【大紀元2012年06月15日訊】A: 歡迎大家來到這期的美語訓練班! 我是楊琳！
B: 我是Kat! 楊琳，趕快告訴大家咱們今天要學些甚麼!
A: 好! 今天，咱們要接著去看看電子產品的發展走勢，聽聽人們都有怎樣的固有觀念，學學怎麼面對棘手的問題，還要告訴大家怎麼用美語說”人氣”!
B: 人氣!? 提到這個我就想到了那個Mike隋，現在他好火呀!
A: 哈哈，回頭咱們也錄一集，說不定也火了! 不過現在，咱們先趕快來進入第一個單元，Learn a Word!
Learn A Word: bearing
今天我們要學的詞是bearing. Bearing is spelled b-e-a-r-i-n-g, bearing. Bearing 意思是關係，意義。我們常用 to have bearing on something 意思就是同某事有關係，對某事有影響。The decision had much bearing on the way the company was run. 這個決定對公司的管理運營有很大影響。His private life has no bearing on his competence as a manager. 他的私生活同他作為經理的工作能力無關。美國總統奧巴馬最近公開支持同性婚姻，一項民調發現，Sixty percent of Americans say Obama’s new position on same-sex marriage will have no bearing on how they vote in the November election.百分之六十的美國人表示，奧巴馬在同性婚姻問題上的新立場並不會影響他們在11月總統大選中把票投給誰。好的，今天我們學習的詞是bearing, bearing, bearing.
B: 楊琳，look at my new bag! Isn’t it awesome?
A: OMG!!! LV???!!!我的天啊，好看是好看，可是你怎麼買得起這麼貴的包包呢？
B: Well, my salary has no bearing on what I’m gonna buy. That’s what credit cards were made for, right?? 女生嘛，就得自己疼自己!
A: 這也對….可是一個LV包包都能頂上我一個月的房租了!!! Kat, I think you are going to have to come to grips with how much you can actually afford to spend on stuff like that…
B: Hmm… I will leave that question to future Kat, ha! But more importantly, you just mentioned a really good phrase: come to grips with, 咱們一起來聽聽這個短語的用法!
Words and Idioms
現在播送<美國習慣用語>第 964講。我是楊琳。
M：我是 Steve Baragona.
昨天我姐姐給我打電話，抱怨他們家的家庭戰爭。我姐夫自己開了一家進出口公司，本想讓子承父業，可我外甥偏要當個軟件工程師，讓我姐夫備受打擊，過了好長時間，他才慢慢接受現實。這讓我想到了一句習慣用語，那就是:
M: Come to grips with. Come is spelled c-o-m-e, and grips; g-r-i-p-s. Come-to-grips-with.
女：Grip 本身是抓，掌握的意思; come to grips with, 意思就是去面對，著手處理。就像上面的例子裡，我外甥不願意繼承父業，一心要當軟件工程師，我姐夫雖然失望，但最後還是肯於面對事實。He has come to grips with my nephew’s decision not to take over the family business. 2001年9月11號的恐怖襲擊是美國歷史上的一件大事，下面我們來聽聽歷史學家對這起事件的看法:
M: “On September 11, 2001, four U.S. planes were overtaken by terrorists. Their dramatic crashes resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. In some ways, Americans have COME TO GRIPS with how that day changed the country forever. But it remains a difficult experience for many to deal with.”
這段話意思是說：[2011年9月11日，三架美國飛機遭到恐怖份子的劫持。這次襲擊造成近3千人死亡。從某些方面看，美國人已經開始面對那天發生的一切徹底改變了國家這一事實。但對很多人來說，這段經歷還是很難承受的。 ]
是啊！尤其是對那些在911恐怖襲擊事件中失去親人的人來說，這段經歷一定不堪回首。我記得上高中時，養了十幾年的貓死了，I had a hard time coming to grips with the loss of my cat. 我難過了好長時間，才能面對這個事實。好了，我們再來聽聽剛才那段話：
M: “On September 11, 2001, four U.S. planes were overtaken by terrorists. Their dramatic crashes resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. In some ways, Americans have COME TO GRIPS with how that day changed the country forever. But it remains a difficult experience for many to deal with.”
女: 我朋友Amy最近剛離婚。She still hasn’t come to grips with the fact that her ex would leave her for a younger woman. 她到現在還無法接受前夫為了一個比她年輕的女人而離她而去的現實。美國是個大熔爐，如何面對種族歧視是一個重要問題。下面的這個例子裡講到了一個叫George的人，我們來聽聽他的想法發生了怎麼樣的轉變：
M: “George had always held a low opinion of immigrants. One day he was driving to work when a truck hit his car and knocked him unconscious. He awoke to find that he’d been rescued by a woman who’d grown up in Mexico. That’s when he CAME TO GRIPS WITH his prejudice. It was time to face his dislike of people he didn’t really know.”
這段話的意思是說：[喬治一直對移民沒甚麼好印象。有一天他開車去上班的路上，一輛卡車撞到了他，把他撞昏了過去。醒來時，他發現，是一名墨西哥裔的婦女救了他。這件事讓喬治開始正視自己的種族歧視心態，不能對不熟悉的人存在任何偏見。]
種族歧視是一個很嚴肅的問題。通常情況下，存在偏見的人往往很難改變他們固有的想法，因為他們會避免去接觸那些自己本來就看不上的人。好了，我們再來聽聽剛才那段話：
M: “George had always held a low opinion of immigrants. One day he was driving to work when a truck hit his car and knocked him unconscious. He awoke to find that he’d been rescued by a woman who’d grown up in Mexico. That’s when he CAME TO GRIPS WITH his prejudice. It was time to face his dislike of people he didn’t really know.”
今天我們學習的習慣用語是come to grips with ，意思是「正視面對」。好的，這次[美國習慣用語]就到此結束，我是楊琳，我是 Steve Baragona。謝謝各位的收聽。
A: That’s exactly my point Kat. 我看你老買這些高級貨，I think you need to watch your spending habits girl! 你說要是每個月都月光，到時候萬一有個急用的時候你怎麼辦呀?
B: 楊琳，冷靜，冷靜點!! I will be fine! Anyways, you’ve got this backward. I just need to find a high-paying job to match my spending habits! There’s no way I’m willing to give up the love of my life…LV….
A: 哎喲，那我可真無語了….算了，剛才你提到冷靜，下面咱們就來學學這個詞用美語怎麼說!
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Jimmy要問的：別慌。
Jimmy: Donny, 大事不好了!
Donny: What happened, Jimmy? You look terrible!
Jimmy: 兩小時後….我要和女朋友約會，她剛提醒我，今天是我們認識一週年紀念日，還給我準備了禮物。But I totally forgot! 怎麼辦？她肯定會生氣，會罵我，會分手，還會……
Donny: Hey! Hey! Don’t have a cow!
Jimmy: 啊？你說甚麼？cow? cow 不是奶牛麼？
Donny: What I meant is– you need to calm down. “Don’t have a cow” 也就是中文裡說的不要慌張。
Jimmy: 哦，讓別人冷靜，別慌，就說 Don’t have a cow! 哎？還有別的說法麼？我記得有個詞叫 chill, c-h-i-l-l?
Donny: Yes! You can say chill out. It means calm down, or “don’t panic”.
Jimmy: 啊! 要是我今晚跟女朋友坦白講：我就是忘了咱倆認識一週年這回事了，你能把我怎麼樣？她肯定會抓狂。然後我就說：Honey! Chill out!
Donny: 呃….I think you better say “Honey, I’m really sorry. How can I make up to you?”
Jimmy: 呵呵，我開玩笑的。
Donny: Oh, speaking of the word “chill”, you can also say “take a chill
pill”. It’s another way of saying “calm down”.
Jimmy: Take a chill pill. Pill, p-i-l-l, pill是「藥丸」的意思，所以, take a chill pill字面意思就是「吃個冷靜藥丸」，就是叫人別激動，別慌。
Donny: You got it. So what are you going to do for tonight’s date?
Jimmy: 還能怎麼辦，抓緊這兩小時，趕緊去買禮物唄! 走啦!
Donny: Before you go, tell me what you’ve learned today!
Jimmy: 今天學了讓人別慌的三種說法。第一，Don’t have a cow;
第二，Chill out;
第三：Take a chill pill.
這次的”美語怎麼說”就到這裡結束了。如果你也有不會說的詞，請寫信給 Donny, 電郵請寄meiyu@voanews.com
B: See 楊琳，you really just need to take a chill pill. It’s obvious that with skills like mine, it won’t be long before I will be so famous that I will be able to afford all the luxury goods I want!
A: 你可真不像一般的美國人。There’s a stereotype that Americans don’t really care about luxury brands. 你說大街上大家不都穿T-shirt和牛仔褲麼!
B: You forget- I’m not “everyone.” I’m a unique and beautiful flower! 哈哈哈，開個玩笑! 我個人可不喜歡這些刻板印象，不過in today’s Go English, we’ll take a look at different stereotypes from around the world!
A: Let’s listen!
Culture: Intermediate
各位聽眾，大家好！今天我們為您播出「美語三級跳」節目「社會文化」單元的中級課程。
Jane 和Will初次約會，聊到彼此的家庭背景。我知道Jane 的父母來自中國，所以我很想聽聽，作為一個亞裔美國人，Jane的成長經歷是甚麼樣的。
Professor: That’s right, Winnie, let’s listen to what they have to say.
Will: So Jane, you said that both your parents are from China. How do they like living in America?
Jane: They really like it, but of course they miss their friends and family back home sometimes.
Will: Yeah, I can imagine. So do you consider yourself Chinese or American?
Jane: Well, that’s a complicated question. Of course I’m American, but I’m ethnically Chinese as well.
Will: I see. So you consider yourself both?
Jane: That’s right.
Will總是問一些嚴肅的問題! 他問Jane，覺得自己是中國人還是美國人。Jane回答說，自己既是中國人，也是美國人。
Professor: Right. Jane is an American citizen, but she is also ethnically Chinese.
Ethnically？ 我明白了，ethnic是民族的意思.
Professor: Exactly. For example, I could say that Hispanics are one of the largest ethnic groups in America.
所以，從民族上講，Jane認為自己是華人。
Professor, 拉美裔人，是美國人口最多的少數族裔之一？那麼，亞裔人口又怎麼樣呢？
Professor: Asians make up about 4.5 percent of the American population.
Will: Did you face a lot of stereotypes growing up?
Jane: Of course, all minorities face some stereotypes. For me, lots of people assume that because I’m Asian, I’m smart and good at math.
Will: That doesn’t sound like a bad stereotype to have!
Jane: No, it’s not a very offensive stereotype. But it’s still wrong for people to assume things about me because of how I look. I hate math!
Will: Me too! I guess that’s one thing we have in common.
stereotype, s-t-e-r-e-o-t-y-p-e, stereotype，是「刻板印象」、「先入為主的看法」。Jane說，因為她是亞裔，所以很多美國人對她持有stereotype，一看她的亞洲臉，就認定她的數學一定很好!
Professor: But Jane thinks that stereotypes are wrong, doesn’t she?
當然啦! Jane說，以貌取人是不對的。她其實很討厭學數學。
Professor: That’s right. She and Will both hate math, so that’s one thing they have in common.
Will: Did people tease you when you were growing up because you’re Asian?
Jane: My school was very politically correct, so people tried really hard not to say things that would offend me.
Will: Right. Race can be a sensitive subject in America. People like to talk about it, but only in a polite way.
Jane: That’s true. People these days try hard to be tolerant, and are careful not to say things that other people may think are racist.
看來Jane 是在比較 tolerant–「寬容」的環境下 長大的。人們沒有因為她是亞裔而嘲弄她。不過，Professor, 甚麼叫「politically correct」？
Professor: Being politically correct is making sure that the things that you say won’t offend people in minority groups and disadvantaged groups.
哦，politically correct，在政治上保持正確，也就是言行上避免有歧視少數族裔或弱勢群體之嫌。
Professor: Right. People don’t want to say anything racist, so they make sure all their words are very polite.
沒錯，racist–「種族歧視性」言行，肯定不能讓你做到 politically correct.
Jane: It’s pretty easy for me living in the US because it is such a diverse country. There are many other minorities, so I don’t feel different.
Will: That’s true. The US is a country of immigrants, so it is very diverse.
Jane: Yup. My university is especially diverse. It tries to find students from all over the world.
Will: Oh yeah, my university has lots of minority students too. I’ve really enjoyed learning about lots of different cultures from them.
Professor: Winnie, do you know what “diverse” means?
Diverse就是「多樣化」。Jane和Will的大學都很diverse, 不僅有來自各族裔的學生，還有來自世界各地的留學生! Professor, Jane和Will初次約會就談了宗教、種族這些嚴肅話題，而且聊得挺高興。我看他們真是天生一對兒!
A: 我覺得上面說得很對，我來美國最大的文化衝擊就是這種多元化! Learning about all these different cultures is definitely fun, but sometimes it’s challenging not to offend anybody!
B: 那你幹嘛還說我買LV包包嘛!
A: 我這不是為你好嗎?!
B: 哈哈，yeah yeah I get your point. Actually everybody has some kind of hobby that they end up pouring cash into! Let’s follow up with our friend the tech-head in Business Etiquette and see what he ends up buying!
禮節美語 EARLY ADOPTERS II
Henry買了最新的超小電腦Orange SuperCom 4，拿給同事Sara和Mark看。Sara問他：
Sara: So did you already own an Orange SuperCom 3?
Henry: Yeah, I sold it on eBay last week.
M: I used to rush out and buy the latest gadgets as well, but I discovered that first generation products often have a lot of bugs in them.
H: Actually, Mark is right. Even this Orange SuperCom 4 is not quite up to snuff. The connection to the Internet is a bit slow, and it seems like the computer has a little trouble multitasking.
Mark說，他原來也是科技潮人，一出甚麼新玩藝兒，the latest gadgets, 馬上跑去買。gadget is spelled g-a-d-g-e-t, gadget 是小玩藝的意思，常指科技類產品。不過，Mark發現，很多第一代，第二代產品都有很多 bugs, bugs在這裡指技術方面的漏洞。Henry承認，他新買的SuperCom4 is not quite up to snuff. 也不是樣樣都好， up to snuff 意思是符合標準，相當於 up to standard.
M: The problem is that many times in the beginning they haven’t quite ironed out all the wrinkles in the software. By the third or fourth generation the company’s engineers have a better idea of what works and what doesn’t.
S: I’m generally pretty content just to stay with the same system until it becomes obsolete. I still play my old cassette tapes at home.
M: That’s one way to go. You know the old expression: “If it ain’t broke…don’t fix it.”
S: Exactly, I use things until they literally fall apart.
H: I prefer the expression: “Out with the old and in with the new!”
Mark說，問題關鍵是，第一、二代產品時，很多軟件中存在的小問題還都沒有得到解決。They haven’t ironed out all the wrinkles in the software. to iron out 意思是抹平，解決。Sara說，她在這方面從不趕時髦，家裏的東西都得用到過時。英語裡有一種說法叫：If it ain’t broke…don’t fix it. 沒壞就不要去修它。Henry 崇尚的則是另一種境界：Out with the old and in with the new! 舊的不去，新的不來。
M: I guess the world needs both kinds of people. Early adopters of technology like Henry help pave the way into the future.
S: And people like me try to keep the pace of change down to a reasonable speed.
H: I have to tell you though…despite all its faults, the new Orange SuperCom 4 is really quite an amazing machine!
M: Maybe after work I can take a quick look at your new toy.
H: Sure! I love showing off my new gadgets! Sara, care to join us?
S: That’s OK…I think I’ll stay at home and play my cassette tapes. You guys have fun!
Mark說，Sara和Henry這兩種人，都是不可缺少的。他問Henry下班能不能去擺弄一下他的新玩具。Henry欣然同意，說：I love showing off my new gadgets! 我就喜歡顯擺我的新玩藝，to show off 是顯擺的意思，他還問Sara, care to join us? 要不要一起來。Sara開玩笑說，她還是選擇回家去聽她的磁帶錄音機。
B: See, THOSE guys tend to spend every dollar they have on new gadgets! Compared to them, my enthusiasm for beautiful, elegant bags is nothing!
A: 嘿! 就你能找藉口!
B: 嘿嘿，再說了，這也能為我增添人氣啊。Today, for example, I’m carrying this brand new style of LV bag. A bunch of people on the street stopped to compliment me on my bag! I’m practically a local star.
A: Now that might be true. 這倒是個增添人氣的方法哈! 說到這裡，咱們去看看人氣這個詞兒用美語怎麼說!
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。今天吳瓊是要問的：人氣。
Donny: Hi, Wuqiong, do you want to go to this concert with me?
WQ: 演唱會？讓我看看是哪個歌星開的。哇! 這個人現在是人氣天王! 我當然願意跟你去啦。哎？人氣在英文裡怎麼說？
Donny: 人氣就是受歡迎的程度。So you can use the word “popularity”, p-o-p-u-l-a-r-i-t-y, popularity.
WQ: popularity 就是人氣。這個詞就是 popular 的名詞形式嘛。
Donny: Exactly. I’ve heard about this singer’s rising popularity. That’s why I want to go to his concert.
WQ: 演唱會的表演嘉賓，guest stars，都有誰？
Donny: Well, here’s the guest star list. Most of them are popular too, but who’s this person on the bottom of the list? 我怎麼沒聽說過。
WQ: 讓我看看，讓我看看。哦，這個女明星幾年前很紅，可後來過氣了。
Donny: No wonder I’ve never heard about her. She’s a has-been. The word “has-been” means someone who is no longer popular.
WQ: has-been? has 和 been放一起就是過氣的人，過時的東西。This guest star used to be famous and popular, but now she’s just a has-been.
Donny: 對。
WQ:這麼說，她可能想藉著當嘉賓的機會重新走紅嘍？
Donny: That’s possible. This concert will be a good opportunity for her to stage a comeback.
WQ: comeback, c-o-m-e-b-a-c-k, comeback 就是東山再起，鹹魚翻身的意思吧？If this singer makes a comeback, she will regain her popularity!
Donny: Exactly. Now let’s see what you’ve learned today!
WQ: 第一：人氣叫 popularity;
第二：過氣、過時的人或物是 a has-been;
第三：東山再起是 a comeback.
這次的”美語怎麼說”就到這裡結束了。如果你也有不會說的詞，請寫信給 Donny, 電郵請寄meiyu@voanews.com
A: I hope my popularity will increase after all this serious hosting. I should get SOME kind of reward for dealing with YOU all day….
B:哈哈，趕快去查查你微博的粉絲人數漲沒漲?
A: 哈哈，我這就去!(笑) 好了，這次節目時間就到這裡。同學們，如果你對我們的節目有甚麼建議，或者想提甚麼問題，請發電子郵件到meiyu@voanews.com.
B: Tune in next time for American English Mosaic!
A: See you next time!
