【大紀元2012年03月15日訊】A: 大家好! 我是王怡茹歡迎來到…
B：歡迎來到美語訓練班!我是Kat, 我來介紹一下節目內容。今天…
A: Kat! Why did you steal my line? 你怎麼搶我台詞啊？
B: Oops!被你發現了。
A: 行吧，你要是願意，就來介紹今天的節目吧!
B：好! 今天，咱們要去健身， 買些有機食品，要去賭場試試手氣，還要告訴大家用美語怎麼說「崩潰」。
A: 行啊 Kat, 介紹得不錯!
B: Thanks!
A: 不過在節目一開始，咱們先來學個詞兒!
Learn A Word #1445 powerhouse
學個詞 for 02/19/2012
YangL/Lin
今天我們要學的詞是powerhouse. Powerhouse is spelled p-o-w-e-r-h-o-u-s-e, powerhouse. Powerhouse 強大的集團或組織。本週中國國家副主席習近平訪美。奧巴馬提出了兩國間貿易不平衡的問題 。Obama said that with China’s rise as an economic powerhouse came a responsibility to ensure balanced trade flows. 奧巴馬說，隨著中國崛起為經濟強國，中國有責任確保貿易流的平衡。Illinois remained an agriculture powerhouse in 2011. 2011年，伊利諾依州保持農業大州的地位。哈佛大學畢業生林書豪在NBA掀起了一場旋風。不過，Harvard is not a basketball powerhouse. 哈佛大學並不是籃球球星的高產地。好的，今天我們學習的詞是powerhouse, powerhouse, powerhouse.
B: See Yiru, you can’t blame me for stealing your lines. I’m just a radio powerhouse! I can’t control myself when it comes to being an amazing host! Why are you so upset?
A: 我就是不喜歡老被人打斷。 I have a friend who never lets me finish a sentence- she’s always talking right over me.
B: Ah, I understand. I could see how you would have a bit of a chip on your shoulder from always having someone cut you off.
A: Chip on my shoulder? chip 不是指甚麼東西碎了，破了麼？Kat, 她只不過是打斷我的話而已，她可沒把我打壞呀!
B: Hahaha, that’s not the kind of “chip” we’re talking about here. You’ll understand once you listen to this episode of Words and Idioms!
Words and Idioms Chip on one’s shoulder
現在播送<美國習慣用語>第 956講。我是楊琳。
M：我是 Douglas Johnson.
女: 今天晚上我們準備去姐姐家吃飯，可是我一點也不想去。原因是這樣，一個月前，我男朋友想要重新粉刷房子。雖然我侄子很想賺這個錢，但我男朋友還是找了個更有經驗的粉刷工。鬧得我侄子到現在都耿耿於懷。現在每次我們看到他都很尷尬。讓我想到一句習慣用語，那就是：
M：Chip on one’s shoulder. Chip is spelled c-h-i-p, and shoulder; s-h-o-u-l-d-e-r. Chip-on-one’s shoulder.
女: Chip是木塊的意思，而chip on one’s shoulder，就是心裏有根刺，懷恨在心的意思。上面我提到，因為我男朋友沒有把粉刷工作交給我的侄子，他一直心裏有根刺。他一直在生我們的氣，這也就是為甚麼我不想去姐姐家吃晚飯的原因。下面這個例子裡，我們來看看這名年輕學生遇到了甚麼困難。
M: “When I first went to private school, I had a hard time. I wasn’t used to being around kids who came from wealthy families. And that upset me. Years later, my classmates told me how I always had a CHIP ON MY SHOULDER. That’s because I felt they treated me badly because I wasn’t rich.”
[這段話是說: 我最開始到私人學校上學的時候，特別不適應。我不習慣跟那些富裕家庭的孩子在一起。很多年之後，我的同學告訴我，他們總覺得我非常冷漠，心裏有根刺似的。這可能是因為我覺得自己不夠富有，所以老覺得其他人對我不友善。]
女：這也能夠理解，如果總覺得自己不如別人，很容易就會變得性格古怪。一般來說在比賽中，輸掉的一方都會have a chip on its shoulder. 可是今年的女子世界盃，美國女足給大家樹立了一個好榜樣。In interviews after the game, the American team showed how to be graceful in defeat. Team members didn’t seem to have a CHIP ON THEIR SHOULDERS. 在賽後接受採訪時，美國隊顯示了如何從容地面對失利。她們一點也沒有懷恨在心。好了，我們再來聽聽剛才那段話:
M: “When I first went to private school, I had a hard time. I wasn’t used to being around kids who came from wealthy families. And that upset me. Years later, my classmates told me how I always had a CHIP ON MY SHOULDER. That’s because I felt they treated me badly because I wasn’t rich.”
女：大家都希望有個好的工作環境，這對每個人也確實非常重要。但是同事之間難免存在競爭，就像下面這個人 ，他在競爭中勝出了，可是還有甚麼可為難的呢? 我們來聽聽他對同事講的一番話:
M: “We’ve both wanted to move up in the company. So I’m sorry that the boss promoted me and not you. Every time I try to talk to you, you’ve got a CHIP ON YOUR SHOULDER. But if you want to be mad at someone, it should be with her. She made the decision.”
[這段話是說: 我知道咱倆都想升職。所以對於老闆沒有給你升職我感到很遺憾。但是每次我跟你說話的時候，你都好像對我懷恨在心似的。如果你要生誰的氣，應該也是老闆的氣。因為是她做的決定。]
同事間相互競爭向來是個難以處理的問題。升職了當然高興，可是也難免遭到其他人的嫉妒。上面的例子中，My co-worker always has a chip on his shoulder because the boss didn’t give him a promotion. 我的同事因為老闆沒給他升職而懷恨在心。好的，我們再來聽聽剛才那段話:
M: “We’ve both wanted to move up in the company. So I’m sorry that the boss promoted me and not you. Every time I try to talk to you, you’ve got a CHIP ON YOUR SHOULDER. But if you want to be mad at someone, it should be with her. She made the decision.”
今天我們學習的習慣用語是CHIP ON ONE’S SHOULDER，意思是「心裏有刺，懷恨 在心」。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。
A: 我有個朋友，就只因為有一次我沒去她的生日party, 她到現在都不理我! She always has a chip on her shoulder just because of such a little thing!
B：Hmm….那你向她道歉了嗎?
A: 當然了! 我又寫郵件，又發短信，又打電話，可她就是不理我。我也聽別的朋友說，她經常有一點小事就大驚小怪的。
B: Yeah. Some people are like that. They tend to freak out over little things- they’re so high-maintenance! You can’t do a single thing wrong when you are around them.
A: Totally! 說起 freak out, 正好今天咱們的美語怎麼說就要提到這個詞兒!
Freak Out
Jessia 在北京學中文，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：崩潰。
Jessica：Morning 怡茹! Oh..you don’t look so well, are you sick?
YR: 生病倒沒有，就是精神快崩潰了。老闆讓我做調研，一共需要1000多個樣品數據! 我已經做了兩個星期，頭昏腦脹，可還是沒做完! I am going crazy!
Jessica: Don’t freak out yet. 怡茹，咱們一塊想想辦法!
YR: Wait a second…你說，freak out?
Jessica: Freak is spelled f-r-e-a-k, freak; freak out 就是崩潰的意思。
YR: OMG! That’s totally me! I’m freaking out! 你說想辦法，我已經上網找，問朋友，去圖書館查，都沒有現成的數據，完全要自己一點一點蒐集! 我覺得我已經走投無路了….
Jessica: Yeah… seems like you are at the end of your rope. This phrase basically means you are out of options. I’m so sorry 怡茹!
YR: At the end of my rope? 真形象。繩子到頭了，沒有別的辦法。I’m SO at the end of my rope! Jessica，你說要是我無法按時完成任務，那可怎麼辦呀! 老闆都催我兩次了，我現在感覺如履薄冰。
Jessica: Yeah, being on thin ice is definitely not the best feeling in the world.
YR: On thin ice 就是中文裡說的如履薄冰吧？太形象了。
Jessica: You know what? I’m not worried about you. I think you can definitely finish the assignment on time!
YR: 真的嗎？好，那我加油，一定按時完成，做得漂漂亮亮的！
Jessica: That’s the spirit!
YR: 我去了！ Bye Jessica!
Jessica: Wait 怡茹！ Before you go, tell me what you’ve learned today!
YR: 第一，崩潰可以用 to freak out;
第二，走投無路，無技可施是 at the end of someone’s rope;
第三，如履薄冰是 on thin ice.
B： 我知道那種感覺。 Sometimes it just feels like nothing ever goes right and everything that could go wrong DOES go wrong! But other times, I feel like people purposefully find things to be upset about.
A: 阿? 故意找麻煩? 你說的是不是那種一點小事就大驚小怪的人?
B: Exactly. My sister is always freaking out about little things that I think shouldn’t matter. For example, she hates when I buy non-organic detergent!
A: 洗潔精還有有機的嗎? 我以為這些都是化學品呢!
B: Well, actually here in America, we have all sorts of organic products. 下面的美語三級跳講的就是這個!
A: Let’s listen and find out!
Food: Intermediate
今天我們為您播出「美語三級跳」節目「食物」單元的中級課程。
Professor: Doug and Liz are at a supermarket buying food to cook for dinner. In the last episode they ate a lot of fast food, so now they want to buy some healthy organic food.
MC: 不過，professor Bowman, organic food–有機食品價格比較貴，不知道 Doug和Liz 捨不捨得買。
Professor: Let’s listen and find out.
Liz: Alright Doug, first we need to buy some produce. What kinds of fruits and vegetables should we get?
Doug: Wow, look how big those oranges are! Let’s get some of those.
Liz: No let’s not get those. They put all kinds of artificial things into them to make them grow that big. Let’s get some organic ones.
Doug: But the organic ones are much smaller and more expensive.
Liz: Doug, it’s worth it to pay more for healthy food.
Doug 想買那些又圓又大的橙子， 可Liz說，這些橙子是人工助長的，不健康，她想買純天然的有機食品。對了，Professor, 甚麼是produce?
Professor: “Produce” is a general word for fruits and vegetables. If you go to a store and want to buy fruits and vegetables, you can ask where the produce section is.
我明白了，produce就是蔬菜水果這些農產品。
Liz: Alright, next we have to go to the dairy section. We need milk and cheese.
Doug: Great! I have a coupon for milk. It’s only 2 dollars per gallon!
Liz: No way! I want all-natural milk. The Happy Cow Milk Company gives its cows massages every day and lets them listen to music.
Doug: Yeah, and it’s three times more expensive! Who cares if the cows are really happy and relaxed?
Liz: A happy cow is a healthy cow, and a healthy cow produces the best milk!
MC: Professor Bowman, dairy在這裡是指奶製品吧？
Professor: Exactly. And remember, in America, milk is usually sold in gallons.
噢，在美國，牛奶按「gallon」，「加侖」賣。Doug 說，他有一張牛奶的coupon–優惠券，可是 Liz不要這種便宜牛奶，她要一家給乳牛按摩、聽音樂的公司出的牛奶。
Professor: Can you believe that? I think buying organic food is good, but massages for cows are a little ridiculous.
Liz: Alright, now let’s go get some soap. Can you go get me some all-natural deodorant?
Doug: All-natural deodorant? Oh come on, Liz. Deodorants with chemicals in them work much better.
Liz: No way! All those chemicals are really bad for your health. I don’t want to get cancer.
Doug: Yeah, but I don’t want to have a girlfriend who smells really bad. Liz, you can buy all-natural food, but I draw the line at personal hygiene.
哇，Liz 連deodorant–香氛劑都要all-natural–純天然。
Professor: She seems to be worried that the chemicals in other deodorants will give her cancer.
可Doug 說「draws the line at personal hygiene」是甚麼意思呢？
Professor: Winnie, when you draw the line at something, it means you will not tolerate it. For example, it’s good for people to be nice to their pets, but when they treat them like children, that’s where I draw the line.
我明白了， draw the line at something就是「拒絕接受」的意思。Doug 說，Liz可以買全天然食物，但不能買全天然的香氛劑，因為沒有化學成分的香氛劑根本不香，Liz會變得臭臭的，Doug可受不了這樣的女朋友。
Professor: Exactly. Now let’s listen to them paying the cashier.
Cashier: Would you like paper or plastic?
Doug: We’ll take plastic bags.
Liz: Doug, what are you doing? We can’t use plastic bags. They’re bad for the environment!
Doug: OK fine. Can you put them in paper bags please?
Liz: Doug, paper is bad for the environment too! They have to cut down trees to make paper bags.
Doug: Well what are we going to do? We need some kind of bag to bring the groceries home.
Liz: Let’s buy a cloth bag that’s reusable. They’re only 10 dollars.
Doug: I was afraid you would say that!
Professor: So Winnie, why doesn’t Liz want to put the groceries in paper or plastic bags?
她覺得塑料袋和紙袋都對環境有害，所以要買個可以反覆用的布袋子。Professor，Doug和Liz買這麼多菜，不知道會做些甚麼好吃的!
Professor: Listen next time to find out!
A: 看來Liz是個有機產品的鐵桿粉絲，她不僅要買organic food 有機食品，all natural milk 純天然牛奶，還要買all-natural deodorant, 純天然香氛劑。不過，雖然說這種純天然的產品對健康有利，但是如果甚麼都要純天然的，還真是挺麻煩的。
B: 對啊，甚麼都要適度嘛。 Maybe she’s obsessed with organic products because she has an addictive personality.
A: Addictive personality? 就是很容易對一樣東西上癮的性格麼？
B：Exactly. A lot of gamblers or drug users have addictive personalities! Once they start something, they can’t stop.
A: 對啊，嗜賭如命的人身上就有這種上癮的性格成分。這期business etiquette正好講到賭博，咱們來聽一聽!
禮節美語—BE-229 Gambling I
PATRICIA去找同事Kelly。
PATRICIA: Hey, Kelly…the boss just called me into his office. You and I have to go to Macau for a meeting with our international marketing department. The meeting is on a Friday afternoon so I was thinking we could spend the weekend down there!
Kelly: Macau, eh? So I guess you’re thinking about doing some gambling, right?
P: Well, it is legal in Macau. We might as well take advantage of this golden opportunity! Oh, there’s John. John and I used to win some serious money in Las Vegas.
PATRICIA告訴Kelly，老闆讓他們兩人星期五去澳門出差，跟公司的國際營銷部同事開會，問Kelly願不願意索性在澳門待一個週末，去賭場試試手氣。這時候，另外一位同事John走過來，PATRICIA說，John和他以前就曾在美國的賭城拉斯維加斯贏過不少錢，他說的some serious money意思是可觀的數額。John說，
John: Yep, Pat and I used to go to Las Vegas at least twice a year. Gambling can be a lot of fun.
K: I’ve never really seen the appeal of gambling. I know it’s possible to win big, but I’ve never won. I really hate losing money.
P: I hear you….but if you ever hit a jackpot you’ll be addicted for life!
J: Winning is a pretty good feeling, but a lot of people can take it too far. PATRICIA, did you hear about Joe?
P: You mean Joe Klein? How’s he doing?
J: Not so good. He lost his house and his wife left him. We didn’t know it at the time, but he actually had a serious gambling problem.
John 和 Patricia 以前每年至少一起去兩次拉斯維加斯。Kelly說自己逢賭必輸，所以賭錢對她沒有appeal吸引力。PATRICIA說，雖然win big贏大錢的機會不多，但是if you ever hit a jackpot, you’ll be addicted for life. 一旦中了頭獎，就會一輩子上癮。John說，贏錢感覺是不錯，但千萬不能 take it too far 玩過頭，他們有個朋友Joe Klein had a serious gambling problem. 就是賭錢上癮，結果輸了房子不說，老婆也不要他了。
P: Really? That’s too bad.
J: He was over $75,000 in debt…so eventually the bank took his house. As you can imagine, his wife wasn’t too happy about that.
K: See? These are exactly the kind of stories I’m talking about! I think gambling can be as addictive as illegal drugs!
J: And I would have to agree. I don’t have an addictive personality by nature so I’m generally able to control myself. But…I have lost more money than I can afford on more than one occasion.
Kelly 覺得，gambling can be as addictive as illegal drugs. 賭博跟毒品差不多，讓人上癮。John 表示贊同，他說自己雖然自控能力比較強，and don’t have an addictive personality by nature 也不是那種做事喜歡上鐸d的人，但是賭錢的時候，還是不止一次輸得超出了自己的承受能力，這裡說的 more than one occasion 意思是不止一次。
A: 中國人說，小賭怡情，大賭傷身! 不過我看，有時間還是多運動運動，才是健康的生活方式!
B: I agree! Let’s go to the gym and do some exercise to keep fit!
American Sports English Keeping Fit 健美
Y: Hey Patrick, 我今天才發現你很健美，you look fit, masculine, macho…..
P: Well that goes without saying, Yang Chen. I’m just awesome.
Y: 你簡直就像Arnold Schwarzenegger.
P: You mean I look like an old man? Thanks so much, Yang Chen.
Y: No, 我是說你像健美先生Mr. Fitness。Hey, seriously, 你是怎麼樣 keep fit? Doing Kungfu?
P: No Kungfu panda.
Well, I actually I lift weights.
Y 舉重
P And I do cardiovascular C-A-R-D-I-O-V-A-S-C-U-L-A-R exercises.
Y: Cardiovascular exercises 都包括甚麼?
P: Cardiovascular ═ or just cardio ═ is exercise that helps burn calories by working the heart, such as running, biking, and hiking.
Y: Ok, stop. 跑步，騎車，爬山，太多了吧，雖然我想減肥 可是well I really don’t like cardio
P: You look OK. But if you can shed a couple of pounds here and there, that would be perfect.
Y: Shed a couple of pounds? 你是說我太胖? Gee, thanks I guess. 可是我不想加入健身俱樂部。
P: Why not?
Y: I can’t afford the membership fees. 一年要好多年費。太貴了。
But I do exercise.
P: How?
Y: Shopping. I get to do some cardio by walking around, and my arm muscles get exercise from all of the things I have to carry that I bought!
Macy百貨商店在大降價。我走了。Bye.
A: Kat, 這幾天天氣真好，感覺春天來了! 真想出去活動活動!
B: You should join me for a jog after work! It’s fun and refreshing, and a great way to enjoy the weather!
A: Good idea! 今天下班就去和你一起慢跑! 好了, 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 !
