【大紀元2012年02月02日訊】A: 美語訓練班上課啦! 我是楊琳！
B: 我是 Kat! 咱們今天學甚麼呢，楊琳？
A：咱們比賽吃漢堡，要去向朋友借車，要聊聊肢體語言，還要告訴大家怎麼用美語說「大片兒」。
B: But first we have to “Learn a Word”. Right?
A: 沒錯! 先來學個詞兒！
Learn A Word : cater to
今天我們要學的詞是 cater to. Cater is spelled c-a-t-e-r, cater; and to, t-o, to; cater to. Cater to 意思是迎合需求。隨著美國嬰兒潮人口的老齡化，Thousands of physicians are catering to the 78 million baby boomers who are hoping to feel younger, and who are willing to pay for the privilege. 很多醫生都在努力迎合美國7千8百萬嬰兒潮人口的保健需求，這些人希望能讓自己繼續年輕，並願意為此買單。Malaysian aviation magnate AirAsia is trying to build “small, fun and affordable sports cars” which cater to Asian consumers. 馬來西亞航空業巨頭亞洲航空正在嚐試著研發符合亞洲消費者口味的「小巧、有趣和價格適中」的跑車。好的，今天我們學習的詞是cater to, cater to, cater to.
A: cater to 迎合需求。現在有很多商家都推出手機購物客戶端，to cater to the consumers who use smartphones to shop.
B: Yes, some people say this will change the entire retail landscape. Do you think that’s right？
A: 手機購物帶來零售業的革命？我看有這個可能！記得以前大家問一個商家，會問「Where is your store?” 後來這個問題變成 “what’s your web site?” 現在已經變成 “Do you have an app?”
B: Exactly! My gut feeling is that shopping on smartphones is the way to go!
A: Your gut feeling? 正好，我們下面的流行美語節目也用到了這個說法！ Let’s listen!
Popular American 389
各位聽眾，現在播送《流行美語》。 李華去Larry家，幫他收拾屋子，他們會用到兩個常用語：gut feeling和out of the woods.
（knocking on door)
LH: Larry, 快開門。
Larry: OK, OK, I’m coming! I’m coming! (door opens)
LH: 你怎麼還穿著睡衣？？都快中午了，難道你還沒有起床啊？
Larry: Hm? Oh, I must have slept in or something….
LH: 你睡過頭了？咱們今天不是要大掃除嗎？你的好哥們兒不是明天從紐約來看你嗎？你看你這屋子還亂七八糟的呢。
Larry: Hmm…. it is a bit messy in here, isn’t it? Well, no matter…. I have a gut feeling my friend isn’t coming tomorrow.
LH: Your “gut” has a feeling? 你的腸子有感覺？你要拉肚子嗎？
Larry: No, no. A “gut feeling” refers to someone’s intuition. To say you have a gut feeling about something means that you have a feeling about the outcome of something before it happens.
LH: 哦，原來 gut feeling 就是直覺的意思。你是說，你有個直覺你朋友不會來了。為甚麼這麼說呢？
Larry: Well, sometimes it’s hard to explain why you get a gut feeling about something. But in this case, there are a few things that tell me he’s not going to come.
LH: 哦？比如說？
Larry: For one thing, this friend of mine has been meaning to visit me for years, and every time, right before he’s supposed to come, something happens and he cancels the trip.
LH: 原來，這個人以前每次說要來看你都沒能成行，老是因為這樣那樣的事兒改變計劃。
Larry: Right, and that’s not the only reason I have a gut feeling he won’t come…. I was on the phone with him last night….
LH: 你們在電話裡說甚麼了？
Larry: Girl trouble.
LH: 怎麼，他跟女朋友吵架了？
Larry: (sigh)..That’s right. He was pretty upset. I was talking to him until four o’clock in the morning!
LH: 你跟他聊到凌晨4點鐘？難怪你今天這麼晚都起不來！
Larry: Yep. that’s why I have a gut feeling he’s going to cancel his trip once again. I was hoping to help him with his problems, but I have a gut feeling that he and his girlfriend are not out of the woods quite yet.
LH: 等一下！ 你說，你直覺覺得，他和他女朋友還沒有out of the woods? 他們倆去森林裡幹嘛？
Larry: Ha…. no, they aren’t literally in the woods. What I meant is, I don’t think their problems are totally solved. My advice may have helped him somewhat, but I don’t think they’re totally out of the woods yet.
LH: 哦，They aren’t out of the woods yet 意思是說，他們之間的問題還沒有徹底解決，對嗎？
Larry: That’s right. I have a gut feeling they might even break up.
LH: 你覺得他們會分手？要是真這樣，那我也有個 gut feeling, 他呀，八成是不會來了。
Larry: Yep. So, (yawns) I might as well get back to bed and catch up on some sleep.
LH: 等一下！ Larry, you’re not off the hook! 你別以為這樣就沒事了！你屋裡太亂，你得收拾收拾！
Larry: Aw, Lihua, I’ll do it later! I’m exhausted from staying up last night! Besides, my buddy isn’t going to come down tomorrow.
LH: 哎？這個你也不能確定啊！ 你不只是憑直覺覺得人家不來麼，這怎麼能算數？
Larry: I’m pretty sure about my gut feeling this time, Lihua. (phone rings) Oh, here’s my friend calling now. I bet he’s going to cancel.
LH: 你快聽聽看，你朋友是不是真的不來了。
Larry: (answers phone) Hi, Steve, good morning!……. Oh, I slept fine, don’t worry..Mm-hmm.Mm-hmm….Oh, Really? You got back together with your girlfriend?? Oh, I had a gut feeling you two would work things out! Oh, you’re coming a day early? Tonight? You’re already on your way?? Uhh, great. we’ll see you soon, then. Bye!
LH: 甚麼？你朋友不僅沒有取消行程，而且還要提前一天到？這下傻眼了吧！看來你的gut feeling很不靠譜！得啦！咱們開始大掃除吧！
各位聽眾，今天李華從Larry那兒學到兩個常用語，一個是gut feeling, 表示直覺；另一個是 out of the woods. 意思是問題得到了解決。
A：說到男女朋友吵架，我不由得想起了這陣子我在看的一個電視劇，男女主角從第一集開始誤會，吵架，我都看到第十集了，they’re still not out of the woods! 真讓人著急！
B: Are you watching the show on the Internet? If so, you can jump to later episodes to watch the ending. Or you can choose to watch movies rather than TV shows.
A: 也對！電影嘛，最長不過兩三個小時就完了，不用一集一集吊胃口。說到電影，現在有不少大片兒要上，咱們就來學學「大片兒」用美語怎麼說！
JESSICA 在北京學漢語，她的中國朋友要是遇到了不知道用美語怎麼說的詞，就會來請教她。今天是怡茹要問的：大片。
YR: JESSICA, 你今天晚上有空麼？Let me treat you to a big movie.
JESSICA: 啊？a big movie?
YR: 對啊！我想請你看大片兒！就是最近特火的那部好萊塢電影！
JESSICA: Oh! You’re talking about the Hollywood blockbuster that’s been on since yesterday. We use the word “blockbuster” to describe films that have big production, widespread popularity and financial success.
YR: 我明白了，大片兒在美語裡就是blockbuster. B-l-o-c-k-b-u-s-t-e-r, blockbuster. 就是大製作，大宣傳，票房收益又好的電影。
JESSICA: 沒錯！怡茹, why do you want to go watch this blockbuster? 看電影可不便宜！
YR: 嗨，輕鬆輕鬆唄！再說，There are a lot of movie stars in this blockbuster. It must be a good movie!
JESSICA: Well, not all star-studded movies have good stories or acting.
YR: 等等，你剛才說star-studded，這是甚麼意思？
JESSICA: Star-studded is spelled s-t-a-r-s-t-u-d-d-e-d. It means a great proportion of the actors in a movie are well-known.
YR: 我明白了，star-studded 意思就是眾星雲集，明星大薈萃。
JESSICA: Yes. For example, you can say, “I want to watch this movie because it has a star-studded cast.”
YR: I see. 哎，快過新年了，Quite a few star-studded movies are coming out for the holiday season.
JESSICA: They are all festive to keep up with the holiday spirit.
YR: 賀歲片當然是輕鬆喜慶啦，誰要在節日看大哭片兒嘛！對了，特別賺人眼淚，讓人感動或者難過的哭片，要怎麼說呢？
JESSICA: Those movies are called tearjerker. T-e-a-r-j-e-r-k-e-r, tearjerker. A tearjerker is a sentimental movie or performance that intends to move its audience to tears.
YR：I don’t like tearjerkers-I only watch movies that make me laugh!
JESSICA: Good for you! Now let’s see what you’ve learned today!
YR: 大片兒是blockbuster; 眾星雲集的是 star-studded；催人淚下的哭片則是 tearjerker.
A： 說到blockbuster, 前些日子不是出了Hangover II麼？中文叫「宿醉」或者「醉後大丈夫」！Did you watch it Kat?
B: Yes! The sequel was not bad, but I like the first one much better.
A：So do I! 我覺得還是第一部更好玩！幾個哥們兒本來去拉斯韋加斯給其中一人開單身派隊，可是酒醉之後發生了一大堆瘋狂的意想不到的事兒！
B: Haha! Vegas is a crazy place. You know what they say about it: what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
A: Exactly! 說到拉斯韋加斯，今天咱們在美語三級跳中就要向朋友借車去Vegas扮瀟灑的事兒！
B: Let’s listen to GoEnglish!
GoEnglish: Driving (Intermediate)
各位聽眾，大家好！今天我們為您播出「美語三級跳」節目「開車」單元的中級課程。
Phil想去拉斯維加斯玩兒，可是沒有租到合適的車。所以他決定向自己的朋友Tom借敞篷車。
Professor: Winnie, if you had a nice convertible, would you lend it to a friend to go to Las Vegas?
可以借，不過條件是，帶我一起去拉斯維加斯！
Tom: Well hello Phil. This is certainly a surprise. What are you doing at my apartment?
Phil: Oh … no reason. I haven’t seen you in a while, so I thought I would go see my very, very good friend Tom.
Tom: Oh really. Well something tells me that isn’t the only reason. You never come by unless you want a favor.
Phil: What? Of course not! I came by just because I like you and wanted to say hello!
Tom: Come on Phil, you can’t fool me. What do you want?
Professor: It sounds like Tom has given Phil lots of favors before.
可不是麼，Phil以前一定經常麻煩Tom。這次，他雖然一直和Tom套近乎，但Tom似乎有點不為所動。
Phil: Well … alright. I want to drive to Las Vegas this weekend. Would it be possible for me to borrow your car?
Tom: You want to borrow my car? But it’s brand new! I’ve only made one payment.
Phil: I know, but I promise I’ll be really careful.
Tom: I don’t know … Las Vegas is a pretty wild place. I don’t want anything to happen to my car.
看來Tom不願意把車借給Phil，因為他的車是新買的，而且，拉斯維加斯那種地方甚麼人都有，把自己的新車交給別人還真不放心呢！
Professor: Exactly. But do you know what Tom meant when he said he had only made one payment?
Tom說的payments就是每個月要還的買車貸款。 他說，自己才只還了一個月的錢。
Phil: Oh please? I’m a really good driver. I’ll return it without a scratch.
Tom: You? A good driver? You don’t even know how to parallel park!
Phil: Don’t worry, I won’t park it on the street. I’ll park it in the hotel parking lot.
Tom: But people really like to party in Las Vegas. I’m worried someone who has been drinking and driving will hit my car and damage it.
Phil: Don’t worry, I’ll only drive during the day.
Tom擔心有人drinking and driving–酒後駕車，會撞壞自己的車，可卻絲毫不擔心車裡的人–Phil的安全，這算甚麼朋友！
Professor: Well, it’s a brand new car. It probably has airbags and plenty of safety features.
那倒也是，新車都會配備airbags–氣囊，和其他的safety features–安全設備。不過，professor Bowman, Tom說Phil不會 parallel park，這是甚麼意思？
Professor: The word “parallel,” p-a-r-a-l-l-e-l, means extending in the same direction. So parallel parking is to park directly behind another car.
哦，parallel是「平行」的意思，所以parallel parking就是就在街上平行停車，或者叫「入庫停車」。Phil不會parallel parking,所以他保證，只把Tom的車停在酒店停車場。
Tom: Alright Phil, I’ll lend you my car but there are some rules.
Phil: Sure, what are they?
Tom: First, no speeding. If you get a ticket in a speed trap, I will never lend you my car again.
Phil: Of course not. I’ll drive really slow.
Tom: Rule number two. No talking on your cell phone while you drive.
Phil: Of course, I promise I won’t talk on my phone.
Tom: Rule number three. If you make any money gambling, you give half to me.
Phil: Well, you drive a hard bargain, but it’s a deal!
Tom最終還是同意借車了。不過，他要求Phil，不能超速；不能開車時打電話；而且如果在賭場裡贏了錢，就要分一半給他!
Professor: Do you think that’s a good deal?
我覺得，就像Phil說的，Tom “drives a hard bargain.” 太能討價還價了。
Professor: But I think it’s a fair deal! Let’s tune in next time to learn about Phil’s trip to Vegas.
Ａ：No speeding. No talking on the phone while driving. 這應該是開車時起碼的要求吧。
B: I think so too, and that’s why Phil added one more condition: Tom had to give him half of what he made from gambling.
A: 賭贏的錢分一半，這可不太靠譜兒，要是Tom把車都給輸了，看Phil要怎麼辦。
Ｂ：Right. I don’t think Phil was thinking clearly when he decided to lend Tom his new car.
A:我也覺得，Phil是讓Tom 給砍暈了吧! Tom還真挺會求人的。
B: Ha! We can learn to be persuasive too─by using our body language! Let’s listen to Business Etiquette!
禮節美語—BE-223 Body Language I
公司主管Andy向銷售部門的Sara和James介紹諮詢顧問Monica. Andy說，
Andy: Both of you are among our company’s top salespeople. But we can always improve, right? I’d like you to meet Vince Wolf…Vince is a business consultant specializing in body language.
Monica: Hello, Sara. Hello, James. It’s great to be here!
Sara: Hello, Vince. You know, I’ve never really considered how body language affects business.
James: I read a book about body language once, but the book mainly discussed how using proper body language can help you get a date.
Monica是商業諮詢師，business consultant, 專長研究body language肢體語言。大家相互認識後，Sara說她從沒覺得肢體語言會對做生意有甚麼影響，James也說，他倒是讀過一本關於肢體語言的書，但那是教讀者如何 get a date 找個約會的對象，date作為名詞，可以指約會，也可以指跟你約會的那個人。Monica聽後說：
Monica: Actually, if you think about it, each time you meet a client you’re asking them to trust you. It’s the same idea when you like someone…you have to make them trust you before they can fall in love with you.
A: You might not think consciously about it, but body language accounts for more than 50% of the message that you’re trying to get across.
Monica: Andy is right. Once you’ve mastered basic body language skills you’ll be surprised at how much more effective you will be. Let’s take the first point: posture. If you walk into a room with your stomach in, your chest out, your shoulders back and your head high, each one of these signals sends a message saying: “I’m in command of this situation. You can trust me.”
Monica說，爭取客戶和追求愛人其實差不多，都得先讓對方信任你才行。Andy補充說，一個人在交流過程中，想要傳達給對方的信息，有一半以上靠的是肢體語言。to get something across 是把意思傳達給對方。比如：I was only trying to get my point across. 我只不過是想把我的看法告訴你。Monica說，能熟練使用肢體語言也會對工作有很多幫助，首先是體態，走進房間時要收腹，挺胸，抬頭，這就等於是在說，一切都在我的控制下，你們可以相信我。Andy 接著說：
A: When I was hiring salespeople there were several that didn’t make the cut. I think one of the main reasons I didn’t hire them was because they slouched. It looked like they weren’t comfortable, and therefore I couldn’t trust them.
Monica: The next most important thing in business is the handshake. You should hold the person’s hand firmly and shake a maximum of three times, all while maintaining constant eye contact.
Andy也認為一個人的站姿很重要，他僱人的時候，就曾因為應聘者低頭含胸，所以沒被僱用，they didn’t make the cut. to make the cut 意思是符合標準，達標， to make the cut 這個短語常用在體育中，特別是高爾夫球比賽，指晉級到下一階段的比賽中去。Monica說，除了儀表體態，握手也很有講究，一定要握緊，同時 maintain constant eye contact 一直注視著對方的眼睛。還有哪些需要注意的地方呢？我們下次繼續聽。
B：Now, Yanglin, let’s practice a handshake!
A: Haha！ Okay, here we go. I’m holding your hand firmly, and I’m watching your eyes, and let’s shake our hands. 一下！兩下！三下！哈哈！
B: Wow….remembering all these rules and tips makes me nervous. I don’t think it’s good to be nervous when you try to persuade others.
A：這倒也是！不過你慢慢練習，總會習慣的。You need to internalize these rules.
B: Okay, remind me to walk with my stomach in, chest out, shoulders back and my head high!
A: 好! 收腹，挺胸，併肩，抬頭！
B: Oh My! This is like a boot camp! I need to take a break. Let’s eat!
ASE #50 Eating Contest
Y: 我前幾天剛誇你健美，你就這麼狼吞虎嚥吃熱狗。You are eating like a pig.
P: Yang Chen, we’re doing an awesome sport today. You’re going to be really excited.
Y: Oh yeah? I can’t wait!
P: Today we’re doing competitive eating.
Y: Competitive eating? 比賽吃東西。Wow, that IS exciting.
你整天教導我要吃得健康，現在居然要參加eating contest.
P: Hey, the two of us can do an eating contest first. Well, I guess I just beat you to the punch.
Y: Punch? You know, Patrick, I’m a very non-violent person. 我從來不打人。
P: Right. And I have the bruises to prove it. Actually, the phrase ‘beat someone to the punch’ is an old boxing term. It means that you do something faster than someone else.
Y: Oh， 是一個拳擊術語，意思是先出手，先發制人。
P: Bingo. For example, I wanted to ask my pretty new classmate out on a date to, but one of the other guys in the class beat me to the punch and asked her out first.
Y: Poor Patrick. 這樣下去好女孩都被別人搶走，你要打一輩子光棍兒了。 所以你現在非常 depressed, and that’s why you want to eat so much?
P: Very funny. Now come on, let’s start our eating contest. Whoever can eat the most hot dogs in 10 minutes wins.
Y: Alright! Go!
[Chewing sounds]
Y:我吃了20個熱狗。
P: Oh my gosh, Yang Chen. I’ve never seen somebody eat so many hot dogs! I had no idea women could eat so much!
Y: Oh Patrick, don’t be sad just because I ate twice as many hot dogs as you.
P: Well all I can say is that I hope you are as good at drinking Pepto Bismol as you are at eating hot dogs.
Y: The upset stomach medication? Hey, that’s a great idea! Want to have a Pepto Bismol drinking contest?
P: Sure … [groaning]
A: 聽了這麼多集體育美語，就今天這個比賽我覺得最好！比吃飯！我最在行了！
B: Er….why am I not surprised
A: 哈哈！當然也得看吃甚麼，漢堡差點兒，最好比賽吃冰淇淋！
B: How about 吃辣椒? 你行嗎？
A: 辣椒？No problem!
B: 你還真…能吃。
A: 哈哈! 好了，節目時間差不多了，這次的撰稿人是曉北，編輯是蔚然。同學們，我們下次的美語訓練班再見!
B: Bye!
