美語訓(xùn)練班131

　　B: Welcome to American English Mosaic, I'm Mike Bond!

　　A: And I'm Lin Yang.

　　B: Are you a frequent flyer? Is it economical to pay more and upgrade your flight to business class? We will offer you some insight in today's business etiquette.

　　A: 今天的美國人如何看待他們的政府? 我們在下面的節(jié)目中為你介紹。

　　B: And in words and idioms, we will learn what "tar and feather" and "tar with the same brush" means!

　　A: All coming up on this edition of American English Mosaic!

　　B: Now let's go into our first segment, Learn a word!

　　Learn A Word 1878 dysfunctional

　　今天我們要學(xué)的詞是 dysfunctional. Dysfunctional is spelled d-y-s-f-u-n-c-t-i-o-n-a-l, dysfunctional. Dysfunctional 形容詞，意思是失常的，失調(diào)的。One in three Americans believe the dysfunctional government is the country's biggest problems. 三個美國人里就有一個人認(rèn)為，政府運(yùn)作失調(diào)是美國所面臨的最大問題。A recent study revealed that only around 2 out of 10 people actually escape the grips of a dysfunctional family. 最近的一項(xiàng)研究顯示，每十個人當(dāng)中，大約只有兩個人能真正擺脫他們所在的不健全的家庭。好的，今天我們學(xué)習(xí)的詞是 dysfunctional, dysfunctional, dysfunctional.

　　A: It's hard for kids to grow up in dysfunctional families. I have a friend who always seems very distant to people and favors spending time with his pet. Turns out that his mom favored his brother over him growing up, and it left him believing no one truly loves him.

　　B: That's horrible! Once you form a certain personality and world view, it's very hard to change it. I'm so grateful for my loving and caring family.

　　A: Yeah, I love my family too, it's full of happiness and laughter! But my mom did tar and feather me when I grew up.... 她一直相信不打不成材呀....

　　B: Well, what can I say, looks like she did a good job bringing you up!

　　A: Aww!

　　B: And you mentioned a good idiom: tar and feather. Let's listen to today's words and idioms and check it out!

　　Words and Idioms 885 tar and feather

　　美國習(xí)慣用語第 885 講

　　剛才朋友跟我抱怨說，她的老板太可怕了! 她在工作上出了一點(diǎn)小錯，老板就不依不饒，把她好一頓罵。這讓我想到了一個習(xí)慣用語，那就是：

　　M: Tar and feather. Tar is spelled t-a-r, and feather; f-e-a-t-h-e-r. Tar-and-feather. Tar and feather.

　　Tar這個詞不太常見，是“柏油”的意思。Feather大家都知道是指“羽毛”。把Tar 和feather放在一起，意思是“嚴(yán)厲懲罰”。比如，我的朋友被苛刻的老板罵得體無完膚，我們就可以說She felt TARRED AND FEATHERED by her overly critical boss. 當(dāng)然了，倒霉的不只我朋友一個人，下面是一個高中生的煩惱，我們一起聽。

　　M: : "I think my whole class hates English this semester. Our teacher is always ready to punish us for the slightest mistake. If she finds any misspellings on our compositions, she deducts several points from our grade. I don't understand the need to TAR AND FEATHER US."

　　這段話意思是：我估計(jì)，我們?nèi)喽己尥噶诉@學(xué)期的英文課。我們的英文老師總是為了一丁點(diǎn)小錯誤而懲罰我們。她判作文時，發(fā)現(xiàn)一個錯字就扣好多分兒。我實(shí)在不明白，她干嘛非要這么嚴(yán)厲地懲罰我們。

　　唉，分-分-分，學(xué)生的命根! 這位英文老師在判分時毫不留情，為一點(diǎn)小錯而責(zé)罰學(xué)生，難怪不得人心! 好的，讓我們再來聽聽上面那段話。

　　M: "I think my whole class hates English this semester. Our teacher is always ready to punish us for the slightest mistake. If she finds any misspellings on our compositions, she deducts several points from our grade. I don't understand the need to TAR AND FEATHER US."

　　在生活中，我們常常會見到吹毛求疵，專挑別人毛病的人。我以前?？匆粋€美食評論家的專欄，我發(fā)現(xiàn)，她的文章中，稱贊別人的部分不到百分之10，剩下的全是挑毛病，最愛在別人的不足之處上大作文章。最后，許多讀者都受不了她的這種態(tài)度，紛紛寫信投訴她，沒過多久，她的專欄就被撤掉了。可見，大眾的力量不容忽視，中國不是有句話叫“眾口爍金，積毀銷骨”么。社會名流，他們更可能因丑聞而被大眾Tar and Feather。不過，這種情況似乎也在發(fā)生變化，讓我們來聽聽下面這個人的看法：

　　M: "I'm no longer shocked when I read about athletes and politicians who have extramarital affairs. It used to be that they'd be TARRED AND FEATHERED. Today, instead of being severely criticized, they're often forgiven. Then they're featured on magazine covers and make lots of money by writing books. It disgusts me."

　　這個人說：當(dāng)我看到體育明星和政客們搞婚外情的新聞時，我已經(jīng)不會大驚小怪了。過去，這種人一定會被人們的口水淹死，可現(xiàn)在，沒什么人會去嚴(yán)厲斥責(zé)他們，相反，社會大眾會原諒他們。他們還能上雜志封面，出書，大筆撈錢。這一切讓我覺得惡心。

　　上面這段話讓我想到一個女人瑪莎.斯圖爾特。她原本是“家政女皇”，可后來因股票內(nèi)幕交易丑聞坐了5個月的牢。當(dāng)時，She was tarred and feathered, 所以好多評論家都以為她將一蹶不振。可恰恰相反，她出獄后全面復(fù)出，經(jīng)營的企業(yè)甚至比以前更成功，似乎也沒人再提她犯罪坐牢的事兒了。讓我們再聽一遍剛才的話：

　　M: "I'm no longer shocked when I read about athletes and politicians who have extramarital affairs. It used to be that they'd be TARRED AND FEATHERED. Today, instead of being severely criticized, they're often forgiven. Then they're featured on magazine covers and make lots of money by writing books. It disgusts me."

　　Tar And Feather的起源是12世紀(jì)時的一種酷刑。當(dāng)時，人們把Tar--柏油，倒在受罰者身上，然后再把Feather--羽毛，貼在柏油上，這樣乎上幾天，實(shí)在殘酷。后來，to tar and feather就被引伸為“嚴(yán)厲懲罰”的意思了。 在學(xué)習(xí)英語的時候，難免犯錯，不過，即使用錯了詞，犯了語法錯誤，別人也絕不能把你TAR AND FEATHER!

　　M: Until next time.

　　下次節(jié)目再見。

　　M: This has been Words and Idioms.

　　A: I'm so stoked! I just booked my ticket back home today! Yummy food and the spring festival celebration, here I come!

　　B: Ugh, I envy your life! Did you buy a non-stop?

　　A: No, I have one stop, but it's not too bad. I'm considering if I should upgrade to business class, it's a 13 hour flight, and crawling in economic class seats doesn't sound very appealing...

　　B: Seems like you've got to do some cost benefit analysis! Actually in today's business etiquette, we will talk about the pros and cons of upgrading to business class.

　　A: Let's go take a look!

　　禮節(jié)美語BE-257 Flying Business Class I

　　Cindy看到同事Wendy很開心的樣子。

　　Wendy: (excited) Yeah!

　　Cindy: Hey, Wendy....you sure looked excited. What's up?

　　W: I just got a text message...and...I get to fly business class on my next trip to China!

　　C: Sweet! What city are you going to?

　　W: Beijing. The fabrics trade show is happening there next week.

　　C: Cool. I've never been to Beijing...you?

　　W: No. I've only been to Shanghai and Hangzhou.

　　C: Well...it's great that you get to see a new place.

　　Wendy這么開心，原來是因?yàn)橐ケ本┏霾?，而且是?business class 商務(wù)艙，不是經(jīng)濟(jì)艙 economy class 或是 coach class. 除了商務(wù)艙和經(jīng)濟(jì)艙以外，大家知道的頭等艙在英語里是 first class. 正說得高興，另一位同事Amy走過來，問她倆要不要一起去吃午飯。

　　Amy: Hey girls...wanna go walk across the street and grab some lunch?

　　W: Sure!

　　C: Yeah, let's go. You know...Wendy should treat us today.

　　A: Why is that?

　　C: Because she gets to fly business class next week.

　　W: Sure...lunch is on me! I'm going to Beijing next Tuesday for the fabrics trade show. I've always wanted to see what traveling business class would be like and now I'll get a little taste!

　　A: Congratulations. Business class has so much more leg-room...the seats practically recline into a bed. Of course...first class is even nicer.

　　Amy問兩人要不要一起去馬路對面買點(diǎn)午飯吃 grab some lunch. Cindy讓W(xué)endy請客，Wendy should treat us today. 因?yàn)樗滦瞧谝虅?wù)艙去北京出差。Wendy欣然答應(yīng)，說 Lunch is on me. 意思是午飯我來請。Amy說，商務(wù)艙 leg room 伸展腿腳的空間更大，椅子放倒就象床一樣，但還是不如頭等艙舒服。聽上去Amy八成坐過。Cindy 問 Amy:

　　C: Are you speaking from experience?

　　A: Actually, yes. My husband and I flew first class to Hawaii for our honeymoon.

　　C: Wow!

　　W: That is cool. I've been stuck in coach all my life. Is it just my imagination, or have the seats in economy class been getting smaller over the years?

　　C: I don't think the seats have gotten smaller...I think the airlines are packing more rows of seats into airplanes and that means less leg-room.

　　A: Well, it's probably true that if we want cheap tickets we will have to put up with being crammed into an airplane.

　　原來，Amy去夏威夷度蜜月時坐的就是頭等艙，所以她確實(shí)是speak from experience. Wendy很羨慕地說，I've been stuck in coach all my life. 我一輩子都沒離開過經(jīng)濟(jì)艙。座位雖說沒變小，但是航空公司不斷在機(jī)艙里加座椅，pack more rows of seats into airplanes, 當(dāng)然伸腿的地方就越來越小了。Amy無可奈何地說，想要買便宜的機(jī)票，就只能忍受飛機(jī)里的擁擠了。We will have to put up with being crammed into an airplane. to put up with 是忍受;cram 是動詞，意思是擠在一起。

　　A: Wendy 看起來很高興，因?yàn)樗ケ本┏霾羁梢?fly business class，乘坐商務(wù)v。商務(wù)艙更舒服，有更寬敞的 leg room, 伸展腿腳的空間。Wendy說，I've been stuck in coach all my life, 我一輩子都沒離開過經(jīng)濟(jì)艙，所以這次能乘商務(wù)艙很開心。

　　B: I hope I can get a job in the future that will enable me to fly back and forth between the U.S. and China first class! I certainly wouldn't say no to more legroom!

　　A: Indeed, and the food is so much better! I guess that's a very important factor for a foodie like you...

　　B: You know me too well!

　　A: Haha! Alright, 我們接著來聽聽商務(wù)艙還有什么好處吧!

　　禮節(jié)美語BE-258 Flying Business Class II

　　Cindy看到同事Wendy很開心的樣子。

　　Cindy: So Wendy, are you flying non-stop?

　　Wendy: Washington DC to Beijing...non-stop.

　　Amy: Oh that's lovely. The thing I hate the most about traveling is layovers. You have to get off the plane...get all your stuff...sometimes you have to go through security...then you wait around in the airport lounge for hours, and finally get back on a plane and endure more hours of flying.

　　C: Stopovers are a real pain in the neck. Sometimes they are quick, but most of the time layovers take at least three or four hours.

　　W: I got stuck at the Bangkok airport for nine hours once! I nearly went insane!

　　A: That's nasty. I'd rather just stay overnight and come back the next day.

　　Wendy的班機(jī)是直飛 non-stop, 不用轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)，中途轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)在英文里是layover 或者是 stopover. Cindy說，Stopovers are a real pain in the neck. 說一件事情是 a pain in the neck 意思是說這件事情特別討厭。Wendy也說，有一次她被困在曼谷機(jī)場九個小時，I got stuck at the Bangkok airport for nine hours. Amy也說，她寧可找個地方過夜，I'd rather just stay overnight. 第二天再回來，也不愿意在機(jī)場干等。

　　C: Hopefully the airplanes of the future will be faster and bigger so we can get places more comfortably and quickly.

　　W: So...enlighten me on what pleasures await me in business class.

　　C: Well, the food is pretty good. Each meal has several courses and if you want seconds or thirds the answer is always: "No problem, madam."

　　A: The wine list is excellent, too. You also have a choice of dozens of brand-new movies and shows on your personal in-flight entertainment system.

　　C: But ...like I said earlier...the number one best thing about business class is the leg-room! You can stretch out and lie back. It makes all the difference in the world.

　　商務(wù)艙的乘客有哪些特殊待遇呢?Cindy說，首先是吃的好，每頓飯都有好幾道菜，而且，if you want seconds or thirds 如果你想要第二份或是第三份的話，回答永遠(yuǎn)都是沒問題。seconds第二份is spelled s-e-c-o-n-d-s, seconds, 就是second后面加個s. thirds也是一樣，就是在third后面加個s. 除了吃的好，葡萄酒種類也不錯。The wine list is excellent. 此外還有最新上映的電影，但是商務(wù)艙最好的地方還是寬敞，It makes all the difference in the world. 天壤之別。

　　A: Cindy's right. A 12-hour flight doesn't seem all that long.

　　W: Excellent! I'm very much looking forward to it. Okay, it's my treat...what do you want to eat?

　　A: I'll have the shrimp salad.

　　C: And I'll have a club sandwich and a cranberry yogurt.

　　W: I'll have carrot sticks and a tomato juice.

　　C: On a diet?

　　W: No...I'm just too excited to eat!

　　Wendy聽后很高興，說自己十分期待。大家開始點(diǎn)午飯，結(jié)果Wendy自己只要了carrot sticks and a tomato juice. 小胡蘿卜和番茄汁。Cindy問她是不是在減肥，On a diet? 等于 are you on a diet? Wendy 回答說不是，是因?yàn)樘d奮，所以吃不下東西。

　　A: Wendy這次還可以fly non-stop，直飛，Amy說這簡直太重要了，因?yàn)閘ayover is a pain in the neck, 轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)特別煩。Cindy說，商務(wù)艙不僅寬敞，而且食物非常好，the wine list 酒單也不錯，而且還有非常即時的 in-flight entertainment system，途中娛樂系統(tǒng)。

　　B: Sounds like a 13-hour flight won't be that long if you are flying business! You should consider it Yang Lin.

　　A: I think I'm gonna do it! A wine list on the plane? That's what I'm talking about.

　　B: There you go! Alright, enough about flying, let's go ahead with our class.

　　A: Let's listen to another learn a word!

　　Learn A Word 1883 indefinite

　　今天我們要學(xué)的詞是 indefinite. indefinite is spelled i-n-d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e, indefinite. Indefinite 形容詞，意思是不明確的，無限期的。The head coach has decided to take an indefinite leave of absence to care for his sick wife. 為了照顧生病的妻子，球隊(duì)主教練決定無限期請長假。The union launched an indefinite strike, requesting shorter hours and better pay. 工會發(fā)起無限期罷工，要求縮短工時，增加工資。The bridge was closed indefinitely for repair work to be done. 這座大橋要接受檢修，將無限期停止使用。好的，今天我們學(xué)習(xí)的詞是 indefinite, indefinite, indefinite.

　　A: I feel like the construction in front of our building has been going on indefinitely...

　　B: They sure are not efficient enough, but that probably is in par with the government's pace.

　　A: Haha, Mike, you can't tar every government employee with the same brush!

　　B: My bad, my bad. But what does tar with the same brush mean? Let's check it out in today's words and idioms.

　　Words and Idioms 886 TAR WITH THE SAME BRUSH

　　美國習(xí)慣用語第 886 講

　　前兩天，我和朋友逛街時路過一家PIZZA連鎖店，我想進(jìn)去吃飯，可朋友說，她在這個品牌的另外一家店吃過，那里的服務(wù)糟透了，所以，這家店的服務(wù)一定也很差。她說什么也不在這里吃。雖然PIZZA沒吃到，但朋友的做法讓我想起了一個習(xí)慣用語，那就是：

　　M: Tar with the same brush. Tar is spelled t-a-r, and brush; b-r-u-s-h.. Tar-with-the-same-brush.

　　Tar 這個詞不太常見，當(dāng)名詞時是“焦油”的意思，當(dāng)動詞是指“涂抹焦油”;BRUSH，大家比較熟悉，是“刷子”的意思。To Tar somebody or something with the same brush，字面的意思是“用同一把刷子涂焦油”，其實(shí)是指“因?yàn)槟橙嘶蚰澄锊缓?，就誤以為和他們類似的人或物都不好”，也就是“一桿子打翻一船人”。比如，我這位朋友因?yàn)榭吹揭患疫B鎖店的服務(wù)不好，就斷定另外一家連鎖店的服務(wù)也不好，這就是Tar it with the same brush，一桿子打翻一船人了。畢竟，兩家店雖然是一個品牌，但服務(wù)員的素質(zhì)可能并不相同。

　　在生活中，這種一概而論的事經(jīng)常發(fā)生。比如，下面這個老板在招聘員工時的態(tài)度：

　　M: "One of the applicants for a part-time sales position came with good references. Yet my boss didn't want to hire him because he was still in high school. Apparently, he'd had a bad experience with a teenaged employee. To me, he TARRED HIM WITH THE SAME BRUSH. Why did he blame him because of another teen's poor performance?"

　　這段話意思是：在應(yīng)聘兼職銷售員的人中，有個人條件不錯，獲得以前雇主的強(qiáng)力推薦?？墒?，我們的老板不想雇他，因?yàn)樗€是個高中生。很顯然，老板以前雇過高中生，可那個孩子表現(xiàn)不好。這下，老板一桿子打翻一船人，凡是高中生，他都不雇了。我覺得，這對應(yīng)聘人來說是不公平的。

　　這個老板顯然在招聘過程中有歧視行為! 因?yàn)橐粋€人的年齡而不給他工作機(jī)會，這在美國可能被人告上法庭! 讓我們再來聽聽上面那段話。

　　M: "One of the applicants for a part-time sales position came with good references. Yet my boss didn't want to hire him because he was still in high school. Apparently, he'd had a bad experience with a teenaged employee. To me, he TARRED HIM WITH THE SAME BRUSH. Why did he blame him because of another teen's poor performance?"

　　在日常生活中，如果你常常對人對事一概而論，可能會錯過很多機(jī)會。比如，在挑選戀愛對象時，就應(yīng)該有個開放的態(tài)度，不能隨便把對方臉譜化。讓我們來聽聽下面這段話：

　　M: "My buddy thinks that I shouldn't ask Jean out because she's divorced and he'd dated divorcees who seemed desperate. But I'm not going to TAR HER WITH THE SAME BRUSH. I'm not about to fault Jean because of my friend's bad dating experience with other divorced women. It isn't fair."

　　這個人說：我的一個哥們兒覺得，我不應(yīng)該和Jean 約會，因?yàn)樗x過婚，而我這位哥們兒交往過離婚女人，覺得她們的人生態(tài)度都很消極。不過，我不會一概而論，不會因?yàn)槲遗笥淹x婚女人合不來就覺得Jean不好，這么做對Jean是不公平的。

　　說到一概而論，我想到我的表姐。她家那個市的市長貪污公款被判了刑，因?yàn)檫@個，她就決定再也不在選舉中投票了。這么做太過了吧! 我承認(rèn)，一些政客的確是腐敗的，但也不能因此就Tar them with the same brush，一桿子打翻一船人，覺得他們個個都壞。

　　讓我們再聽一遍剛才的話：

　　M: "My buddy thinks that I shouldn't ask Jean out because she's divorced and he'd dated divorcees who seemed desperate. But I'm not going to TAR HER WITH THE SAME BRUSH. I'm not about to fault Jean because of my friend's bad dating experience with other divorced woman. It isn't fair."

　　說到Tar with the same brush的起源，最初是牧羊人把焦油涂在羊的傷口上，給羊治病。后來，同一群羊就都被涂了焦油，受到了同樣的對待。到了19世紀(jì)初，這個短語開始被用在人的身上。

　　M: Until next time.

　　下次節(jié)目再見。

　　M: This has been Words and Idioms.

　　A: Mike, working with you is really effecting me! I've started taring all of VOA's employee's with the same brush.

　　B: Really? how so?

　　A: I keep suspecting that they are all trying to dodge work!!!

　　B: ouch.....

　　A: 好了同學(xué)們，這次節(jié)目時間就到這里了。

　　B: Tune in next time for American English Mosaic!

　　A: See you next time!