【大紀元2012年07月20日訊】A: 美語訓練班上課啦! 大家好，我是楊琳!

B: 我是Kat! 楊琳，快說說咱們今天都要學甚麼?

A: 好! 今天，咱們一起去學學怎麼打籃球，看看怎麼裝飾辦公室來鼓舞士氣，吃頓饕餮大餐，還要告訴大家怎麼說”換位思考”!

B: 換位思考! 這是我無數優點中的一個呀!

A: Uh oh…大家都笑了…. 好了好了，言歸正傳，我們趕快先來進入第一個單元，Learn a Word!

今天我們要學的短語是lock horns. Lock是鎖上， horn是動物頭上的角，lock horns原指動物用角互頂打架，引伸為「激烈爭論」，槓上了。India and the European Union are likely to lock horns over new green energy norms at the Earth Summit in Brazil. 在巴西召開的地球峰會上，印度和歐盟很可能就新的綠色能源標準爭論不休。U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder locked horns with congressional Republicans at a hearing on a gun-trafficking case. 美國司法部長霍爾德同國會共和黨人在聽證會上因一起槍支走私案頂了起來。The mayor and her deputy locked horns over plans for a new road. 市長和她的副手因為修路計劃而激烈爭吵。好，今天我們學習的詞是lock horns.

A: 說起lock horns, 你看了這一期的Iron Chef, 料理鐵人了嗎? I love that show so much! It’s so intense- I can’t get enough of watching the competitors lock horns in epic food battles!

B: Yeah, that kitchen is definitely a war zone. I saw this one episode where the chefs had to cook five dishes with just eggs! Only eggs! Now that’s a seriously tough challenge.

A: 可不是! They’re amazing- for me, I have to keep my fingers crossed that even my scrambled eggs in the morning don’t turn out horrible!

B: Hahah, well in the end, the contestants successfully made some AMAZING gourmet food! 你剛才提到了一個很好的詞兒，fingers crossed!! 咱們一起來聽聽這個習慣用語的用法!

現在播送<美國習慣用語>第 969講。我是楊琳。

M：我是 Steve Baragona.

這個週末是我和男朋友在一起一週年的紀念日。我們計劃去遠郊的一個釀酒場品酒，然後再去吃一頓法國大餐。我男朋友還說要帶我去坐熱氣球! 聽起來真棒!不過我有些擔心這個週末的天氣，天氣預報說週末要颳大風，還可能會下雨! 這也就讓我想到這個習慣用語，那就是:

M: Cross one’s fingers. Cross is spelled c-r-o-s-s and fingers; f-i-n-g-e-r-s. Cross-one’s-fingers.

大家都知道，cross是交叉的意思，fingers是手指，cross one’s fingers, 字面意思是手指交叉，實際上就是希望得到好運氣的意思。美國人經常把食指和中指交叉，意思就是祝你好運! I cross my fingers, hoping the weather would be good this weekend. 我交叉手指，希望這個週末會有好天氣。下面例子裡的這個排球運動員也相信這個動作能給他們帶來好運，我們來聽聽看:

M: “Our volleyball team has beaten every team in the division so far. I know it’s because we have better players and we’ve practiced harder. Still, we’re up against our greatest challenger next week and many of us are crossing our fingers. We’re hoping that we’ll be successful and win the trophy.”

這段話是說：[我們排球隊到現在為止一直保持全勝。我們一直很努力地訓練。不過下個星期，我們將面臨這個賽季最強勁的挑戰，很多隊員都交叉手指期盼好運。我們希望我們能夠獲勝，贏得獎盃。]

有時候一點小小的迷信無傷大雅，對吧? 想想我從小一直彈鋼琴，每次演奏之前，我都會交叉手指，期盼好運。I cross my fingers every time before performing in the concerts. 也許是我迷信，不過每次我這麼做，表演都很成功! 所以，這也就成了我的好運標誌。 好了，enough about me. 言歸正傳，我們再來聽聽剛才那段話:

M: “Our volleyball team has beaten every team in the division so far. I know it’s because we have better players and we’ve practiced harder. Still, we’re up against our greatest challenger next week and many of us are crossing our fingers. We’re hoping that we’ll be successful and win the trophy.”

自從2008年以來，美國的經濟情況一直不好，就業市場也一直很低迷。很多人失去工作，而在找新工作的過程中也遇到很多阻礙。下面的例子就談到了類似的情況，讓我們來聽聽看:

M: “My daughter has been looking for a job for almost two years. After sending in lots of resumes and going on a number of interviews, she’s become really frustrated. The position she just applied for looks like a good match for her skills and experience. She’s got her FINGERS CROSSED. This may be the chance she’s been waiting for.”

[這段話是說：我女兒找工作已經找了兩年了。在無數簡歷和若干次面試之後，她特別沮喪。現在她剛剛申請的職位特別適合她的技能和經驗。她交叉手指，祈求好運。這可能就是她一直在等待的機會。]

我們也祝她好運! 不知道大家有沒有注意到，這個短語也可以使用被動語態。所以對於我的情況，我也可以說 I have my fingers crossed that my hot air balloon adventure will take place. 我交叉手指，希望熱氣球之行能夠成行。The team members have THEIR FINGERS CROSSED that they’ll win the next game. 球員交叉手指，祈求好運，希望能夠贏得下一場比賽。好的，讓我們再來聽聽剛才那段話:

M: “My daughter has been looking for a job for almost two years. After sending in lots of resumes and going on a number of interviews, she’s become really frustrated. The position she just applied for looks like a good match for her skills and experience. She’s got her FINGERS CROSSED. This may be the chance she’s been waiting for.”

今天我們學習的習慣用語是 cross one’s fingers，意思是「交叉手指，祈求好運」。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: 其實吧，我煮飯水平也還行，fingers crossed I can be a real chef one day! 你就做我的專業試吃員 professional food taster 如何？

B: Uh… I know that we’ve talked about how much I like a life full of adventures, but I think that might just be a bit too dangerous for me…

A: 哈哈，don’t be scared, Kat! I know how important eating delicious and interesting food is to you- I’ll take good care of you! 在今天的美語怎麼說裡，我們就要來教教大家怎麼形容Kat這類人—食客!

MC: 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。今天是方方要問的：食客。

FF：Jessica, 今晚跟我去吃飯怎麼樣？

Jessica: 好啊! 吃甚麼!

FF: 吃正宗的湖南菜，怎麼樣？Look, this is the restaurant I’m talking about.

Jessica: Hmm, I’ve never heard of this restaurant. Are you sure its food is authentic?

FF: Authentic? 甚麼意思？

Jessica: Authentic is spelled a-u-t-h-e-n-t-i-c, authentic的意思是「真實的」，「地道的」。 For example, authentic Chinese food 就是地道的中餐。

FF: 哦! 那authentic American English就是「地道美語」，對不對？

Jessica: 沒錯! 對了, You haven’t answered my question yet–why are you so sure that restaurant serves authentic Hunan cuisines?

FF: 因為這是一個特別會吃的朋友推薦的。他可是個老饕，或者叫食客，專門能發現一些不起眼，但是特地道的餐館。對了，這種食客在美語裡要怎麼說呢？

Jessica: We call those people foodies. F-o-o-d-i-e, foodie refers to someone who loves everything there is to know and learn about food. You can rely on their picks of restaurants.

FF: My friend is totally a foodie! He took me to a small eatery last week, and the food there was terrific!

Jessica: Wow, you must have pigged out!

FF: Pig out?

Jessica: To pig out means to eat a lot until you’re really full.

FF: 哦，to pig out就是甩開腮幫子狂吃! Sometimes I like to go to KFC to pig out!

Jessica: Watch your waistline, Fangfang!

FF: 哈哈，I will. 不過話說那天我和這個朋友去吃飯，本來打算pig out, 可是我這個人啊，總是眼大肚子小，沒吃多少就飽了，唉! 真不爭氣! 眼大肚子小你懂吧？

Jessica: You mean you have big eyes and a small belly? Are you saying you’re good-looking?

FF: 哈哈! No. 「眼大肚子小」就是 you want to eat a lot, but your belly can’t take all the food.

Jessica: I see. There’s a similar expression in English: your eyes are bigger than your stomach.

FF: 原來”眼大肚子小”是 eyes are bigger than stomach. Jessica, please make sure I don’t eat anything before tonight’s dinner. I want to pig out on great Hunan food.

Jessica: 哈哈，別光想著吃，還是先說說，今天都學了甚麼。

FF: 好，今天我們學了：表示地道，用authentic; 會吃的食客，老饕，是foodie; 大吃大喝是to pig out; 「眼大肚子小」則是eyes are bigger than stomach.

A: I can definitely admit that my eyes are totally bigger than my stomach! 就像上個週末，我在家組織了一個party, 準備了無數好吃的，最後都沒地方放了!

B: Wait.. you had a party and didn’t invite me???

A: 因為這是個sports party! 組織大家一塊看球的! 我記得你說你不是個籃球迷，對吧?

B: True- I’m not really a sports fan. Okay, I’ll let you get away with it just this once.

A: See, I know you so well! 不過在下面的美語三級跳裡，我們就要帶著大家去打一場籃球，順便學學這些個籃球術語該怎麼說!

B: Let’s listen!

大家好！今天我們為您播出「美語三級跳」節目「體育運動」單元的初級課程。

Ryan 想鍛練鍛練，改善自己的身材。他的朋友Alice籃球打得很好，Ryan打算拜她為師。

Professor: That’s right, Winnie. Basketball is a very popular sport in America.

中國人也很喜歡打籃球啊! 姚明就是中國人，而且有很多粉絲!

Professor: That’s true. Do you think Ryan will be a good
basketball player?

咱們來聽聽吧！

Ryan: Thanks for teaching me how to play basketball, Alice.

Alice: No problem. I am happy to be your basketball coach.

Ryan: Great. Where did you learn how to play?

Alice: I played basketball in college.

Ryan: Were you better at offense or defense?

Alice: I was better at offense. I was the best shooter on the team.

Professor: So Winnie, where did Alice learn to play basketball?

Alice說她是在大學裡學會打籃球的，她不光是校隊成員，還是the best shooter–最棒的投手呢! 這麼說，Alice投籃肯定特別准!

Professor: Right. And in basketball, when you shoot and score a point, you can say you scored a basket.

沒錯! 如果你投籃成功，就可以說「score a basket.」

Professor: So, is Alice better at offense or defense?

Alice說， she was better at offense than defense，進攻能力比防守能力強。這不難理解，她是the best shooter–最棒的投手嘛! 有她當教練，Ryan肯定很快就能變成籃球飛人。

Alice: Alright Ryan, first you have to learn how to dribble.

Ryan: Don’t worry, I know how to dribble. Let’s just play some one-on-one.

Alice: Uh…. are you sure you don’t want to practice a little first?

Ryan: Nope! I’m ready to play. Don’t go easy on me.

Ryan是不是有點自信過頭了？Alice想慢慢教他，從 dribble–「運球」開始。可Ryan上來就要打one-on-one–一對一的比賽! Professor, one-on-one這個短語可以用在其它語境裡麼？

Professor: Sure! For example, you can say I didn’t want the other students to hear me talk to the teacher, so I asked to talk to her one-on-one.

「Talk to her one-on-one”, 就是單獨和她談話。對了，Professor, Ryan 讓Alice不要”go easy on him”，是不是說，Alice對他不用手下留情？

Professor: Right. For another example, “I haven’t studied much for the test, so I hope my teacher goes easy on us.”

啊~~因為沒好好複習，所以希望老師手下留情。好! Ryan和Alice一對一比賽已經結束了，我們看看誰勝誰負!

Alice: Great game, Ryan! I had a lot of fun.

Ryan: (Panting) Yeah, I hope so. It must have been a lot of fun beating me 20 to zero.

Alice: Well do you want to have a re-match? I think you will score a basket next time.

Ryan: I don’t think so … and I can only take one shutout per day.

看來，Ryan根本不是Alice的對手! 讓人家打了個20比零! professor, 甚麼叫shutout？

Professor: Winnie, if one team doesn’t score any points in the game, you can say the game is a shutout.

哦，shutout, s-h-u-t-o-u-t, shutout 就是輸掉的隊伍得零分的比賽。

Professor: Ryan didn’t score any points, so you can say he was “shutout”. Alice asks him if he wants a rematch, but Ryan says no.

是啊，Ryan 不願意再被刷個零，所以他不想play a re-match–再打一次了。真希望Ryan學籃球的熱情沒有被徹底澆滅!

Professor: Let’s see what Alice says.

Alice: Ryan, I think I know a better way to teach you basketball.

Ryan: Really? What is it?

Alice: I’m going to take you to watch a basketball game.

Ryan: Great! I love watching professional basketball.

Alice: Professional? I didn’t say we’re going to a
professional basketball game!

哦，原來，Alice打算帶Ryan去看籃球賽，讓他觀摩觀摩。不過，他們要去的不是a professional game–專業球賽。

Professor: Right. What kind of game do you think they’re going to?

我們下次就知道啦!

A: 說起來，我原來上初中還是籃球隊的呢! I used to be great at shooting! You should come play basketball with me- I can teach you!

B: Well, thanks for the invitation, but I would rather go to a museum and enjoy the AC and the beautiful art!! You can go run around and get all sweaty- I, on the other hand, want to surround myself with 高雅文化。

A: 呦，原來你還是個藝術愛好者? 那下面的 business etiquette正合你的胃口，今天，我們要去看看怎麼用不同形式的藝術作品來進行裝飾!

B: Let’s take a look!

公司主管 James 找到公關部主任 Felicia.

James: Hey, Felicia…do you have time for a quick conversation?

Felicia: Sure, boss. What’s up?

J: I was walking through the hallways of our office yesterday and it struck me that we could use a little beautification around here.

F: Are you thinking about repainting the hallways?

J: Well, actually I was considering buying some art to display around the office and factory grounds. I think we could all benefit from a little touch of culture, don’t you think?

F: Yes…that’s a great idea. I think looking at beautiful things helps lift morale.

公司主管James說，自己昨天經過公司走廊，突然覺得，We could use a little beautification around here. 我們的工作環境需要美化一下。beautification is spelled b-e-a-u-t-i-f-i-c-a-t-i-o-n, beautification 是名詞，意思是美化。原來，James是想購置一些藝術作品，給公司增添些許文化氣息。Felicia 表示贊成，她覺得，看到賞心悅目的東西，也有助於 lift morale 提高員工士氣。James 說：

J: Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. It might brighten up the office and lift people’s spirits a bit as well. I’m not really sure about what kind of art to buy though.

F: That is a tricky issue. Everyone has different tastes. You know the old expression: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

J: What about you Felicia? What kind of art do you like?

F: Well, actually I like abstract modern art. I love the works of Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock.

J: I see. So you’re a bit of a modernist, huh?

每個人對藝術的偏好都不一樣，Everyone has different tastes. taste is spelled t-a-s-t-e, taste 在這裡是名詞，意思是品味。俗話說： Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 只要看的人喜歡，那就是美。這句話經常被用在情感方面，相當於中文裡所說的情人眼裡出西施。Felicia 說，她偏愛 abstract modern art 抽像派現代藝術。為甚麼呢？

F: I feel modern art is open to interpretation. Each person looks at the painting with a different understanding and gets a different message from it. Sometimes I find landscape paintings or more traditional art to be a bit boring.

J: Yes, I would agree with that. I don’t want any pictures of fruit in bowls hanging on our walls…it needs to be something inspirational!

F: How about you, boss? What kind of art inspires you?

J: I’m a big fan of photography. I like real images captured by a camera. They’re so genuine, and I find that I don’t get tired of looking at them over and over again.

Felicia 喜歡抽像派現代藝術作品是因為：It is open to interpretation. 這類藝術作品給觀眾留下了解釋的空間，每個人對抽像派藝術作品的解讀都可能不一樣。James 說，他最喜歡攝影作品。I’m a big fan of photography. 用相機捕捉的真實畫面，令人百看不厭。

A: 所以，你喜歡哪種呀 Kat? Abstract modern art or photography?

B: I think I enjoy photography more. It captures an authentic moment and you can feel the different emotions in each piece. Actually there’s a new exhibit opening today, do you wanna go see it with me?

A: 我還是算了， 我對藝術一點也不懂，去了也看不明白!

B: Well that’s true. I don’t think you will enjoy it much if art’s not your thing- you’ll just be bored and your feet will hurt from standing there for hours.

A: 謝謝你能換位思考！在下面的美語怎麼說裡，我們就要來看看Kat無數優點中的一個—換位思考該怎麼說!

Put yourself in someone’s shoes

Jessica 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。今天是於苗要問的：換位思考。

YM: Hey Jessica! How’s it going?…你怎麼看起來氣呼呼的?

Jessica: I AM angry! One of my friend said she’s going to come visit me, but she canceled her trip AT THE LAST MINUTE! I’ve saved all my weekend for her!

YM: 啊? 這可真掃興，不過你有沒有問她，為甚麼不來了呢?

Jessica: She said a very important client is coming to town over the weekend, and she got the opportunity to accompany them.

YM: 哦，原來是這樣。你想想，你朋友剛開始工作，能有這麼好的接觸大客戶的機會，你應該為她高興呀! 試著換位思考一下嘛!

Jessica: 換位思考?….哦，我知道了，you are telling me to put myself in her shoes. Yeah, I guess I’m being a little harsh.

YM: 對啊! 她一定也很想跟好朋友過個休閒的週末，but sometimes you’ve got to sacrifice your personal life for work, especially when you are new at your job! Jessica, 你這麼善解人意，一定明白的!

Jessica: Yeah, I guess I should be more considerate.

YM: 哦! 原來善解人意就是 considerate! 我其實特別明白你朋友的心情，我感同身受! Hmm, 這個「感同身受」用美語要怎麼說呢?

Jessica: You can say it strikes a chord. Strike is spelled s-t-r-i-k-e； and chord, c-h-o-r-d, chord. If something strikes a chord, it means it evokes a similar emotion or reaction. 就是你說的感同身受!

YM: 原來是這樣! Yes, your friend’s situation strikes a chord with me!

Jessica: You know, Yumiao, I think you are right. I will call her and apologize for overreacting, and I will wish her good luck!

YM: 我來總結一下今天所學的：第一，換位思考叫做 put oneself in someone else’s shoes;

第二，善解人意可以用 considerate;

第三，感同身受，叫做 strike a chord!

B: If I put myself in other radio host’s shoes, I realize that they must have a lot of pressure! They don’t get to have half as much fun as we do, right Yanglin?

A: Ha, yeah, right, 不知道微薄上誰的粉絲多呀? (兩人笑) 好啦同學們，這次節目時間就到這裡。 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!