例句-4: Sometimes you can tell who is going to win a big office like President or Governor by watching how many other politicians come running to jump on his bandwagon and get credit for supporting him.
这个人说:有时候,你只要看有多少政客急急忙忙表态站在某个候选人一边,并想以支持他得到好处,你就可以知道谁会当选像总统或州长那样的重要官职了。
日期:2007-9-10 11:12:34
流行美语第78课声音
今天Michael到李华的宿舍串门,李华会学到两个常用语:have a cow和pack rat。
M: Hey, Li Hua, what are you doing?
L: 哎哟,我在找我的眼镜,急死人了,找不到眼镜我怎么上课啊?
M: Calm down. Li Hua, don"t have a cow. I"m sure you"ll find them.
L: 你说什么?Don"t have a cow? Cow, 这不是“母牛”的意思吗?哎,我这儿是学生宿舍,怎么能养母牛呢?
M: No, I said "don"t have a cow", it means don"t get too excited about something. I"m sure you"ll find your glasses if you are patient enough.
L: 噢,我懂了,你是让我耐心点儿。你叫我Don"t have a cow, 意思就是别着急、别慌,可是,Don"t have a cow字面的意思明明是“别有母牛”。这跟“别惊慌”一点关系也没有,好奇怪哟!
M: Yeah, it is a little strange, but we still say it.
L: 好吧,就听你的, I won"t have a cow, 再想想看,我可能把眼镜放在什么地方了。
M: Well, where did you see them last?
L: 我记得昨晚睡觉前把眼镜放在床边桌子上了。
M: Have you looked under the bed?
L: 有啊,我在床底下找过了,让我再看看。哎呀,你还真说对了,就在床底下呢!
M: See, I told you not to have a cow and I was right.
L: 可是,Michael, 你肯定平时也有惊慌失措的时候。比方说,要是我对你说,我把你的电脑弄坏了,你肯定会have a cow。
M: Yes, I would have a cow because I can"t afford to buy a new one. Hey, Li Hua, You didn"t really break my computer, did you?
L: Don"t have a cow! 我是在跟你开玩笑啦!
******
M: Li Hua, you really have a lot of stuff. Is that the movie ticket from last week? You even saved that?
L: 噢,这是上星期的电影票。你说我这儿东西多啊,那是因为我喜欢把各样东西留起来。你看,除了电影票,我还有报纸杂志什么的。谁知道呢,说不定什么时候会有用呢!
M: You"re really a pack rat. Look at all this stuff! No wonder you couldn"t find your glasses.
L: 哎哟,Michael, 虽然我找不到眼镜可能是因为我这儿东西太多,可你也不该骂人啊?干吗说我是rat? Rat 那不是“老鼠”吗?
M: No, I didn"t call you a rat. I said you are a pack rat. A pack rat is someone who saves everything and has lots of stuff.
L: 噢,原来,pack rat是指“什么东西都不肯扔的人”。我什么东西都不愿意扔 -- I guess I am a pack rat.
M: My mom is a pack rat, too. We have so much stuff in our house. She even saved every drawing I ever made when I was a kid.
L: 原来你妈妈也是个pack rat. 你说连你小时候画的画她都舍不得扔?我倒希望我妈也是个pack rat, 把我小时候画的画啦或者玩过的玩具也留到今天。
M: So you can have them here and add to your "collection"? You"re really a pack rat, but Li Hua, have you ever thought how difficult it would be for you to move to a new place?
L: 说的也是,我什么都留着,东西越积越多,要是哪天想搬家,那可就成问题罗。
M: Well, my folks have been in their house for more than 20 years, probably because my mom is such a pack rat, they have too much stuff to even move.
L: 什么?你爸妈在一个地方住了20多年,可能就是因为你妈是pack rat,弄得家里东西太多了?Maybe I shouldn"t be a pack rat anymore!
今天李华学到了两个常用语,一个是to have a cow, 意思是“惊慌失措”;另一个是pack rat, 意思是“什么东西都不肯扔的人”。
日期:2007-9-11 8:54:44
「美国习惯用语」第七十九讲
sleaze
gridlock
在竞选过程中,候选人进行互相攻击似乎是常事,只是在手法上有所不同而已。今天我们先要给大家介绍一个和候选人互相攻击有关的常用词汇:sleaze。Sleaze这个字听起来就不太悦耳,它的意思也很不好。Sleaze指的是“下流的人”,或是“低级的东西”。可是今年的美国总统竞选中,sleaze是指“攻击对方的私生活”。也就是,竞选一方散布有关竞选对手私生活中的丑闻,以此在选民中毁坏对方的名声,他们散布的丑闻有的可能是属实的,但是也有一些是完全捏造的。下面请听一个例句:
例句-1: On the campaign trail today the Republicans and the Democrats both hurled charges accusing the other side of using sleaze despite promises by Bush and Clinton to stop such tactics.
这是说:今天在竞选活动中共和党和民主党互相攻击,指责对方使用人身攻击的手法,尽管布什和克林顿都做了保证不再这样做。
下面请听一位候选人是怎么说的:
例句-2: I don"t intend to use sleaze against my opponent although there are plenty of things in his personal life that the voters ought to know about.
他说:我并不想利用竞选对手的丑闻来攻击他,但是他的私生活中也确实有很多东西选民应该知道的。
在七十年代,纽约有一次发生严重的交通堵塞事故。当时汽车无法前进,排成几里长的长蛇阵,所有主要街道的路口全部都被堵死了。人们把这一现象叫做:gridlock。Gridlock这个字在有些字典里还查不到。现在,美国人用gridlock这个字来指美国政界存在的那种两派僵持不下,任何问题无法得以进展的现象。出现这种现象的主要原因是布什总统是共和党人,而负责制定法律的国会却在民主党控制之下。在过去四年内,布什提出的大多数提案国会都没有通过。而国会提出的提案,很多都被布什否决了。民主党在国会虽占多数,但还没有到足以推翻总统否决的三分之二多数。这个局面使得许多重要问题无法进展,造成了gridlock的现象。请听下面这个例句:
例句-3: Both the Republicans and the Democrats agree that the big problem with the government in Washington is political gridlock. But they certainly don"t agree who is to blame.
这句话的意思是:共和党人和民主党人都同意,美国政府的一个大问题就是在政治上的僵局。至于究竟哪一方应该对这个局面负责,双方意见却完全不同。
这种现象不仅仅是美国联邦政府的问题,连州一级政府也同样存在类似情况。下面就是一个例子:
例句-4: Our State is just like Washington--we have a Republican Governor and a Democratic legislature. So we usually have gridlock on new programs because one side won"t approve what the other side does.
这个人说:我们州和华盛顿一样,我们的州长是共和党的,而立法机构却在民主党控制下。往往一方不同意另一方的计划,所以我们经常会在新的项目上出现僵局。
今天我们给大家介绍了sleaze。Sleaze是攻击竞选对手私生活的手法。Gridlock是在政治上处于僵局的现象。
日期:2007-9-11 8:55:57
流行美语第79课声音
今天Michael和李华要出去买东西。李华会学到两个常用语:down with that和to pay through the nose。
M: Hey, Li Hua. What do you want to do today? I don"t have any special plan, so we can do whatever you want.
L: 你今天没事干呀?太好了,我正想去买几件春天穿的衣服。那些旧的都已经过时了。
M: I"m down with that. I need to buy some new tennis shoes. My old ones are really gross. My roommate is threatening to throw them out.
L: 我也注意到你的球鞋了,实在不象话,怪不得你的室友要把它扔掉呢。哎,那太好了,咱们就一块儿去买东西吧。不过,Michael,你刚才说I"m down with that。那是什么意思呀?就是你愿意去的意思吗?
M: Yes, the expression "I"m down with that" means going shopping is okay with me and I"m willing to go.
L: 这很有意思。那要是你问我,要不要跟你一块儿吃晚饭,我很愿意的话,我能不能说:I"m down with that?
M: Yes, that would let me know that you are willing to have dinner with me. What would you say if I suggested we go to my friend"s party on Saturday night.
L: 你建议我们星期六晚上上你朋友家去聚会啊。嗯,那一定很好玩,我愿意去,I"m down with that。
M: Right. Now, where do you want to go shopping? There are lots of places close by.
L: 去哪儿买东西呀?学校附近有很多买东西的地方。去附近那个购物中心,好不好?
M: Okay, that"s fine with me. That mall has a shoe store and it"s close. Let"s go.
L: Okay, I"m down with that. 我们可以搭公共汽车去,几分钟就到了。然后我们有一整天去买我们要买的东西。还可以在购物中心吃饭呢!
M: Okay, I"m down with that.
******
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