美語訓(xùn)練班 025

GoEnglish: TV Advanced

各位聽眾，大家好！今天我們?yōu)槟コ?ldquo;美語三級跳”節(jié)目“電視節(jié)目”單元的高級課程。

Professor: Will and Jane are on a date and talking about what kind of TV shows they like to watch, and it so happens that Will loves TV crime dramas.

Winnie: Crime drama 就是“偵破片”，Professor Bowman, 我聽說最近幾年，crime drama 已經(jīng)是美國最受歡迎的電視劇了。這是為什么呢？

Professor: Let's see what Will and Jane have to say about it.

Jane: So Will, you really like crime dramas, huh? Why are you so into them?

Will: I really want to become a lawyer one day, so I think watching shows like "Law and Order" is pretty good preparation for my future career.

Jane: Oh come on .... that show is so boring. Each show has the same plot. The police arrest someone for a crime, and then he goes to trial.

Will: No way! It's totally interesting the way it shows how the American justice system works. If it were so boring, why would there be so many spinoffs?

Jane: Well that's one thing we can agree on. There are definitely a lot of cookie-cutter spinoffs.

Winnie: "Law and Order"--“法律與秩序”， 講的是警察偵破罪案，法庭審案的故事。Will喜歡看這個片子，因為他可以從中學(xué)到關(guān)于美國司法系統(tǒng)的一些知識。

Professor: That's right. Will likes it, but what does Jane think about the show?

Winnie: Jane覺得這片子沒意思。不過，Will說，如果這片子不吸引人，就不會有那么多spinoffs--仿照它所拍的同類型電視劇了。

Professor: Exactly. You know, you can call other things spinoffs too. For example, "The new Italian restaurant was so popular that there were soon three other spinoffs, all exactly the same, on the same block. "

Winnie: 對了，Jane還用到了cookie cutter這個詞，cookie cutter就是做餅干時切面的模子。Professor, 在這里，cookie cutter 是不是指“千篇一律的東西”呢？

Professor: Yes! For example, I could say that I never believe my students when they give me cookie-cutter excuses for why they didn't do their homework, like saying that their dog ate it.

Jane: Well what are some of the other crime dramas you like?

Will: Do you know the show Crime Scene Investigation? We usually call it CSI. It's about a team of police

investigators solving crimes in Las Vegas.

Jane: Sure, I've heard of CSI. What other shows do you like?

Will: There are lots of other great crime dramas. There is also CSI New York and CSI Miami.

Jane: Will ... can't you see that those are all the same show! They just happen in different cities!

Will: No way! They're all totally different. And besides, they all get really good ratings and rave reviews.

Winnie: CSI--“犯罪現(xiàn)場調(diào)查”，也是個非常紅的電視劇! 后來的CSI New York 和CSI Miami就是最初那版CSI的spinoffs.

Professor: That's right. But what does Will say?

Winnie: 他說，這些電視劇都得到了good ratings--高收視率，還有rave reviews--非常好的評論。

Professor: That's right, Winnie. The word "rave" is often used as a verb, meaning to praise something highly.

Winnie: rave 通常是動詞，意思是“極力贊揚”。您能舉個例子嗎？

Professor: Well, I decided to take my next vacation in Greece after my sister came back from her visit there raving about how great it was.

Will: You know, all this talk reminds me that CSI Miami is coming on pretty soon. Do you mind if I cut our date short so I can get home to watch it?

Jane: You want to end our date early just so you can go home and watch TV? Was the last episode a real cliffhanger, and you have to see tonight's episode?

Will: Yeah! I can't wait to get home so I can see the sequel.

Jane: Well I hope you enjoy it, Will, because there will definitely not be a sequel to this date!

Winnie: Will居然要提前結(jié)束約會，趕回家看今晚播出的CSI Miami？我看這只是個借口吧! 不過，Professor, Jane提到一個詞--cliffhanger，這是什么意思？

Professor: A "cliffhanger" is a chapter of a book or an episode of a TV show that ends without resolving the plot.

Winnie: 哦，我明白了，cliffhanger這個詞由兩個部分組成：cliff--懸崖，hanger--懸掛物，所以，cliffhanger就好比是有人在懸崖邊，命懸一線! 指的是書和電視中那種有懸念、令人緊張的情節(jié)!

A：現(xiàn)在電視劇都愛跟風(fēng)，If one show gets high ratings and rave reviews, the market will be flooded with cookie-cutter spinoffs.

B：沒錯! That's why original ideas are so precious.

A：不過，要想作出有創(chuàng)意的東西，員工要對工作有熱情，而公司領(lǐng)導(dǎo)也得鼓勵創(chuàng)新，不然好的創(chuàng)意永遠(yuǎn)不能被發(fā)現(xiàn)，也不能變成好的產(chǎn)品。

B： That's very true! Now let's listen to "Business Etiquette". Lisa is complaining that her good ideas are not taken seriously by the company.

Business Etiquette: Looking for a change II

Lisa告訴同事Emily新年過后準(zhǔn)備辭職，因為她覺得眼下的工作很無聊，沒有升職的機會，她還說：

Lisa: The other problem is that I think the company is really set in its ways.

Emily: What do you mean?

L: In other words, I think management is resistant to change. I've given great proposals to my section chief and I've even sent emails with ideas on how to streamline operations to the big boss, but the reaction is always the same.

E: What do they say when you offer suggestions?

L: Usually something like: "We'll take a look and get back to you." But that's the last I'll ever hear from them.

Lisa 還覺得公司運作墨守成規(guī)，set in one's ways 是指生活方式或做事方法一成不變，類似的說法還有 stuck in a rut, rut is spelled r-u-t, rut 是指車轱轆留下的印兒，to stuck in a rut 陷在車轱轆印里，也是墨守成規(guī)，一成不變的意思。Lisa 說自己向部門經(jīng)理和公司老板提出過很多好建議，但都沒有得到重視。得到的回答一般都是：We'll take a look and get back to you. 我們看一下再答復(fù)你，然后就再也沒有任何消息了。

E: So, do you have any job prospects lined up?

L: I've been sending out resumes and I've gotten a couple of bites.

E: I see....so you've pretty much made up your mind to quit then?

L: I think so. I'll miss seeing you everyday.

E: I'll miss you, too. Can I make a suggestion?

L: Sure!

E: Don't burn any bridges when you make your move.

L: What do you mean?

Emily問她工作找得怎么樣了，Do you have any job prospects lined up? Lisa說自己發(fā)了一些簡歷，已經(jīng)有一些公司對她表示有興趣了，I've gotten a couple of bite. bite, b-i-t-e, bite 在這里是上鉤的意思，意思是她的簡歷已經(jīng)引起了一些公司的興趣?？雌饋鞮isa去意已定，Emily好心地建議Lisa, Don't burn any bridges. 辭職的時候不要把事做絕，最后給自己留條后路。Emily進(jìn)一步解釋說：

E: I mean, don't tell the boss you hate your job or him. Simply inform them that you plan to resign from your position and do your best to train your replacement. That way, this company can remain a back-up option for you.

L: You make a good point. I'll try to be as professional about this as possible. Thanks Emily! Talking to you makes me feel much better.

E: Sure! Now let's eat!

Emily勸Lisa不要burn any bridges 斷了自己的后路，不用告訴老板對公司有多不滿意，而且還要 do your best to train your replacement 盡力把交接工作做好，這里所說的replacement 指的是接替Lisa工作的那個人。Emily說，這樣的話，現(xiàn)在的公司還能是Lisa的候補選項 back-up option. Lisa覺得Emily這番話很有道理，并保證自己在處理這件事的時候，I'll try to be as professional as possible. 這里的professional是專業(yè)的，as professional as possible意思是盡可能按照職場的慣例去做。

A：Don't burn your bridges 這句話說得好，We all need back-up plans，得給自己留條后路。

B: Well, that maybe true, but sometimes you need to burn the bridges and put yourself against the wall, and only by that way you can fully committed into doing something.

A：你是說自己斷了后路，背水一戰(zhàn)？That's too risky! Don't be too hard on yourself!

B：No pains no gains!

A：好了，咱們別爭論了! 還是輕松一下吧，Now let's go bowling!

ASE: bowling

P: Hey Yang Chen, Let's go bowling.

_

Y: 我不會打保齡球。

P: Well don't worry, you are in good hands. I'll teach you how to bowl.

Y:那你可要耐心點兒。Be very patient with me.

P: No problem. First you need to learn how to hold the bowling ball. Well, first hold the ball in your left hand.

_

Y: Whoa, 好重啊，差點閃了我的腰。

_

P: It's not that heavy. Well, now put the first and second fingers of your right had in the top two holes and your thumb in the bottom hole.

_

Y: OK, Patrick, I'm ready! Now what do I do?

P: Walk up to the line at the top of the bowling lane with the ball and center yourself in the lane.

Y: Okay, 站到bowling lane保齡球道中間。

_

P: Now, hold the ball with your right hand only. Swing it behind you, and then swing it forward and let it go.

_

Y: Here it goes!

P: Oh No, Yang Chen. Your ball went into the gutter.

Y: A gutter?

P: Yep, those long troughs on both sides of the bowling lane are gutters G-U-T-T-E-R-S. And when your ball goes in the gutter it is called a gutter ball.

Y: 保齡球掉到旁邊的溝里，就叫g(shù)utter ball溝球。

P: And since you didn't hit anything, you don't get any points, but you do get another chance.

Y: Okay, let me try again. 我再來一次。(Sound of ball hitting lane and going in the gutter) Rats! I got another gutterball.

P: It is pretty common to get gutterballs when you first start bowling. You just need practice.

Y: Okay, then let me try again. (Sound of ball hitting lane and going into gutter). Aiya! 又一個gutter ball!

P: Practice makes perfect!

A：打保齡球時扔出gutterball最丟人了！

B: 多練練就沒事啦！

A: But it's so embarrassing!

B：If you're afraid of losing face, you can practice bowling at home. For example, you can play blowing video games.

A：在家里用保齡球游戲模擬練習(xí)，這個主意好！Do you want to join me?

B: Sure!

A：那咱們就比試一下！好，今天節(jié)目時間差不多了，這次節(jié)目的撰稿人是嘵北，編輯是蔚然，同學(xué)們，咱們下次的美語訓(xùn)練班節(jié)目再見！

B: Bye!