VOA慢速英語(yǔ):Hey Greenhorn!

Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)詞匯掌故節(jié)目。

Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is also the color of most growing plants.

綠色是自然界中一種重要的顏色。它是青草和樹(shù)葉的顏色，也是大多數(shù)生長(zhǎng)中的植物的顏色。

Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet ripe or finished.

有時(shí)，綠色意味著年輕、新鮮和成長(zhǎng)中。有時(shí)，它用于描述一些尚未成熟或完成的東西。

For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no expereince, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed. A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in battle. By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today - a person who is new in a job.

例如，greenhorn是指沒(méi)有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的新手。在15世紀(jì)，greehorn是指小母牛或角尚未長(zhǎng)出來(lái)的公牛。一個(gè)世紀(jì)左右之后，greenhorn是指尚未有任何戰(zhàn)斗經(jīng)驗(yàn)的士兵。到了18世紀(jì)，greenhorn就有了今天這種意思，它是指新手。

About one hundred years ago, greenhorn was a popular expression in the American west. Old-timers used it to describe a man who had just arrived from one of the big cities back east. The greenhorn lacked the skills he would need to live in the hard, rough country.

大約一百年前，greenhorn在美國(guó)西部是一個(gè)常用的表達(dá)。老一輩們用它來(lái)形容剛從美國(guó)東部大城市回來(lái)的一類人。這類人缺乏在這片艱難、崎嶇的土地上生活所需的技能。

Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundreds.

擁有讓植物長(zhǎng)勢(shì)良好的能力的人被稱為精于園藝。這一表達(dá)來(lái)自20世紀(jì)早期。

A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.

園藝好手似乎擁有一種魔力，能夠讓植物長(zhǎng)勢(shì)既快又好。如果在你花園中的植物死了很久之后，隔壁女人花園中的植物還在繼續(xù)生長(zhǎng)，你可能就會(huì)說(shuō)她是一個(gè)園藝好手。

The Green Revolution is the name given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural scientists who had green thumbs.

綠色革命(Green Revolution)是指若干年前新型大米和其它谷物的大發(fā)展。這些新作物產(chǎn)量更高。綠色革命是擅長(zhǎng)種植的農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)家辛勤工作的結(jié)果。

Green is also the color used to describe the powerful emotion, jealousy. The green-eyed monster is not a frightening creature from outer space. It is an expression used about four hundred years ago by British writer William Shakespeare in his play "Othello."

綠色還用于描述強(qiáng)烈的情感和妒忌。green-eyed monster(妒忌)不是指來(lái)自外太空的可怕生物，它是大約400年前英國(guó)作家莎士比亞在其劇本《奧賽羅》中用到的一種表達(dá)。

It describes the unplesant feeling a person has when someone has something he wants. A young man may suffer from the green-eyed monster if his girlfriend begins going out with someone else. Or, that green-eyed monster may affect your friend if you get a pay raise and she does not.

它描述了一個(gè)人當(dāng)別人有他想要的東西時(shí)的不愉快感覺(jué)。一位年輕男子的女友如果跟別人走了，他可能就會(huì)遭受嫉妒的折磨?；蛘?，如果你加薪了，而你朋友沒(méi)有，嫉妒就會(huì)影響到你朋友。

In most places in the world, a green light is a signal to move ahead. A green light on a traffic signal means your car can continue on. In everyday speech, a green light means approval to continue with a project. We want you to know we have a green light to continue this series next week.

在世界上大多數(shù)地方，綠燈(green light)是前進(jìn)的信號(hào)。交通信號(hào)的綠燈意味著你的車(chē)可以繼續(xù)往前開(kāi)。在日常用語(yǔ)中，綠燈是指項(xiàng)目被批準(zhǔn)繼續(xù)進(jìn)行。我們希望你知道，我們被開(kāi)了綠燈，下周可以繼續(xù)這個(gè)系列的節(jié)目。