A: 学美语,超简单,快来美语训练班! 大家好! 我是杨琳!
B: And I’m Donny. 杨琳, Your birthday is coming up, isn’t it? How are you going to celebrate it?
A: 今年我打算一切从简,低调,干脆不过生日了!
B: 为什么啊?
A: 没钱啊!过生日要请朋友们吃喝玩乐,我这个月预算紧张,还是算了吧! 你忘啦,上次我还问你月光族怎么说呢!
B: Yeah, I remember that, and today we’re actually going to teach everyone how to say that in English!
A: 没错。除了教您怎么用美语说“月光族”之外,我们还要继续聊好朋友组乐队的事儿, 看看辞掉工作回学校念书值不值得, 另外还要带大家去打高尔夫!
B: 不过现在,咱们还是先花一分钟,学一个词!
Learn A Word : On the job
今天我们要学的词是 on the job, on is spelled o-n; the is spelled t-h-e; job is spelled j-o-b; on the job. On the job 意思是上班的时候。The new mayor hit the ground running his first day on the job. 新市长走马上任第一天就投入了紧张的工作。美国最近连续发生了好几起航空管制员上班睡着的事情。为此,美国政府颁布了新的规章制度,The new rules regulate how much time air traffic controllers must have between shifts in order to make sure they stay awake on the job. 新规则要求航空管制员在两个班点之间一定要有特别的时间休息,以确保他们上班时保持清醒。好的,今天我们学习的词是 on the job, on the job, on the job.
A: 哇,真不错! 我也希望领导能让我中午睡上一觉,so that I can stay awake on the job!
B: I don’t think that’s going to happen. 你还是多喝点咖啡提神吧。
A: 也只能这样了。哎,Donny, 你说在我生日那天,能不能请领导批准我中午在会议室里睡个……寿星午觉? 就当是……make my birthday wish come true!
B: 啊?你过生日就这么点愿望啊?!
A: 这个最实际啊! 我当然还有更宏大的愿望啦! 比如中彩票,去环游世界,当超级名模,还有……
B: Wait a second! I’m asking about your birthday wish, not your bucket list!
A: bucket list是什么?
B: 听听下面的流行美语你就知道啦!
Popular American: Bucket list; Dough
各位听众,现在播送《流行美语》。Larry 和李华刚看完电影2012,在门口聊起来。李华会学到两个常用语:bucket list 和dough。
LH: Larry,你觉得2012年真的会是世界末日吗?
LL: I don’t know. But the movie does remind me that I have yet to finish my bucket list.
LH: Your bucket list? 世界末日前你唯一想做的事情就是买一堆桶子?
LL:No, no. A bucket list is not a list of buckets that I want to buy. It is a list of things I want to do before I die.
LH: Oh… 所以bucket list 是指死以前要完成的事情的清单喽?
LL:Exactly. In ancient British language, people used “kick the bucket” to refer to death. Therefore “a bucket list” means a list of things you want to do before you die.
LH: 原来如此。 那它跟Wish List很像啊。
LL:Mmm. You can say a bucket list is very similar to a wish list. However, a bucket list is mostly filled with things you want to do before you die, whereas a wish list can be anything you want to do or any object you want to buy for any occasion. But recently, a bucket list has been used for more general wishes as well.
LH: 那你的 bucket list 里都有哪些东西呢?
LL:I want to swim across the Atlantic Ocean, I also want to go skydiving, and…
LH: 哇……你想完成的事情也太难了吧。 Bucket list 上一定要是这些高难度的东西吗? 不能简单点, 比如说,结婚?生子?
LL: What you put on your bucket list is totally up to you. However, a bucket list is usually a list of things that are unordinary, things that you would not normally do unless you only had a few days left on Earth.
LH: 是这样啊。 那我懂了。 所以我也可以说,visiting the seven wonders of the world is on my bucket list?
LL: Yes, that works. An example of something more simple that could make everyone’s bucket list is to make a lot of dough. Although that is more generic…
LH: 等等,等等。 怎么会有人死前的愿望是做很多面团呢? 这也太奇怪了吧。
LL: Haha…dough here is not the dough you use to make cookies. Here it means money.
LH: Dough 是金钱的意思?
LL: Yup. Dough is derived from bread, a commonly used commodity for trade in ancient times. Therefore dough is the same thing as money.
LH: Wow. I didn’t know that. 原来古时候人们把面包当钱用,所以 dough 又有钱的意思。 那我明白了。
LL: Terrific. Now, can you give me a sentence using the word dough?
LH: 我可以说, Recently I spent all my doughs on movies.
LL: That’s good. But dough is a plural noun, so you do not need to add a “s” at the end. You can simply say, recently I spent all my dough on movies.
LH: 喔~ 原来是这样说的,dough 已经是复数形式,所以不用加 S。
LL: Now, how about you, Lihua? What’s on your bucket list?
LH: 这个嘛……我最大的愿望是英文说得能跟你一样好。
LL: Really? But I don’t think you can ever beat me in English…
LH: 所以这个愿望是在我的 bucket list 上啊。我有一生的时间可以完成!铁定可以超过你。
LL: I’m glad you have the confidence. What else is on your bucket list?
LH: 在死以前我还要 donate all my dough to charity.
LL: You want to donate all your dough? And I want to make lots of it…why don’t you just donate to me?
LH: 这怎么可以。 我捐钱出去是为了帮助有需要的人。 况且那是你bucket list上的内容, 还是自己完成吧。
LL: Good. I think you know what a bucket list is now. The movie has sure got us thinking about our big wishes.
各位听众,今天李华学到了两个常用语,一个是 bucket list, 表示死前想要完成的事的清单;另一个是 dough, 金钱的替代说法。这次《流行美语》播送完了,谢谢收听,下次节目再见。
A: 原来,bucket list就是有生之年说什么都要去尝试一下的不同寻常的事。那我的bucket list肯定包括making lots of dough–like a billion dollars! How about you, Donny? What’s on your bucket list?
B: I want to make someone else spend tons of dough on me, like a billion dollars!
A: 啊?我想挣一亿,你想让别人在你身上花一亿。我怎么感觉你是打我的钱的主意呢!
B: 问题是你哪有钱啊?
A: 哈哈!也是,我整个一个月光族……
B: 好了,Now let’s teach everyone how to say“月光族”in American English!
How to say it: Live from paycheck to paycheck
Donny 在北京学汉语,他的中国朋友要是遇到了不知道用美语怎么说的词,就会来请教他。今天是Yanglin要问的:月光族。
Donny: Hey 杨琳! 我们晚上要去吃饭,do you want to come along?
Yanglin: 哎,我想去!可就是…没钱!
Donny: Hmm? Didn’t you just got a new job?
Yanglin: 别提了,我是典型的月光族。每次一发工资,缴缴房租,再跟朋友吃吃饭,再到商场买买东西…钱就不知不觉用完啦! 话说,这月光族用英语怎么说?
Donny: hmm, 月光族可以说 live from paycheck to paycheck。
Yanglin: live from paycheck to paycheck?
Donny: 对,paycheck is spelled p-a-y-c-h-e-c-k。支票。在美国,很多工资是由支票的形式发给你的。所以 live from paycheck to paycheck, 就是形容盼着下一张工资单过日子。
Yanglin: 这么说来,我可真是 live from paycheck to paycheck! 典型的月光族! 不过这个月,我去夏威夷花了好大一笔钱,所以就更没闲钱了。这种开销特别大的旅行啊什么的,用英语怎么说呢?
Donny: You can say: My vacation in Hawaii broke the bank.
YL: 我懂了,Break the bank 就是形容某件东西特别贵。比如上星期,我想买LV的包,男朋友就跟我说,We can’t afford this purse, it will break the bank. 我们买不起这个包,实在太贵了。
Donny: 对! 你还可以说,this purse will max out my credit card. 也是特别贵的意思。
YL: 这个说法形象! Max out somebody’s credit card, 刷爆信用卡!Did you ever max out your credit card?
Donny: Me? I would never do that! Now let’s see what you’ve learned today!
Yanglin: 第一:月光族的生活方式叫 live from paycheck to paycheck; 第二,非常昂贵可以说 break the bank;第三,刷爆信用卡,叫 max out somebody’s credit card.
B: You know, 杨琳,I can think of a way to host a great birthday party without breaking the bank.
A: 又能办party又能省钱?快说来听听!
B: I have a friend who’s in a band. They play for small parties and don’t really charge that much at all.
A: 你是说请个专门在小派对上演出的小乐队?这个听着挺热闹,不过便宜没好货,他们收钱少,是不是这个水平也……?
B: Well, I can’t guarantee their quality. You might have to take a chance hiring them.
A: 那还是算了! 有的乐队根本不靠谱! 比如咱们下面要听的这个“美语三级跳”里Beth和Ernie要组的乐队,我看谁要是请他们去助兴演出,准会非常失望!
GoEnglish: Music─intermediate
Winnie : 各位听众,大家好!今天我们为您播出“美语三级跳”节目“音乐”单元的中级课程。
Winnie: 喜欢流行乐的Ernie和酷爱嘻哈乐的Beth打算组个乐队。
Professor: Today they’re discussing what kind of music their band should play.
Beth: Ernie, I’m really excited about starting this band together. We’re going to be the two coolest students on campus.
Ernie: I know! It’s gonna be great. But what kind of music do you think we should play?
Beth: That’s a good question. You know I love hip hop, so maybe we can play some Vanilla Ice songs.
Ernie: Hmm … Vanilla Ice? I know his most famous song, “Ice Ice Baby,” but I don’t know his other songs.
Beth: That’s OK. You can buy his songs on iTunes and listen to them.
Professor: Winnie, what does Beth think will happen if she and Ernie start a band?
Winnie: 她说,组了乐队,他们就变成学校最酷的两个人! 不过,说实话,我可不这么觉得。他们要唱”Vanilla Ice”的歌,他的歌早就过时了!
Professor: Well, Vanilla Ice was a popular rapper in the 1990s. I’m sure he still has fans today, like Beth.
E: Well, I’ve never downloaded music before. How does it work?
B: You haven’t? If you’ve never tried it I can show you how.
E: Alright. But why is downloading music better than buying CDs at the store?
B: Downloading music is really fast and convenient, and you can preview all the songs before you buy them.
Professor: So Winnie, why does Beth like downloading music?
Winnie: 她说从网上下载歌曲又快又方便,还可以在购买前”preview,”“试听”一下。不过,Ernie居然说他从来没下载过音乐。天啊,难道他一直住在火星上么?
Professor: Yeah, even old people know how to download music these days. Let’s see if Ernie can catch up.
E: That sounds pretty good. But isn’t downloading music illegal?
B: Not if you pay for it. For example, if you download from iTunes and pay with your credit card, it’s legal.
E: OK, I’m going to get iTunes and download some Vanilla Ice songs.
B: Awesome. You’ll see that they are really catchy.
Winnie: Professor, 他们说这些歌很catchy, 这是什么意思呢?
Professor: You can say a song is “catchy” if it’s fun and easy to listen to, and you want to hear it all the time.
Winnie: 哦,就是“好听,上口”的意思。
Professor: Exactly. Sometimes a “catchy” song can get “stuck in your head.”
Winnie: 不过, 我觉得Vanilla Ice 的歌可没有这种魔力。
B: Now that we know what kind of music we will play, we have to decide what each of us will do.
E: Well, I love hip hop dancing, so I should probably dance. Do you know how to rap?
B: Oh yeah! I’m a great rapper. And I know all the Vanilla Ice lyrics by heart.
E: Excellent. I’ll start practicing my dance moves.
Winnie: 俩人一唱一跳,跟真的似的! 可我对他们实在没信心。
Professor: Well, you never know, maybe they will be really good and surprise you. But Winnie, do you know what song lyrics are?
Winnie: 当然知道, lyrics就是歌词。不过, to “know the lyrics by heart”是什么意思呢?
Professor: That means you have memorized them.
Winnie: Oh, 原来to know something by heart就是“记住”、“熟练于心”的意思。
B: But Ernie, we’re still missing something. We need someone to play the music!
E: Oh right … you know, my friend Eric is a DJ. Maybe he would like to play with us.
B: Hmm … does he have a good ear for hip hop music?
E: Well, I don’t know, but we can find out. We can talk to him and ask if he wants to join our group.
Professor: Well Winnie, can you guess what it means to “have an ear” for a kind of music?
Winnie: Sure,这就是说对某种音乐有天生的感觉和才华。唉,真希望Eric能让这两个人清醒点,帮他们选几首好歌。
Professor: Let’s hope so. Tune in next time to find out!
A: Ernie和Beth虽然水平不高,但也算是勇气可嘉吧!
B: That’s right. I don’t think they really care what other people would think of their music. They’re just enjoying themselves.
A: 这股子劲头也挺可爱的。有时候想得太多反而什么也办不成。
B: That’s true, but still, important decisions shouldn’t be taken lightly.
A: 是。你看,我一直想学时装设计,可是我要不要辞职,彻底回学校从头学起呢?
B: Wow, I didn’t know you wanted to go back to school! 也许下面的礼节美语能给你一些启发。
Business Etiquette: US Education I
Lisa请Shirley吃饭,有事征求Shirley的意见。
Lisa: Hey, Shirley! Want to join me for lunch…my treat!
Shirley: Wow! Sure!
Lisa: I must confess I have an ulterior motive for asking you to lunch.
S: Oh….that’s OK….as long as you’re buying!
L: I really want to pick your brain about something I’ve been thinking a lot about.
S: I’d love to help if I can.
请别人吃饭,可以说 my treat, 也可以说 it’s on me. 原来,Lisa请Shirley吃饭别有用心,She has an ulterior motive. motive是动机,ulterior is spelled u-l-t-e-r-i-o-r, ulterior意思是暗藏的,别有用心的。Lisa告诉Shirley, I really want to pick your brain about something. to pick someone’s brain意思是跟某人交谈,获取信息,征求意见。
L: Well, as you know, I have a Bachelor’s degree in English literature and that’s served me well so far, but I’ve always wanted to do some post-graduate work…maybe even get a Doctorate!
S: Wow! Just the idea of going back to school fills my head with pain.
L: But you have a Master’s degree…hasn’t that helped your career?
S: Yeah, I’d have to say it has. But I’m still paying for it, you know.
L: I know education is expensive, but it’s been my lifelong dream. Call me crazy, but I’ve always wanted to have that PhD at the end of my name.
原来,Lisa是考虑要回去上学。她已经有了a Bachelor’s Degree学士学位,想再拿个Master’s Degree硕士学位,甚至是a Doctorate博士学位,这是她的lifetime dream这辈子梦寐以求的。Shirley承认,硕士学位确实对自己的事业有帮助,但是在美国接受高等教育很贵,I’m still paying for it.我上学的钱到现在还没有还清。Shirley还说,
S: Well, getting a Doctorate degree would mean close to a decade of school. Can you afford that? Can you survive that?
L: I certainly can’t afford it, but I’m sure I could find some good student loans.
S: I think you need to separate the dream of having a PhD from the reality of years of more schooling. It’s not as romantic as you might think.
L: Yeah….I keep thinking about what I’ll do with a Master’s or Doctorate. I love language but I don’t think there are a lot of well-paying jobs out there for experts on Shakespeare.
S: Uh huh, that’s for sure. You might find that your only career choice is teaching other graduate students.
Shirley劝Lisa不要把回去读书想得太好,要看自己经济上能否承担得起,Can you afford that? 还要看自己能不能坚持下来,Can you survive that?Lisa会不顾一切却追求梦想吗?我们下次继续听。
A: Call me crazy, but I’ve always wanted to go to Paris and learn fashion design!
B: 这当然算不上crazy,不过就像Shirley说的,It’s not as romantic as you might think. Do you think you could afford design school in France?
A: 得!又说回来了,没钱,上不起! 看来,我还是得努力工作几年,至于这个fashion designer的梦……I’ll put it on my bucket list.
B: Good idea. Now let’s talk about something that’s more realistic, like playing golf! 一起听“体育美语”。
American sports English: Putt putt golf
Y: 今天我和Patrick打高尔夫球。
P: I’m teaching Yang Chen how to play golf.
Y:Patrick, are you sure this is a golf course?
P: Don’t tell me you’re disappointed! This place is great! What were you expecting?
Y: Well, I was hoping to meet Tiger Woods.
P: Or Michael Phelps.
Y: 这里都是小孩儿,简直就是个游乐场啊。
P: It’s sort of like an amusement park. This is putt putt golf.
Y:Putt putt golf?
P: Putt putt golf means miniature golf.
Y: 噢,迷你高尔夫球。So it’s not a real golf course.
P: If we went to a real golf course we would be the worst players on the course. But here we play with little kids so we can kick their butts!
Y: Oh god, 欺负小孩子. Shame on you.
P: Stop complaining and grab a club. Let’s tee off.
Y: Tea? 喝茶?
M: No, you spell this tee T-E-E, it’s a small peg that holds the golf ball.
Tee off means to start a round of golf. You can also use it in everyday life when you start something.
Y: T-e-e, 就是高尔夫球的球座。 Tee off就是开始。我们的老板昨天 teed off the staff meeting with a great speech.
P: You don’t have to 拍他的马屁. He can’t hear you. Let’s just play putt putt golf.
Y:OK. Let’s tee off.
A: Putt putt 也就是mini golf, 迷你高尔夫! Sounds like something I should try on my birthday!
B: Oh, I have a coupon for a group of five to play putt putt. It’ll only cost you 30 bucks!
A: Really? 太好了,把这个团购券给我用吧! I’ll tee off my birthday with some fun on the golf course!
B: 没问题! 好了,今天的节目时间差不多了。这次的撰稿人是晓北,编辑是蔚然。同学们,我们下次的美语训练班再见!
A:Bye!