美语训练班050讲

A: 大家好! 欢迎来到这期的American English Mosaic! 我是杨琳！

B: 我是Kat! 杨琳，今天咱们学什么呢?

A: 今天，咱们要接着跟 Toby找工作，去听听如何跟同事表白，学学怎么安慰别人，还要告诉大家怎么用美语说"无语"和"扫货"。

B: 扫货! That's one of my favorites!

A: Me too!! 不过这个咱们等会再说，先赶快来进入第一个单元，Learn a Word!

Learn A Word whopping

今天我们要学的词是whopping. Whopping is spelled w-h-o-p-p-i-n-g, whopping. Whopping的意思是巨大的，程度惊人的。美国股市爆出好消息：道琼斯工业指数今年一季度创下1998年以来最佳同比表现，同时 The Nasdaq rose a whopping 19% since New Year's Day. 纳斯达克指数从一月一号到现在已经实现了百分之19的巨大增长。Android game App Temple Run gets a whopping 1 million downloads in three days. 安卓版游戏应用程序"神庙逃亡"推出三天来下载量惊人，达到一百万。Many US airlines charge a whopping $150 fee for changing tickets for domestic flights. 许多美国航空公司对国内航 班都收取150美元的高额机票改期费。好，今天我们学习的词是whopping, whopping, whopping.

A: 前一段时间美国人人都在谈论Mega millions, 在我们附近就有三个学校工作人员中奖了! They each won a whopping 35 million dollars after taxes! 每个人赢了3千五百万!

B: That IS a lot of money. I remember how everybody was talking about what they would do if they won that much money! I'd buy a MASSIVE boat!

A: hmmm, 要是我中奖了，我就先环游世界，然后再去商场扫货，把我喜欢的好看衣服全买下来! 哈哈!

B： Haha, you are the shopping queen! 不过你刚才提到的扫货, 在美语里也有类似的说法，我们一起来听一听!

How to say it in American English

Jessica 在北京学汉语，她的中国朋友要是遇到了不知道用美语怎么说的词，就会来请教她。今天是吴琼要问的：扫货。

Jessica: Wuqiong, 明天我们去吃火锅好不好？

WQ: 火锅儿？好吃! 可...我没钱.

Jessica: No money? You told me you got a scholarship!

WQ: 奖学金是拿了，可我一高兴就拿去扫货啦!

Jessica: 扫货？

WQ: 就是 buy a lot of things!

Jessica: Oh! You went on a shopping spree!

WQ: shopping spree?

Jessica: Right! Spree is spelt s-p-r-e-e. Going on a shopping spree means you spend a lot of money during a single shopping trip. 头脑发热，看什么都买。

WQ: 对! I went on a shopping spree after getting my scholarship money! 我那天疯狂扫货，一分钱都没留下!

Jessica: But do you really need all the things you bought on the shopping spree?

WQ: 说实话，好多东西都用不着，可我当时就是那么烧包！烧包你懂么？就是看着手里的钱难受，非把它花出去!

Jessica: Haha! Actually, in English, we have a similar expression--your money was burning a hole in your pocket.

WQ: My money was burning a hole in my pocket? 钱把衣服兜烧了个窟窿？这的确跟"烧包"很像!

Jessica: Wuqiong, next time your money is burning a hole in your pocket, take me with you! I'll make sure we only go window shopping!

WQ: Window shopping? 买窗户？

Jessica: (Chuckle) No. Window shopping means we only look at the window displays, without really buying anything!

WQ: 哦，就是光看不买! 这个好，省钱!

Jessica: 对! Now tell me what you've learned today!

WQ: 第一，扫货叫go on a shopping spree；

第二，烧包叫money is burning a hole in one's pocket；

第三，光看不买是window shopping!

这次的"美语怎么说"就到这里了。如果你也有不会说的词，请写信给 Jessica, 电邮请寄meiyu@voanews.com

A: 所以说嘛， if I ever won the lottery, I could stop window shopping and go on a real shopping spree!

B: You know what, I remember seeing something about this. There was an interview with this guy who won the lottery and he said he wished he had never won it! 有钱了以后，好多人来跟他借钱，弄得亲情友情都变了味!

A: 这倒也是! 不过就算没有朋友和亲人，你还是可以买个豪宅，置办个游艇什么的嘛!

B: Well, if you have all the nice things in the world but nobody to share them with, I would say those things are just cold comforts. 赶快来听听下面的Words and Idioms 你就明白了!

Words and Idioms

女：各位听众，现在播送第 961讲。我是杨琳。

M：我是 Steve Baragona.

女：今天报纸头版刊登了本地棒球队比赛的一张照片。比赛进行到第三局时，球赛解说专门提到在场的受伤军人，观众纷纷起立为他们喝彩。可我觉得，对一个在战争中失去双腿的士兵，别人的喝彩固然令人欣慰，但他可能更希望自己有一天能再站起来。这让我想到了一句习惯用语，那就是:

M: Cold comfort. Cold is spelled c-o-l-d, and comfort; c-o-m-f-o-r-t. Cold-comfort.

女：大家都知道，Cold 是冷的意思，comfort是安慰，连起来，cold comfort, 意思是"不起作用的安慰"。就像上面的例子里，一位失去双腿的士兵当然很高兴大家记得他为国家做出的牺牲，但是He may also felt it was COLD COMFORT since he could no longer walk. 毕竟他再也不能走路了，别人的喝彩可能只是"不起作用的安慰"。在下面例子里，一名员工谈到了大家是怎样认同他的工作成绩的，我们来听一听：

M: "Two weeks ago, I got the news that my factory would be relocating overseas. As I sat at home wondering what I was going to do for work, I glanced up. There on the wall was the award I had received for "Employee of the Year." It seems COLD COMFORT for what I have to deal with now."

这段话意思是说："两个星期前，我得知我工作的工厂要整个搬到海外去作业。我坐在家里，想着以后要怎么办的时候，抬头正好看到墙上挂的'年度优秀员工奖'的奖状。这张奖状对于目前身处困境的我来说，丝毫起不到安慰的效果。"

女：真是的！饭碗都要丢了，看到曾经得的奖状恐怕只是徒增烦恼。我想起上次我朋友的女儿在数学竞赛里得了第二名，虽然评委不停说她也很出色，可是她看起来还是十分沮丧。To her, it was COLD COMFORT. 对她来说，这一点也无法让她高兴起来。好了，我们再来听听刚才那段话：

M: "Two weeks ago, I got the news that my factory would be relocating overseas. As I sat at home wondering what I was going to do for work, I glanced up. There on the wall was the award I had received for "Employee of the Year." It seems COLD COMFORT for what I have to deal with now."

女: 上面我们讲了cold comfort 不起作用的安慰。下面的例子里，历史学家要告诉我们一场惨剧的一些不为人知的细节。我们一起来听一下：

M: "In 1963, members of an African-American church in Alabama were attending Sunday church services. Suddenly, a bomb exploded, killing four young girls. The tragedy shocked the nation. And it helped create new laws to end discrimination. For the parents who lost their children, though, that was COLD COMFORT."

这段话是说："1963年，阿拉巴马一个非洲裔美国人教堂里，人们正在进行周日祷告。忽然，一个炸弹爆炸，四名女孩被炸死。这场悲剧震惊了全国，并最终推动美国确立了禁止歧视的法律。但是对于那些失去了孩子的家长来说，这并不能解决什么问题。"

女: 真是太可怜了。我无法想像失去孩子，将要如何去面对。说到非洲裔美国人，我想大家最熟悉的就是Martin Luther King 马丁.路德.金了。华盛顿刚刚建成马丁.路德.金的雕像，奥巴马总统也到场祝贺。奥巴马当选本身，就证明了美国在民权上的长足进步。好的，我们再来听听刚才那段话：

M: "In 1963, members of an African-American church in Alabama were attending Sunday church services. Suddenly, a bomb exploded, killing four young girls. The tragedy shocked the nation. And it helped create new laws to end discrimination. For the parents who lost their children, though, that was COLD COMFORT."

女：各位听众，今天我们学习的习惯用语是COLD COMFORT，意思是"不起作用的安慰"。好的，这次[美国习惯用语]就到此结束，我是杨琳，我是 Steve Baragona。谢谢各位的收听。

A: 我也来造个句，美国每年4月15号是交税截止期. I have to pay a huge amount in taxes, so my boyfriend took me out for dinner last night! But still, compared to what I had to pay, that free dinner was a cold comfort.

B: 哈哈， I feel you, 杨琳! But think of it this way, you are paying taxes because you have a job. 想想那些没工作的人吧! 是不是觉得自己幸福多啦?

A: 嗯，这么一说我就舒服多了! 说起找工作，今天的美语三级跳里面，懒惰的Toby 竟然得到了面试的机会! 咱们赶快来听一听!

GoEnglish

Job Application: Advanced

今天我们为您播出"美语三级跳"节目"找工作"单元的高级课程。

Professor: Toby has applied for a job at a company, and today he has his first interview with Jack, the head of human resources.

Toby 在简历上把自己吹得神乎其神，今天可有好戏看啦!

Professor: So let's see if Toby's "people skills" can get him a job he might not be qualified for.

Jack: Hi Toby, my name is Jack Wilson, and I'm the head of human resources here.

Toby: Hello Mr. Wilson, thanks for taking the time to see me.

Jack: Sure. I see on your resum□that you've done a lot with computers, sales and customer service. Can you tell me a little bit about your experience?

Toby: Of course. As it says on my resum□ my main experience is working in retail sales at a book store.

Jack: What were the day-to-day responsibilities for this job?

Toby: I did a lot of market research. Since we sold a lot of newspapers and magazines, I spent a lot of time reading news stories online.

这个Toby，真能胡扯！他上班的时候明明在网上瞎逛，却说这是market research--市场研究!

Professor: Well what do you expect? In a tough job market you have to exaggerate your skills a little bit. The most important thing is not to sell yourself short.

面试的时候谦虚当然行不通，可是，像Toby这样胡乱吹嘘自己的能力，早晚会露馅儿啊!

Jack: Do you have any experience in customer service?