今天的這段對話,在討論短語,
聊聊一個關(guān)于花卉和園藝的短語
來聽今天的講解:
A: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Helen.
大家好,歡迎收看《我們說英語》。我是海倫。
B: Hi, I'm William. Today Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is opening.
嗨,我是威廉。今天漢普頓宮花展開幕。
Music, birdsong
音樂,鳥鳴
A: Oh, Hampton Court Palace Flower Show – the world's largest flower show! I've seen it on the news before. If only I had a garden!
哦,漢普頓宮花展——世界上最大的花展!我以前在新聞上看到過。如果我有一個花園就好了!
B: Ah yes, you live in an apartment, don't you Helen?
啊,是的,你住在公寓里,是不是海倫?
A: Yeah. So William, let me guess, today we are going to do a phrase relating to flowers and gardening?
是的。那么威廉,讓我猜一猜,今天我們要做一個關(guān)于花卉和園藝的短語?
B: Exactly.
完全正確。
A: So...? What's the phrase?
所以短語是什么?
B: Er... Well, how about... how about... er. No, it's gone. It's no good. I can't think of a phrase right now.
呃…嗯,怎么樣…怎么樣…呃。不,它不見了。這不好。我現(xiàn)在想不出一個短語了。
A: Oh well. Let's just have a chat instead. I'm tired of learning new phrases anyway.
哦,好吧。我們還是聊聊吧。反正我已經(jīng)厭倦了學(xué)習(xí)新短語了。
B: OK. Well, how are you Helen? How are the kids?
好的。海倫,你好嗎?孩子們好嗎?
A: Oh they are both really well. My little boy eats too much chocolate though!
哦,他們倆都很好。不過我的小男孩吃巧克力太多了!
B: Oh really? Well, you want to nip that in the bud.
哦,真的嗎?好吧,你想把它扼殺在萌芽狀態(tài)。
A: Eh? Nip it in the bud?
呃?把它扼殺在萌芽狀態(tài)?
B: Nip it in the bud. If you nip something in the bud, you stop it before it becomes a problem. Listen to this example from a business context:
防患于未然。如果你把某件事防患于萌芽,你就會在它成為問題之前停止它。從商業(yè)環(huán)境中聽這個例子:
Man: The last few deliveries we've had from this company have all had broken parts in them.
我們從這家公司收到的最后幾批貨都有壞零件。
Woman: Well, we need to nip that in the bud. Tell them that unless their service improves, we're going to look for another supplier.
好吧,我們需要把它扼殺在萌芽狀態(tài)。告訴他們,除非他們的服務(wù)有所改善,否則我們將尋找另一家供應(yīng)商。
A: So in that example, the man was complaining about poor service from a supplier. The woman wanted to nip it in the bud.
所以在那個例子中,那個男人抱怨供應(yīng)商的服務(wù)不好。那個女人想把它扼殺在萌芽狀態(tài)。
B: That's right. She wanted to take steps to improve the service before it got even worse.
沒錯。她想在情況變得更糟之前采取措施改善服務(wù)。
A: So where does this phrase come from William – to nip something in the bud?
那么,這句話是從哪里來的呢——把一些事情扼殺在萌芽狀態(tài)?
Birdsong and music
鳥鳴與音樂
B: Well, it comes from gardening, actually. A bud is the part of a plant that becomes a flower, a leaf or stem. If you nip something in the bud, you cut the bud off the plant before it has time to grow.
事實上,它來自園藝。芽是植物變成花朵、葉子或莖的部分。如果你把一些東西夾在芽中,你會在植物生長之前把芽剪掉。
A: Oh. That's not very nice.
哦,那不太好。
B: Well, gardening is a tough game, Helen. You have to nip things in the bud sometimes. You also have to kill slugs and snails.
嗯,園藝是一項艱巨的任務(wù),海倫。有時你必須防患于未然。你還必須殺死蛞蝓和蝸牛。
A: Eugh! I'm glad I don't have a garden.
?。∥液芨吲d我沒有花園。
B: Bye!
再見!
A: Bye!
再見!