The english we speak(BBC教學)第278期:Clean up your act 改邪歸正
Why is Feifei doing so much cleaning? Has it got something to do with what her boss said? Luckily Rob can offer some useful advice and it doesn't involve using a cleaning cloth! Listen in to learn a new phrase about improving behaviour and performance.
爲什麼菲菲一直在打掃衛生？這和她老闆的話有什麼關係嗎？幸運的是，羅布提供了一些有用的建議，菲菲可以不用一直拿着抹布打掃了。請收聽本期節目學習這個與改善行爲和表現有關的新詞組。Rob: Hello welcome to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.
羅布：大家好，歡迎收聽BBC英語教學頻道的地道英語節目。我是羅布。Feifei: Oh hello...I'm Feifei.
菲菲：哦，大家好，我是菲菲。
Rob: Err Feifei, what are you doing over there?
羅布：額，菲菲，你在那兒做什麼？Feifei: Cleaning... this place is so dirty... in fact Rob, have you got any soap I could borrow?
菲菲：打掃……這個地方太髒了……羅布，你有肥皂嗎，能借我用下嗎？Rob: Feifei, this isn't like you. You don't normally take cleaning so seriously.
羅布：菲菲，這樣不像你。你一般不會這麼認真打掃的。Feifei: Well, I'm cleaning up because my boss told me to. He said I've got to 'clean up my act'.
菲菲：嗯，我這樣打掃是因爲我老闆讓我這麼做。他說我要清理我的事情。Rob: Oh Feifei, you can put down that cloth — he didn't literally mean do the cleaning. He wants you to improve your behaviour or your performance. Have you not been working very hard?
羅布：哦，菲菲，你可以把抹布放下了，他說的話並不是字面上的那個意思。他想讓你改進你的行爲或表現。你最近是不是沒有努力工作？Feifei: Who me? I always work hard... although I have had a lot of things to do at home... and I did make a few mistakes last week... and when I get stressed I start to shout at people...
菲菲：我？我一直很努力工作……雖然我家裏有很多事要做，而且我上週犯了幾個錯誤……我感到壓抑的時候會向對別人大聲喊叫。Rob: Oh yes, I did hear you. Well I'm sure I can help you clean up your act — if you're sure you know what that means?
羅布：哦對，我聽到你的喊聲了。如果你知道那是什麼意思，我想我可以幫你改善你的行爲。Feifei: Yes. Apparently I need to improve my behaviour! Let's hear some more examples of the phrase in action...
菲菲：好。顯然我需要改進我的行爲！我們來聽些例句，看看這個短語如何應用。Examples
例句I used to drink a lot of alcohol but when I got ill, I decided to clean up my act and now I only drink cola!
我以前喝很多酒，不過在生病以後，我決定改掉我的壞習慣，現在我只喝可樂！He turned up late for work every day looking a real mess, so they told him to clean up his act or face losing his job.
他每天上班都遲到，而且看起來非常狼狽，所以他們讓他改正他的行爲，清理面部，否則就開除他。Feifei: Cleaning up my act means I have to work harder... so it's got nothing to do with cleaning or acting Rob?
菲菲：這個短語的意思是我要努力工作，所以和打掃還有節目沒有任何關係了，羅布？Rob: No — acting here means behaviour — although your acting on this programme is excellent! So come on then, when are you going to start cleaning up your act?
羅布：沒有關係，在這裏acting表示行爲，不過你在這個節目上的表現真的非常棒！好了，你打算什麼時候開始改正你的行爲？Feifei: Right now. I've decided to clean up my act and start work earlier and always get you to check my work so there are no mistakes! So Rob, would you mind checking this script for The English We Speak?
菲菲：現在。我決定開始改正我的行爲，早點來上班，經常檢查工作，不再犯錯誤！羅布，你介意幫我檢查一下《地道英語》節目的腳本嗎？Rob: Sure. Let's have a look at this... perfect! You can tell the boss you've started with a clean slate.
羅布：當然可以。我看一下，這非常完美！你可以和老闆說你已經改過自新了。Feifei: A clean slate — what does that mean?
菲菲：這是什麼意思？Rob: I'll tell you another time. Ooops, I've knocked over my coffee...
羅布：改天我再告訴你。哦，我不小心打翻了咖啡……Feifei: Oh dear Rob. It looks like you've got to clean up the studio. Do you need this cloth?
菲菲：天哪，羅布。看起來你要打掃演播室了。你需要這塊抹布嗎？Rob: Thanks!
羅布：謝謝！
譯文屬僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載
重點講解：
1. clean up 打掃；清掃；把…弄乾淨；
例句：She is cleaning up the kitchen now.
她現在正在打掃廚房。
2. clean up one's act 改邪歸正；重新做人；
例句：The nation's advertisers need to clean up their act.
該國的廣告商需要規範自己的行爲。
3. turn up （常指出其不意地或經長久等待後）出現，到來，露面；
例句：For some reason she didn't turn up.
由於某種原因，她沒有來。
4. right now 現在；此時此刻；
例句：I am sorry-she has a visitor right now.
對不起，她現在有客人。
5. start with a clean slate 從頭開始；改過自新；
例句：The proposal is to pay everything you owe, so that you can start with a clean slate.
建議你還清所有的債務，這樣你就能夠重新開始了。
