美國(guó)之音之流行美語(yǔ)lesson 330 in one's elemment...

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Larry和李華一起吃中飯。今天我們要學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：in one's element和too many cooks in the kitchen.

LL: Lihua, Isn't this weather gorgeous?

LH: 是啊，兩個(gè)月前還是冰天雪地的，怎么好象一眨眼就進(jìn)入夏天了似的。

LL: This year the weather has been really strange. First, it snowed a lot. And now it's really warm. Maybe it's global warming.

LH: 不管是什么原因，只要陽(yáng)光明媚，我就有一副好心情。坐在這里，感覺(jué)整個(gè)人都是暖洋洋的。

LL: Do you remember the other day when we were talking about Jeff?

LH: 記得啊，上次我見到Jeff, 他好象正在忙著找女朋友，還說(shuō)什么這是他今年要實(shí)現(xiàn)的目標(biāo)。

LL: I saw him at a dance party the other night, and he looked like he was totally in his element. He was talking to one girl after another.

LH: 這么說(shuō)，他已經(jīng)開始把計(jì)劃落實(shí)在行動(dòng)上了？不過(guò)Larry, what do you mean when you say he was "in his element"?

LL: "In one's element," basically means that someone is in a very suitable environment and doing something that comes very naturally. Like I could say that you are in your element when you're teaching Chinese.

LH: 哦，我明白了，in one's element, 就是說(shuō)做什么事情很自如，得心應(yīng)手。那我也可以說(shuō)，You are in your element when you're playing video games.

LL: You got it. Jeff looked totally cool and in his element the other night.

LH: 這么說(shuō)，Jeff在舞會(huì)上非常自如，而且十分擅長(zhǎng)跟女孩子搭訕。哎，我怎么記得他以前好象特別靦腆。你跟他打招呼了嗎？

LL: Of course. He told me that he's become much more social and outgoing during the past year and he's always going out to bars and parties.

LH: 這么說(shuō)，Jeff 找女朋友的目標(biāo)用不了多久就能實(shí)現(xiàn)了。

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LL: Hey, I almost forgot. I have great news. My brother George is finally getting married and we are invited.

LH: George終于要結(jié)婚了！真是太好了?；槎Y在哪里舉行？

LL: I think it's going to be in Orlando. That's where my brother's girlfriend's family is from.

LH: 是佛羅里達(dá)的奧蘭多嗎？我正好沒(méi)去過(guò)迪斯尼。這下好了，可以借著去參加婚禮的機(jī)會(huì)，到迪斯尼去好好玩玩。 婚禮具體在哪家賓館，辦定了嗎？

LL: I'm not sure. My brother and his girlfriend want to have the wedding on a beach. But the bride's family wants to have it at a resort. Seems to me like there are too many cooks in the kitchen.

LH: 你是說(shuō)George和他未婚妻想在沙灘上舉行婚禮，可新娘的家里人卻希望能在渡假村里辦?？蛇@跟什么廚房、廚子有什么關(guān)系呢？

LL: No, you're misunderstanding the phrase "too many cooks in the kitchen." It's a metaphor, meaning that the help or involvement of too many people can do more harm that good.

LH: 哦，我明白了，too many cooks in the kitchen，廚房里大廚太多反而會(huì)誤事。你是說(shuō)，在選擇婚禮地點(diǎn)的問(wèn)題上，出主意的人太多，結(jié)果反而很難決定。

LL: Exactly. There are too many people involved in deciding the location of the wedding and so it's like having too many cook in the kitchen.

LH: 那去年我們班里幾個(gè)同學(xué)商量春假一起出去玩，可是有人要往北走，有人要往南走，誰(shuí)都說(shuō)服不了誰(shuí)，在這種情況下，我就可以說(shuō)There were too many cooks in the kitchen. 對(duì)嗎？

LL: You got it. Having too many cooks in the kitchen sometimes can do more harm than good because sometimes too many people working on the same thing can ruin it.

LH: 你們公司去年那個(gè)項(xiàng)目做砸了不就是因?yàn)橹甘謩澞_的人太多嗎？

LL: Absolutely. The project failed because there were too many cooks in the kitchen.

LH: 在George婚禮的事情，真希望“廚房里那些大廚們”都出去，讓George和他女朋友兩個(gè)人自己決定。

今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是in one's element, 意思是做某件事情得心應(yīng)手、非常自如。另一個(gè)是too many cooks in the kitchen，廚房里大廚太多，意思是做主的人太多反而會(huì)耽誤事。