喜歡流行樂的Ernie和酷愛嘻哈樂的Beth打算組個樂隊。
P: Today they're discussing what kind of music their band should play.
Beth: Ernie, I'm really excited about starting this band together. We're going to be the two coolest students on campus.
Ernie: I know! It's gonna be great. But what kind of music do you think we should play?
Beth: That's a good question. You know I love hip hop, so maybe we can play some Vanilla Ice songs.
Ernie: Hmm ... Vanilla Ice? I know his most famous song, "Ice Ice Baby," but I don't know his other songs.
Beth: That's OK. You can buy his songs on iTunes and listen to them.
P: Winnie, what does Beth think will happen if she and Ernie start a band?
她說,組了樂隊,他們就變成學校最酷的兩個人! 不過,說實話,我可不這么覺得。
他們要唱"Vanilla Ice"的歌,他的歌早就過時了!
P: Well, Vanilla Ice was a popular rapper in the 1990s. I'm sure he still has fans today, like Beth.
E: Well, I've never downloaded music before. How does it work?
B: You haven't? If you've never tried it I can show you how.
E: Alright. But why is downloading music better than buying CDs at the store?
B: Downloading music is really fast and convenient, and you can preview all the songs before you buy them.
P: So Winnie, why does Beth like downloading music?
她說從網上下載歌曲又快又方便,還可以在購買前"preview,"“試聽”一下。不過,Ernie居然說他從來沒下載過音樂。天啊,難道他一直住在火星上么?
P: Yeah, even old people know how to download music these days. Let's see if Ernie can catch up.
E: That sounds pretty good. But isn't downloading music illegal?
B: Not if you pay for it. For example, if you download from iTunes and pay with your credit card, it's legal.
E: OK, I'm going to get iTunes and download some Vanilla Ice songs.
B: Awesome. You'll see that they are really catchy.
Professor, 他們說這些歌很catchy, 這是什么意思呢?
P: You can say a song is "catchy" if it's fun and easy to listen to, and you want to hear it all the time.
哦,就是“好聽,上口”的意思。
P: Exactly. Sometimes a "catchy" song can get "stuck in your head."
不過, 我覺得Vanilla Ice的歌可沒有這種魔力。
B: Now that we know what kind of music we will play, we have to decide what each of us will do.
E: Well, I love hip hop dancing, so I should probably dance. Do you know how to rap?
B: Oh yeah! I'm a great rapper. And I know all the Vanilla Ice lyrics by heart.
E: Excellent. I'll start practicing my dance moves.
倆人一唱一跳,跟真的似的! 可我對他們實在沒信心。
P: Well, you never know, maybe they will be really good and surprise you. But Winnie, do you know what song lyrics are?
當然知道, lyrics就是歌詞。不過, to “know the lyrics by heart”是什么意思呢?
P: That means you have memorized them.
Oh, 原來to know something by heart就是“記住”、“熟練于心”的意思。
B: But Ernie, we're still missing something. We need someone to play the music!
E: Oh right ... you know, my friend Eric is a DJ. Maybe he would like to play with us.
B: Hmm ... does he have a good ear for hip hop music?
E: Well, I don't know, but we can find out. We can talk to him and ask if he wants to join our group.
P: Well Winnie, can you guess what it means to "have an ear" for a kind of music?
Sure,這就是說對某種音樂有天生的感覺和才華。唉,真希望Eric能讓這兩個人清醒點,幫他們選幾首好歌。
P: Let's hope so. Tune in next time to find out!
這次的美語三級跳就播送到這里。