就是到拉斯維加斯找個假貓王主持婚禮!
Professor: That’s right, Winnie, but what does Carmen say?
Carmen說，自己的父母是虔誠的教徒，不喜歡這種搞怪的婚禮，而且他們也不喜歡貓王。誰知John說，那就請個假 Michael Jackson來主持婚禮!
Professor: That’s why Carmen says John is “missing the point”. It means he doesn’t understand the important part of what she said.
哦，miss the point 就是「沒抓住重點」，「沒說到點子上」。Carmen其實並不在乎找假貓王還是假Michael Jackson，關鍵是她不喜歡拉斯維加斯婚禮的形式。
John: I know. If we get married in Las Vegas, you can choose where we go for our honeymoon.
Carmen: I don’t care about the honeymoon! Go to Las Vegas for your bachelor party.
John: Really? You won’t be mad if I have a bachelor party in Las Vegas?
Carmen: Of course you can have your bachelor party wherever you want! You will just need to find a new fiancee.
哈，John為了說服Carmen，開出了誘人的條件。那就是，如果他們在拉斯維加斯結婚，蜜月地點就隨便Carmen挑!
Professor: Too bad Carmen says she doesn’t care about the honeymoon.
對啊，Carmen並不買帳。她還說，John如果去拉斯維加斯辦”bachelor party”-「新郎的告別單身派對」，她就要和John說bye-bye!
Professor: What do you think, Winnie? Will this marriage end in divorce?
只要John遵守婚姻的至尊法則，他們就肯定不會離婚!
Professor: What is that?
絕對服從老婆大人嘍!
John: But Carmen, when we got engaged, you said I could help plan the wedding.
Carmen: Of course, honey! You can help me plan our wedding, in a small church in my home town.
John: (Sigh) Ok …… Married life is going to be great!
Professor: So Winnie, where do you think John and Carmen will get married?
看來他們真的要在 Carmen 的家鄉舉行婚禮了。John說，在他們 got engaged–訂婚的時候，Carmen 還說讓他幫忙策劃婚禮呢，原來啊，這婚禮的大主意還是要Carmen拿!
Professor: Sounds like Carmen wins. What kind of a wedding do you think they will have?
我們下次接著聽就知道啦!
A: Kat, I just can’t get over the thought that my friends picked me as their bridesmaid because they thought I was ugly!
B: Oh, 你想太多了! I’m sure they chose you because you were reliable, pretty and close to them.
A: 真的麼？
B: Of course! Being a bridesmaid is not that easy. You have to help the bride stay in her best state, help trouble shoot any problems that may ruin the wedding, and in America, you also need to make short speech at the reception dinner.
A: 伴娘還要在婚宴時致詞？這可是個艱鉅的任務。你說得沒錯，伴娘要幫著忙前忙後的張羅，得有責任心!
B: And that’s why your friends chose you! They trust you!
A: 這麼說我就舒服多了！哈哈。好了，咱們繼續聽節目，Business Etiquette.
禮節美語 – Body Language III
公司主管Andy又請專門研究肢體語言的Monica給公司銷售員 Sara和James培訓。Andy說：
Andy: This morning we once again have business consultant Monica Wolf with us. Monica is going to speak to us today about body language and how it affects business relationships.
Monica: Hello again everyone! So….did you experiment with some of the pointers I gave you last time?
Sara: I did. I found that making a conscious effort to look people in the eye has been very useful. I think people find me more trustworthy now.
M: That’s great!
Monica問大家有沒有嚐試著把上次她教的東西用到實踐中去。她用到的一個名詞 pointer 意思是指點，建議。Sara說，她發現，講話時有意識地看著對方的眼睛真的很有幫助，別人會覺得她更可靠，讓人信得過，trustworthy. 上面那段話裡另一個語言點是，to make a conscious effort to do something 意思是有意識地去做某事。James說，
J: I’ve been working on my posture. I find when I stand up straight with my shoulders back, I actually feel more confident going into a business negotiation.
V: Wonderful! I’m so glad you applied the principles I shared with you. Today let’s talk a little bit about attitude. What’s the first thing you notice about a character like James Bond?
J: He’s very cool and composed.
S: Yeah, he doesn’t ever seem to get too worked up over anything.
James說，他也在有意識地改進自己的站姿和儀表，而且他發現，挺胸抬頭，真的會給自己平添一份自信。Monica聽說大家把上次講到的理論付諸實踐，很高興，說今天就來談談工作時的態度 attitude, 她問大家英國特工007 James Bond有甚麼特點。James和Sara都說，007很酷，很鎮定， composed, 處變不驚。這裡用到的一個短語 worked up 是形容詞，意思是興奮，激動。Monica 說：
M: That’s right! The reason he’s so cool is because he’s in charge of the situation and he knows it. People who are in charge don’t get overly excited. So, what I recommend is that you try to appear to be in control by maintaining composure. If you find yourself in a very stressful business negotiation try to limit your body gestures and control the tone of your voice.
S: So even if I don’t feel confident, I should try to fake it?
M: Yes. You’ll be surprised that even if you’re faking, you’ll start to feel more in control. Try to reveal as few of your emotions as possible.
A: But of course you still have to appear friendly.
M: Absolutely. But like a poker player, you don’t want to show your cards.
Monica說，James Bond 007 之所以老是那麼淡定，是因為他知道，情況都在自己的掌握之中，所以建議大家一定要保持情緒的穩定，參加十分棘手的談判時，要 limit your body gestures and control the tone of your voice 儘量減少肢體動作，控制自己的音調，越少暴露自己的情緒越好，就好像是在打撲克牌，不能讓別人知道你手裡的牌。
A: 原來，淡定的氣場是這麼練成的。First, you have to fake it!
B: Yeah, you’ll fool not only others but also yourself into believing that you’re in charge of the situation.
A: 這也就是心理暗示的作用吧!
B: Monica also said we should reveal as few emotions as possible.
A: 我倒覺得不用這麼裝 cool, 這不就沒有親切感了麼？
B: I’m with you there. Being a businessperson is really intense.
A：沒錯。所以現在咱們輕鬆一下，去聽American Sports English!
Y : Something smells good.
P: I’ve prepared some steak today for the tailgating party I’m having.
Y: 雖然我不知道甚麼是tailgating party， 可是我想知道Am I invited?
P: Of course you are invited. Yang Chen. Tailgating is when football fans gather outside the football stadium in the parking lot, and they host barbecue parties before, during and after the game.
Y: 你說tailgating party是在比賽之前，比賽進行當中，比賽之後；那些fans還要不要進 去看球啊?
P: That’s a great question. The best thing about a tailgating party is you don’t have to pay. You are outside, you are watching the game,
Y: In the parking lot.
P: That’s right. A lot of people just stay in the parking lot. And they’ve got food and drinks, and the whole party is centered around the car that they drive in.
Y: So it’s free.
P: Oh yeah.
Y: 那為甚麼叫tailgating party?
P: The tail of the car,
Y: 車尾巴。
P: Right, it’s the end of the car. Usually we sit on the end of the car,
Y:就是車尾派對。
P: We have our snacks, our barbecue, our drinks; you listen to the radio, and watch the TV; it’s a big party. It’s great. Just a minute, Yang Chen. I need to go put my face paint on. OK, I’m back.
Y: (Screaming)
P: What are you so afraid of?
Y: You look like a clown. 你臉上花花綠綠的是甚麼東西?
P: I’m not a clown. Yang Chen. I’m a fan. I’m a super fan.
A: Tailgate party! Sounds like fun! I’ve never been to such parties!
B: Really? My family like to go to tailgate parties during football season. You should join us next time!
A: 好啊! 那我臉上畫甚麼圖案？要不我畫個京劇臉譜？
B：Ah? The Beijing Opera Mask is really cool, but for tailgate parties, we don’t need to go that far. 畫你喜歡球隊的隊標就可以了!
A：I see! That’s gonna be so much fun! 好, 這次節目時間到了。這次的撰稿人是小北，編輯是蔚然。同學們，我們下次再見！
B：See you !
