我們社區(qū)委員會上周末舉行選舉,結(jié)果,一個默默無聞的人當(dāng)上了委員會主席。后來我聽說,這個人在選舉前一直在家里辦宴會,把好多委員請去吃飯,拉關(guān)系,拉選票。這讓我想到了一個習(xí)慣用語。那就是:behind the scenes。
Behind the scenes,是“幕后”的意思。我們社區(qū)委員會的選舉就是這樣,候選人請委員會成員吃飯,說服他們把票投給自己,可我們這些普通居民根本不知道這些事情。It was done behind the scenes. 這事是瞞著大家,暗中進(jìn)行的。
在下面這段話中我們要談到一個叫Wikileaks的組織,中文叫維基泄密。它到底泄露了那些秘密呢?我們來聽一聽:
例句-1:WikiLeaks is an international organization that publishes secret information from a variety of unnamed sources. Its release of several pages of sensitive e-mails from U.S. diplomats caused a lot of concern. Many in the government claim that such communications should remain private. They warn that it could harm national security and international relations to let the public learn what goes on behind the scenes.
這段話是說:維基泄密是一個國際組織,專門公開來自各種匿名渠道的秘密信息。這個組織向公眾泄露了長達(dá)數(shù)頁的美國外交官收發(fā)的電子郵件的內(nèi)容,這些敏感的信息引發(fā)了很多人的關(guān)注。許多政府人士說,這些郵件的內(nèi)容不應(yīng)該曝光。他們警告說,讓公眾了解到政府私下里進(jìn)行的活動會給國家安全和國際關(guān)系帶來傷害。
不過從另外一方面說,公眾是有知情權(quán)的。我們不是用“無事不可對人言”來形容行為磊落,心胸坦蕩的人么?
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我們常說“沒有不透風(fēng)的墻”。如果不想讓別人知道你的秘密,唯一的辦法就是不要把這個秘密告訴別人,不管是寫信、電子郵件還是打電話、聊天。
下面這個例句就證明了這一點(diǎn)。我們來聽一聽:
例句-2:Whenever players on the team were interviewed, they expressed their admiration and support for Coach Green. Behind the scenes, however, they complained bitterly about his lack of experience. Soon enough, their dislike of him became well-known. That's when fans called for the Coach to resign.
這段話是說:隊(duì)員們在接受采訪時,總是表達(dá)他們對格林教練的敬仰和支持??墒?,在背后,他們總是非常不滿地抱怨這位教練缺乏經(jīng)驗(yàn)。很快,隊(duì)員們對教練的反感就變得盡人皆知了。于是,球迷們要求教練下課。
Behind the scenes,還可以放在一起當(dāng)形容詞用,表示幕后的,后臺的。比如,a behind the scenes look at a fashion show, 時裝秀的后臺情況,a behind the scenes video of how a car is manufactured 揭密汽車制造過程的錄像。