A: 大家好! 我是杨琳, 欢迎来到美语训练班!

B: 大家好,我是Kat! 杨琳,赶快来介绍一下今天的节目内容吧!

A: 没问题! 今天,咱们要去体验一下美国的高中生活,当回拉拉队,要聊聊怎么戒烟,还要告诉大家怎么用美语说“开夜车”。

B: 哇!开夜车,I’m an expert on that!

A: 那你等会来给大家介绍介绍你的熬夜心得吧!

B: 哈哈,没问题!不过节目一开始,还是先来个简单的!

A: 对,咱们先花一分种,学一个词儿!

学个词 for 03/07/2012

YangL/LIN

今天我们要学的词是 account for. Account is spelled a-c-c-o-u-n-t, account; and for, f-o-r, for; account for. Account for 意思是所占百分比。Labor accounts for only 5% of the cost of making an iPhone. 在产生苹果手机的成本中,人工仅占百分之五。上星期出台的美国零售业数据令人鼓舞。大家普遍关注零售业数据是因为,Consumer spending accounts for more than 70 percent of all economic activity. 消费者开支占了整体经济活动的70%多。美国很受欢迎的影视租赁公司Netflix表示:TV series now account for more than half of all Netflix viewing. 用户收看电视剧集的比例占全部业务的一半以上。好的,今天我们学习的词是account for, account for, account for.

A: 我也来造个句, I account for 90% of the work when it comes to hosting the show…

B: (打断)What??!! You account for how much?!!

A: 哈哈,别生气嘛Kat! 我跟你开玩笑呢!

B: 别理我,我生气呢!

A: 哎呀,那你说,怎么才能补偿你!

B: Let me see. I think a very tasty banana strawberry shake will give us the clean slate that we need.

A:啊?你是说,要一个美味的香蕉草莓奶昔? 好吧好吧…谁叫我说错话了呢!

B: 哈哈,I like your attitude! 言归正传,今天的words and idioms里,我们要来学刚刚我提到的”clean slate”.

A: Let’s listen!

Words and Idioms

现在播送<美国习惯用语>第 958讲。我是杨琳。

M:我是 Douglas Johnson.

女: 我有个好消息!我们的园艺俱乐部终于又要聚会了!前段时间,我们的成员之间闹了点不愉快。有些人想继续种植原来的花草,而另外一些人希望引进新品种,两派意见谈不拢,弄得我们差点散伙。不过最后大家还是达成一致,和好如初。这让我想到一句习惯用语,那就是:

M: Clean slate. Clean is spelled c-l-e-a-n; and slate; s-l-a-t-e, slate.

大家都知道,clean是干净的,slate是石板的意思。连起来,Clean slate, 干净的石板,引伸出来就是“尽弃前嫌,重新开始”的意思。像上面的例子中,俱乐部成员最终克服了彼此间的矛盾,尽弃前嫌,重新开始。在下面这个例子中,Jeremy未来如何?我们来听听他的朋友是怎么说的:

M: “Jeremy had a terrible gambling problem. He got into such bad debt that he lost his house and his car. Eventually, he received counseling. And a court allowed him to declare bankruptcy. That’s given him the CLEAN SLATE he needed. He’s slowly rebuilding his life.”

[这段话是说: 杰里米以前赌博上瘾,结果欠了很多债,房子和车子都没了。最后,他接受了心理咨询,法院也允许他宣布破产,这给了他重新开始的机会。他正在慢慢地重新建立自己的生活。 ]

女:他其实很幸运。很多嗜赌的人都有类似问题,而银行不会让每个人都宣布破产。这个词也让我想到现在美国国会山上的政治辩论。公众对政治家争吵不休,而又无法达成任何结果很不满意,我想下次选举,可能很多议员都会失去席位! A CLEAN SLATE might be just what it will take to meet the voters’ expectations. 选民们希望选举出新的议员,重新开始。

好了,让我们再来听听刚才那段话:

M: “Jeremy had a terrible gambling problem. He got into such bad debt that he lost his house and his car. Eventually, he received counseling. And a court allowed him to declare bankruptcy. That’s given him the CLEAN SLATE he needed. He’s slowly rebuilding his life.”

上面我们说到,如果你不满意代表自己的议员,下次不选他就是了。可是,如果你对自己的家人心存不满,要怎么办呢?或许下面的例子能给你一些启发,让我们来听听看:

M: “My sister and I used to argue constantly. Sometimes we wouldn’t speak to each other for days. Then our mom was diagnosed with cancer. And we decided that we didn’t want to go on fighting with each other anymore. We started with a CLEAN SLATE. What happened in the past was behind us.”

[这段话是说: 我妹妹和我过去经常吵架,有时一连好几天彼此谁也不理谁。可自从知道妈妈被诊断出得了癌症后,我们就决定再也这样没完没了地争吵了。过去的都过去了,我们决定重新开始。]

女: 是啊,有时候从不幸的事情里面,也会在其他方面得到好的结果。上面的例子里,如果这两个姐妹的妈妈不生病,她们可能一直都这样吵吵闹闹。They decided to leave the past behind them and start with a clean slate. 她们决定尽弃前嫌,重新开始。好的,我们再来听听刚才那段话:

M: “My sister and I used to argue constantly. Sometimes we wouldn’t speak to each other for days. Then our mom was diagnosed with cancer. And we decided that we didn’t want to go on fighting with each other anymore. We started with a CLEAN SLATE. What happened in the past was behind us.”

今天我们学习的习惯用语是CLEAN SLATE,意思是“尽弃前嫌,重新开始”。好的,这次[美国习惯用语]就到此结束,我是杨琳,我是 Douglas Johnson。谢谢各位的收听。

A: Kat, let’s start with a clean slate. 快把刚才的不愉快忘了吧!

B:Haha, it’s alright 杨琳。I was up all night trying to finish this report, so I’m a little bit cranky today.

A: Awww, 原来是这样!我也是,一睡不好就影响情绪,容易发飙。不过我一般需要9个小时的婴儿睡眠,所以开夜车对我来说简直就是不可能!

B: Well, as I said, I’m an expert at this. Basically, you have to prepare a lot of fruits and vegetables, and most importantly, tons of coffee!

A: 你还真是经验挺足哈!正好,今天咱们的美语怎么说就要教这个开夜车,咱们赶快来学学有关熬夜的词儿吧!

B: Let’s listen!

MC:Jessica 在北京学中文,她的中国朋友要是遇到了不知道用美语怎么说的词,就会来请教她。今天是怡茹要问的:开夜车。

Jessica:怡茹, why do you look so tired?

YR: 这几天又复习又考试,累得我眼睛都快睁不开啦! 昨天晚上,我复习了一个通宵啊! I drove a night car!

Jessica: You drove a night car?

YR: 对啊! 我开了一宿夜车! 难道不是这么说的?

Jessica: 哈哈,you should use the phrase “pull an all-nighter.” It means you spent the whole night studying or working to meet a deadline.

YR: 哦,整宿学习工作不睡觉,就是 pull an all-nighter. 唉! 都怪我平时没好好复习,期末考试前只能临时抱佛脚!

Jessica: You’re not alone, Yiru! A lot of college students pull all-nighters for exams. You can also use the phrase “cram session.” It means an intense period of study before a critical exam.

YR: C-r-a-m, cram, 是仓促备考的意思,所以 a cram session 就是考前的突击复习。正说呢,My study group will have a cram session this afternoon for tomorrow’s exam. Hopefully we can get everything done before midnight so that I don’t have to pull an all-nighter again!

Jessica: Take it easy, Yiru. Isn’t your exam tomorrow an open-book test?

YR: Open-book test? 哦,你是说开卷考试吧?没错,这门是开卷,可老师对开卷考试的答案要求更高。我可不想考砸了!

Jessica: You won’t bomb it. You’re a smart girl!

YR: 你说“bomb”–那不是轰炸的意思么?我猜这就是说没考好,对么?

Jessica: Exactly.

YR: 那要是不及格,挂科了,怎么说呢?

Jessica: Then you can use the verb “flunk”, f-l-u-n-k, flunk. It means you fail to pass an exam.

YR: I don’t want to flunk my exam, so—I gotta go!

Jessica: Before you go, tell me what you’ve learned today!

YR: 第一,开夜车,通宵学习工作,叫 pull an all-nighter; 考试前的突击复习叫 cram session;

第二,开卷考试是 open-book test;

第三,考试考砸了用动词 bomb, 不及格则用 flunk!

这次的”美语怎么说”就到这里了。如果你也有不会说的词,请写信给Jessica, 电邮请寄meiyu@voanews.com

A: Open-book exam, 开卷考试,这个我喜欢!

B: Well actually, open-book exams can be hard. I prefer closed-book exams with a cheat-sheet.

A: Cheat-sheet? 这难道是…小抄?

B: 呵呵,我可不会教大家作弊! A cheat sheet is a certain sized card that you can write all your formulas on, so you don’t have to remember them by heart!

A: 原来这就是公式卡!真人性化!我记得我高中的时候,成天背数学公式,脑袋都要爆炸了!

B: Yeah. Remembering formulas can be annoying. But apart from the pop quizzes and homework, high school can be fun as well! Just think of all the parties and gossip!

A:哈哈,也是。在今天的美语三级跳里,咱们就去体会一下美国的高中生活与我们的有什么不同!

High School: beginner

今天我们为您播出“美语三级跳”节目“高中生活”单元的初级课程。

Heather 和 Jeremy 是高中同学,俩人一起上数学课。在上课前的几分钟,他们聊了起来。

Professor: That’s right, Winnie. Say, what do students in my class talk about before I arrive?

Professor, 我们都在聊您有多好啊当然了,如果您不给我们留作业,就更好了!

Professor: Really? Well, it’s better to be feared than loved!

Jeremy: Hi Heather. Did you have a nice weekend?

Heather: Hi Jeremy. Yes, I had a really great weekend. How was your weekend?

Jeremy: It was great! I got to have fun on Saturday and Sunday because we didn’t have any homework.

Heather: Yes we did! We had to read our math textbook and do some math problems. Did you forget?

Jeremy: Oh no, I forgot to do the homework! I hope there isn’t a pop quiz.

Jeremy 和 Heather 谈到刚过去的周末。Jeremey说他周末玩儿得很痛快,因为学校没留作业。可其实并不是这样,是他忘记作业了!

Professor: That’s right Winnie. And what was the homework?

Heather 提醒说,作业是看math textbook–数学书,然后 do some problems–作一些练习题。对了Professor, Jeremy说,希望今天没有pop quiz,这是什么呢?

Professor: A pop quiz is a quiz that the teacher did not tell you about beforehand.

MC: 哦,pop quiz 就是随堂测验,也就是事先没有通知学生,突然进行的小测验! Jeremy 没看书也没作题,要是有pop quiz, 他就惨啦!

Heather: You didn’t do the homework? Yeah, you will definitely fail if there is a pop quiz.

Jeremy: I know! How much time do I have to cram?

Heather: Well, class starts in five minutes. I don’t think that’s enough time.

Jeremy: You’re right. Can I just copy your answers?

Heather也说,如果老师给他们pop quiz, Jeremy 一定会fail–不及格。

Professor: That’s right. So what does Jeremy ask Heather?

Jeremy问她还有多长时间才上课,这样他可以cram–突击准备一下。

Professor: Correct. “Cramming” is studying a lot of information in a short period of time. For example, “It’s best to start studying for the test early so that you don”t have to cram the night before.

没错。可惜,还有5 分钟就上课了。cramming 也来不及了。所以Jeremy想出最后一招,copy Heather’s answers–抄Heather的作业!

Heather: You want me to give you the answers? I think that’s cheating.

Jeremy: Cheating? Of course not. Just pretend you are my tutor.

Heather: I don’t know, Jeremy. I worked hard to do those problems. Why should I just give you the answers?

Jeremy: Because if you do, I will invite you to my party this weekend.

Heather不愿意让Jeremy抄自己的答案,她说这是cheating–作弊!

Professor: That’s right, Winnie. What does Jeremy say?

Jeremy 说,Heather应该把自己当成他的tutor–家庭教师,这样,给他抄答案就理所当然了! 对了,Professor Bowman, tutor这个词可以当动词么?

Professor: Yes. For example, if you aren’t good at math, you should find someone to tutor you in math.

我明白了,tutor 当动词就是“给别人辅导”的意思。Jeremy想贿赂Heather,说如果Heather让他抄作业,他就请Heather参加周末的派对。

Heather: Really? You will invite me to your party this weekend?

Jeremy: Yes. All the coolest people come to my parties.

Heather: I know! They sound like a lot of fun.

Jeremy: So, will you help me?

Heather: Well … OK. But change one or two of the answers so we don’t turn in the same homework.

Jeremy: Great!

啊? Heather 就这样投降啦?为了能参加这个酷酷的派对,她竟然牺牲原则。

Professor: That’s right. But what does she tell Jeremy he has to do?

MC: 她说,Jeremy得把一两道题的答案改一下,以免俩人交上去一模一样的作业,被老师发现是抄的。没看出来,Heather还这么狡猾! 唉,希望Jeremy的派对别让Heather失望,要不她的牺牲就白费了!

Professor: Let’s listen next time to find out!

A: 原来,Jeremy 忘了周末有作业,而且也没复习,所以他希望今天不要有pop quiz随堂测验。他问Heather说还剩多长时间让他来cram 突击复习,还说要抄Heather的作业, 让Heather just pretends to be his tutor. 假装是他家教。 可真不怎么样!

B: Cheating is always bad. But I remember those pop quizzes and endless exams! They can make your life pretty stressful.

A: 听起来你的高中生活就挺紧张的?

B:Yeah, my high school was pretty intense, so we had to find a way to let the stress out. Some people preferred to go for a hike, I liked to party with my friends, and some people even tried smoking.

A: 高中就吸烟,对身体多不好啊! I bet it takes a lot of effort to quit smoking down the road.

B:对啊! 今天的business etiquette里就讲到了这个问题,咱们一起去听一听!

礼节美语— Quit Smoking I

Daisy在公司走廊上跟同事Johnny打招呼。

Daisy: Hey Johnny, good to see you! How have you been? I haven’t seen you in almost a month.

Johnny: Eleven days, six hours, 21 minutes, and let me see….twenty something seconds.

D: Umm….eleven what?

J: Eleven days since my last cigarette!

D: Hey…good for you! High five!

Daisy将近一个月没见到Johnny,Johnny在这期间把烟戒了,戒烟已经持续了 eleven days, six hours, 21 minutes, and twenty something seconds. 11天6小时21分钟20几秒。Daisy对Johnny表示赞扬,说 good for you! 有你的。这时候女同事Kathy凑了过来。

Kathy: Good afternoon. What are we celebrating?

D: Johnny here has been trying to quit cigarettes for years!

J: And today I’m almost 2 weeks into my program!

K: Wow, congratulations! I quit 10 years ago, but then again, I was never really a serious smoker.

D: Johnny here was a three-pack-a-day man!

K: You smoked three packs a day??! That’s some hard-core smoking! So…It must have been very difficult to quit.

J: Well, I’ve only been smoke-free for 11 days so I can’t pat myself on the back too much. But yes, it has been really tough…probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

Kathy说自己是十年前戒的烟,但戒烟前其实抽得也不是很多,I was never a serious smoker. 这一点跟 Johnny 比大不一样,Johnny原来每天抽三盒,He was a three-pack-a-day man. 英文里根据抽烟的多少,可以分为 social smoker 偶尔抽着玩的人;light smoker 烟瘾不大的人;heavy smoker 烟瘾很大的人,还有 chain smoker 一根接一根抽的人,Johnny显然就是这种人,a hard-core smoker 铁杆烟民。Johnny说,自己刚刚戒了11天,还不能 pat myself on the back 自满。to pat oneself on the back 是自我表扬,自我鼓励的意思。 Daisy说,

D: I quit cold turkey, and that was pretty darn hard.

J: Quitting smoking takes a lot of willpower, but these days a lot of help is available if you look for it.

K: My uncle tried hypnosis. A specialist tried to hypnotize him to give him the suggestion that he should stop smoking.

J: Did it work?

K: He quit for a few months, but then he fell back into his old habit.

D: A lot of my friends have tried nicotine patches. Nicotine is an addictive drug and when you quit using it, you get seriously grumpy. Sometimes a patch can help reduce nicotine cravings.

戒烟需要毅力,It takes a lot of willpower. Daisy说自己当年说不抽就不抽了,to quit something cold turkey. 意思是干净利落地戒掉某种习惯。Kathy说,她叔叔曾尝试过hypnosis催眠,hypnosis is spelled h-y-p-n-o-s-i-s, hypnosis, 动词是 hypnotize, h-y-p-n-o-t-i-z-e, 但是只坚持了几个月,就又fell back into his old habit 重新捡起了旧习惯。Daisy说,他很多朋友都用 nicotine patches 尼古丁贴片,减少身体对尼古丁的 cravings, cravings 指强烈愿望,在这是指对尼古丁的瘾头。戒烟还有其他什么好办法呢?我们下次继续听。

A: 我记得我叔叔就是个Chain smoker, 一根接着一根地抽! He said it’s impossible for him to quit smoking since he’s always craving for it!

B: Smoking can do some serious damage to your lungs. Also it’s not good for you to be in an environment that’s full of cigarette smoke.

A: 所以说,我们要对香烟说不! 好啦,下面咱们健康一下,去运动运动,听听体育美语吧!

ASE Cheers

Y: Hi, this is Yang Chen.

P: And I’m Patrick.

Y: 看体育比赛到现场和看电视不一样,现场可以为运动员加油打气。给球队加油。英语里基本的说法是:

P: Let’s go!

Y: Let’s go 在这里不是我们走吧,而是加油。Patrick, 你先教大家怎么喊加油。

P: Let’s Go is followed by the name of the team you are cheering for. You then follow it with another “Let’s go.” Like “Let’s go, Lakers. Let’s go.”

Y: 先说一遍Let’s go. 然后喊球队的名字,最后再喊一遍 Let’s go. 如果为美国队加油,就喊:

P: Let’s go, Team U.S.A, Let’s go!

Y: 我们俩一齐喊怎么样?

Y/P: Let’s go, Team U.S.A, Let’s go! Let’s go, Team USA, Let’s go!

P: Wow. We are good!

Y: 给单个运动员加油和给一个团队加油不一样。

P: To cheer on an individual athlete in a race or a competition, many U.S. fans will yell: “Come on!” followed by the name of the athlete they are cheering for. They will end with “You can do it!”

Y: 你要是喜欢看贝克汗姆踢球,那就喊:

P: Come on! Beckham, You can do it!

But, perhaps the most famous cheer is one used at middle and high schools all over America. It goes like this “Two, Four, Six, Eight-who do we appreciate?” followed by the name of the team you are rooting for.

Y: 这个有意思:Two, Four, Six, Eight—Who do we appreciate? 火箭队!Don’t you want to try?

P: Not this time, Yang Chen.

Y: Come on, Patrick! You can do it!

A: Come on! Jeremy Lin, You can do it!

B: 看来你是林书豪的铁杆粉丝啦!

A: 那当然! 他球打得又好,人又帅又高,而且还是哈佛毕业的!简直就是我的白马王子!

B: 行啦杨琳,Daydreaming time ends now. 不过,下次他来华盛顿比赛,咱们可以一块去看!

A: I like that idea!! 好了, 这次节目时间到了。这次的剪辑是小北,编辑是蔚然。同学们,我们下次再见!

B:See You Later, Alligator!