Jessica 在北京学汉语，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。今天是杨林要问的：潜规则。
YL: Jessica! 上次我给你的签名照呢？快还给我!
Jessica: Why? 你不是参加“阳光女生”的比赛，要当 super star了么？
YL: 别提了! I got eliminated!
Jessica: 被刷下来了？!
YL: 是啊。虽然过了第一轮海选，可第二轮一上来就被刷了! 哼! 这里面肯定有潜规则! 对了，潜规则美语怎么说啊？
Jessica: Well, if you suspect the competition has some secret, back-door deals, you can say there are some “unspoken rules”.
YL: 哦，unspoken, u-n-s-p-o-k-e-n, unspoken 就是“没有明说的”，rules 规则；unspoken rules 就是“潜规则”喽!
Jessica: That’s right! So, you think you were cut because the selection process wasn’t fair and open, like the competition is following some unspoken rules. Right?
YL: 没错! 我看，获胜者可能是内定的！
Jessica: If that’s true, then the whole competition is rigged!
YL: rigged?
Jessica: Yes! r-i-g-g-e-d, rigged 就是内定. It means the outcome has been predetermined by the producers.
YL: 哦，比赛结果被“内定”就是 rigged! 那还比个什么劲儿啊!
Jessica: I agree. Rigged competitions aren’t worth attending, because someone is pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
YL: 等会儿，你说 someone is pulling the strings from behind the scenes， “从后面拉线”，就是有人幕后操纵的意思，对不对？
Jessica: Exactly! So tell me what you’ve learned today!
YL: 第一“潜规则”在美语里叫 “unspoken rules”;
第二，说比赛结果内定，可以说 rigged；
第三，幕后操纵，叫 pull the strings from behind the scenes.