美語訓練班第45課:"道聽途說"用英語怎麼說?
A: 大家好! 我是楊琳, 歡迎來到這期的美語訓練班!
B: 大家好，我是Kat! 楊琳，趕快來介紹一下今天的節目內容吧！
A: 沒問題！今天，咱們要看看怎麼促進銷售，要聊聊謠言是如何製造出來的，還要告訴大家怎麼用美語說“道聽途說”。
B: 道聽途說？這是什麼意思我不太明白，但是告訴大家一個好消息，上次功夫比賽，我是冠軍！Yeah!!
A: 哎……都過了一個星期，你還記得！
B: Of course! I have to share my good news with our audience!
A: 好了好了，冠軍，輸給你了！ 咱們還是言歸正傳，節目一開始，先帶大家花一分鐘，學一個詞兒！
Learn A Word successive
今天我們要學的詞是successive. Successive is spelled s-u-c-c-e-s-s-i-v-e, successive. Successive 意思是連續的，連接的。New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin scored an average of 20 points a game over six successive games. 紐約尼克斯隊控球后衛林書豪連續6場比賽取得了平均每場得20分的成績。Housing prices fell in Scotland for the fourth successive month. 蘇格蘭的房價連續第四個月降低。UK stocks slid slightly after five successive days of gains. 英國股市在接連五天上漲後略微回落。This was the school's fifth successive victory. 校隊連續獲得了五場比賽的勝利。好的，今天我們學習的詞是successive, successive, successive.
B: I'll definitely have successive victories if we have kung fu competitions every year.
A: 什麼？你說要是我們年年比賽，你每年都能贏？
B: 哈哈，開個玩笑嘛! Speaking of which, the New York Knicks just had their fifth consecutive win last night. Jeremy Lin 林書豪打得特棒！
A: 那當然了！我的偶像嘛！ 不過我希望他小心點，別像姚明那樣老受傷！
B: Hmm, good point. Yao Ming is back on his feet now, right?
A：Back on his feet?
B：Let's listen to Popular American and you will know what I mean by this!
Popular American Back on your feet, B.O. (bee-oh)
現在播送《流行美語》。 李華前陣子傷到左手，最近剛剛康復。今天Larry到醫院來看李華。李華會學到兩個常用語：back on your feet 和B.O.。
LL: Li Hua, are you feeling better now?
LH: 嗯。你看，我現在都能搬東西了呢！
LL: Whoa, be careful! But hey, it looks like you're back on your feet again!
LH: Back on my feet? 我腳沒有受傷啦，只有手而已。
LL: No, that's not what I meant. To be back on your feet is a general saying referring to a person who has recovered or healed from an illness.
LH: 啊，你說 I am back on my feet 是指我手臂養好了，恢復了，是嗎？
LL: Yes. I understand why you would think I was talking about your feet, though. A sick person is usually in bed all day. Therefore, when we say that a person is back on their feet, that means they can get off the sick bed and walk around feeling healthy.
LH: 喔。原來 to be back on your feet 是說一個病人已經不用再整天躺在病牀上，可以自由走動的意思。
LL: That's right. Can you give me an example?
LH: 好啊。Larry, I really hope you get back on your feet soon.
LL: hope that I will get well soon? But I'm not even sick...
LH: 可是你臉色好差喔。
LL: That's not true. is that smell??
LH: 咦？有不好聞的味道嗎？在哪裏？
LL: Li Hua! You didn't shower the whole time you were in the hospital did you? I can smell your B.O.
LH: B.O.? 你在說什麼啊？我可是天天洗澡呢！
LL: But that smell...B.O. is body odor. I don't think you showered, Li Hua.
LH: 你說我有體臭？！怎麼可能呢？我真的每天都清洗呢。
LL: Then what's that smell??
LH: 我真的不知道你在說什麼。難道……
LL: See?! You didn't shower!
LH: 如果不是我的話，那一定是你！
LL: It cannot be me. I shower everyday and I put on cologne this morning. Li Hua, maybe you're not back on your feet yet. You can't even remember if you showered or not.
LH: 怎麼這樣說。我只不過是手骨折，記性並沒有變差啊。And no, I do not have B.O.
LL: Fine then. But hey, you've learned two slang expressions today! Back on your feet and B.O. do you know how to use each?
LH: 嗯。B.O. 就是體臭的意思。For example: Larry had such horrible B.O. that I almost passed out. Larry 的體臭難聞到我差點昏過去。
LL: I do not have horrible B.O.! You were the one who smelled like—
LH: 舉個例子嘛，幹嘛那麼認真。那麼 back on your feet 是康復的意思。我可以說，My hand is back on my feet, 我都康復了。
LL: You used B.O. correctly. But the phrase, back on your feet, refers to a person. You cannot say your hand is back on its feet. Instead you should say that you, the person, are back on your feet.
LH: 喔。To be back on your feet 是形容康復的人，而不是形容受傷的部位。所以我得說，I am back on my feet.
LL: That's right. But oh, that smell! It's okay, Li Hua. You can tell me if you didn't shower in a while. I understand. I won't mind.
LH: 可是真的不是我的 B.O. 啊。啊！我知道了！一定是這個！
(Li Hua holds out a bag of food.)
LL: Oh my goodness! What is that?
LH: 這是臭豆腐！其實很好吃的，而且又香。你是因爲沒吃過所以不習慣它的味道。
LL: Stinky tofu? Why do you have stinky tofu?
LH: 喔。剛纔爸媽來過了。知道我很愛吃臭豆腐，就帶來給我吃的啊。來，你也嘗一塊。
LL: Phew! Thanks but no thanks. I don't want to make people think I have terrible B.O. But hey, I'm sure glad to see that you are back on your feet!
今天李華從 Larry 那兒學到兩個常用語，一個是 back on your feet, 表示一個人“恢復健康”；另一個是 B.O., 也就是“體臭”的意思。這次《流行美語》播送完了，謝謝收聽，下次節目再見。
A: 哦！原來 back on your feet 就是恢復健康的意思！ Yao Ming is 100% back on his feet after his retirement from the NBA.
B: That's great! I bet a lot of athletes have to retire early because of health problems and injuries.
A: That's true! 不過還是希望我的偶像林書豪不要受傷！
B: Haha. Rumor has it that Jeremy Lin has a girlfriend.
A: What?!! 你聽誰說的！一定是在造謠！
B: Well, I'm not sure if it's a rumor or not. But you know, there will always be gossip around a popular public figure like him!
A: 在今天的美語怎麼說裏，我們就來看看傳謠言用美語怎麼說！
How to say it in American English: grapevine
Jessica 在北京學中文，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：道聽途說。
YR: Jessica, Congratulations! And I'm mad at you!
Jessica: What? Why? What's going on?
YR: 我聽說你交了個特帥的男朋友! 所以當然恭喜你一下嘍!不過，咱倆是好朋友，你居然瞞着我，所以我生氣啦!
Jessica: What boyfriend? Where did you hear it?
YR: 大家都這麼說啊。就是...啊...怎麼說來着，street words say...
Jessica: Do you mean "word on the street"?
YR: 對! Word on the street is you've got a new boyfriend! 坊間傳言，您交了新男友哦!
Jessica: Gosh! This is pure rumor! Yiru, you must tell me who told you this. I need to dispel this rumor!
YR: 我也是道聽途說，這樣吧，你告訴我道聽途說用美語怎麼說，我就告訴你傳謠言的人是誰!
Jessica: Deal! 道聽途說 me , you can say "I heard something through the grapevine." Grapevine is spelt g-r-a-p-e-v-i-n-e.
YR: 哦，grapevine是葡萄藤的意思，I heard it through the grapevine 就是“通過葡萄藤聽來的消息”，也就是道聽途說嘍! 還有別的說法麼？
Jessica: You can also say "a little bird told me." For example, if you don't want to tell others the source of your information, you can say "Let's just say I know because a little bird told me."
YR: 哈哈，真可愛，A little bird told me, 小鳥告訴我的!
Jessica: 好啦，現在你可以告訴我了吧？Who's spreading the rumor?
YR: Well, let's just say a little bird told me!
Jessica: Hey! That's cheating, Yiru! Besides, if you say "a little bird told me," usually it means both you and I actually know the source of the information, but neither of us wants to say it. 可我現在不知道啊!
YR: 原來，在用 a little bird told me 的時候，大家對消息來源其實都心知肚明，只是故意不說。好吧，那我告訴你吧，其實——I heard the rumor through the grapevine!
Jessica: Hey!
YR: 今天我們學的內容包括：第一，坊間傳言可以說Word on the street is...;
第二，道聽途說可以說 I heard it through the grapevine;
第三，大家心照不宣地不挑名消息來源，可以說 A little bird told me.
B: See! I heard through the grapevine that Jeremy Lin has a girlfriend.
A: 到底是誰告訴你的? 這樣我才能順藤摸瓜，找到造謠的人!
B: Okay Okay, I'll stop teasing you. I came across it in a paparazzi magazine.
A: 原來是八卦雜誌! 這些雜誌裏說的東西很少有對的，他們就是爲了滿足人們的八卦欲!
B: Yeah, gossip is everywhere in society. In today's GoEnglish, we are going to look at what gossip another Jeremy is facing after he invited Heather to his house party.
A：Let's listen!
Go English High School: Advanced
今天我們爲您播出“美語三級跳”節目“高中生活”單元的中級課程。
Professor: Jeremy invited Heather to his party last weekend because she helped him cheat on his math homework. Today Jeremy is talking with his friend Allison about some of the gossip people have been saying since the ip? 八卦閒話？哎呀，我也想聽聽!
Jeremy: Hey Allison, what's up? Did you have a good time at my party last weekend?
Allison: Oh yeah, it was totally awesome. Although I'm sorry to hear that you broke up with Karen. You guys were such a great couple!
Jeremy: What? I didn't break up with Karen. We're still dating. Why did you think we weren't together anymore?
Allison: What? Everyone is saying that you dumped Karen and are with Heather now.
Jeremy: What? That's a complete fabrication. You shouldn't believe hearsay like that.哇，不知道party上發生了什麼! Allison說，大家都在傳，Jeremy dumped his girlfriend Karen——甩掉了自己的女友Karen, 和Heather成一對兒啦!
Professor: Exactly. But what does Jeremy say?他說這些傳言完全是fabrication——虛構的謊言。
Professor: That's right. You can also use fabricate as a verb. For example, "Elliot forgot to do his homework, so he fabricated a story about his dog eating it."哦，fabricate是動詞，就是“瞎編”的意思。對了，professor, Jeremy 說，Allison不該聽信這種hearsay。 Hearsay是謠傳的意思麼？
Professor: Right. Now let's see where this rumor came from.
Jeremy: Where did you ever hear such a crazy rumor?
Allison: Oh, I don't know... I suppose I heard it through the grapevine.
Jeremy: Oh come on, Allison. Tell me why people are saying that.
Allison: Well, you've never invited Heather to any of your parties before. And people have been seeing you two spending a lot of time together lately.
Jeremy: No, we haven't!
Allison: Sure! People in math class say that you all have been talking very quietly and secretly in the back of class. And then there were some people who overheard you spending a long time begging her to come to your party.
原來，Jeremy以前從沒邀請過Heather參加party，所以，這次Heather一去，大家都覺得肯定是有什麼特殊原因!
Professor: That's right. And why else have people started to think they're dating?
因爲大家看到Jeremy和Heather兩個人老在教室後面嘀嘀咕咕，所以覺得倆人八成兒是好上了! 哈哈，他們哪裏知道，這倆人是在偷偷商量抄作業的事兒呢!
Professor: Right. Say Winnie, have you ever heard of "the grapevine" before?
我知道，grapevine就是“口頭消息”的意思。所以，Allison剛開始的時候說，她是從別人口中聽到Jeremy和Heather交往的消息的。
Jeremy: What? I didn't beg her. When I invited her, I just gave her some advice about what clothes to wear.
Allison: I don't know Jeremy, isn't that the kind of advice that a boyfriend usually gives? And what about your secret conversations in math class?
Jeremy: No! She was just giving me the answers to the math homework ... Wait! I mean ... she is my math tutor.
Allison: Your math tutor? I have to say, that sounds pretty fishy. Isn't tutoring the usual excuse people use when they start dating?
Jeremy: Come on Allison, you have to believe me. This is all just a big misunderstanding.
儘管Jeremy費力澄清，可是Allison並不相信他的話，覺得他說的話很"fishy"——可疑!
Professor: Right. You can call something "fishy" if it sounds suspicious or unbelievable.
Jeremy: Eh ... It's really bad when people believe whatever they hear without asking for proof.
Allison: Well you know, everybody just wants to be in the loop. And when the gossip is really good, everybody wants to tell their friends.
Jeremy: Hmm... Do you think we could start a good rumor? Like, that I'm the smartest student in school?
Allison: Sorry buddy, nobody is interested in good rumors. And that one definitely isn't believable if you need a math tutor!
Allison說得對，人們只喜歡傳壞事兒，看別人熱鬧。不過，professor, 什麼叫“to be in the loop?”
Professor: Being in the loop is having the latest information.
哦，to be in the loop就是消息靈通! Professor Bowman, 下次你想給我們pop quiz的時候，一定要keep me in the loop，好不好？
Professor: Nice try!
A: Allison 問Jeremy是不是跟原來的女朋友分手，跟Heather在一起了。Jeremy說this is a complete fabrication. 純粹的謠傳，Allison說，I heard it through the grapevine, 道聽途說，儘管Jeremy認真解釋，可是Allison還是覺得他很fishy, 特別可疑!
B: Hey, speaking of fishy...I noticed that you have been dressing up lately when you come to there something you want to tell me, 楊琳?
A: What? 纔沒有呢……不是因爲我們要開始製作電視節目嗎? 所以我纔買了一些新衣服，好爲上鏡做準備！
B: 哦，原來如此！ Have you ever heard the English saying: Beauty is skin deep? Then again, I do think first impressions make a difference. 在工作中有時候形象塑造也很重要啊!
A: 沒錯，在今天的 business etiquette裏，就談到了一些boosting sales，促進銷售的好方法，咱們一起去聽一聽!
禮節美語 Boosting Sales I
公司副總裁Lisa找到銷售部經理Frank.
Lisa: Frank, we just got our sales figures in and the numbers are very disappointing. What's going on here?
Frank: I haven't actually seen the new figures. How far have we fallen?
L: We were in sixth place at the beginning of the year and we've now slipped to the eleventh! That's a considerable drop.
F: Wow, that's really bad news. Maybe we should brainstorm some ideas for a radical reinvention of our sales and marketing plan.
L: Yeah, let's do that right now. What do you think the problem is?
公司副總裁Lisa找到銷售部經理Frank, 因爲最新銷售數字很令人失望，年初的時候還排名第六，we've now slipped to the eleventh. 如今已經滑落到了第11位，下跌幅度很大，That's a considerable drop. Frank聽了這個壞消息，覺得應該 brainstorm some ideas，to brainstorm 是頭腦風暴，集思廣益的意思，看看怎樣徹底調整一下公司的銷售和市場規劃。Lisa建議，擇日不如撞日，說談就談，問Frank覺得問題出在哪裏。
F: Well, it seems our competitors have managed to carve a niche in the market. They are now perceived as more "cool" or trendy than we are. Perhaps we should consider getting some celebrity endorsements.
L: You mean like a rock star or a famous sports figure?
F: Yeah, that might help. The person has to be seen as kind of a rebel so we can associate our brand with individuality.
L: That's not a bad idea. I'll talk to the Board of Directors about that.
F: I'd also suggest we reevaluate our packaging. Right now the box we sell our product in seems a little drab and colorless.
Frank說，公司的競爭對手 carved a niche in the market 在市場中找到了屬於自己的一塊地方，niche is spelled n-i-c-h-e, niche 是縫隙的意思，動詞 carve 是雕刻，劃出的意思。Frank說，現在消費者都覺得公司競爭對手的產品更時尚，因此不妨找兩個名人，給公司做產品代言，get some celebrity endorsements, 但選擇的名人一定要帶有反叛色彩，讓用戶覺得我們的產品有個性化，individuality. Frank 還建議，眼下的產品包裝有些呆板，a little drab, 可以考慮變化一下。Lisa說：
L: Yes, we could redesign our packaging. But on the other hand, there is a recent trend to move away from excessive packaging. You help save the environment.
F: That's another way we could go. We could reduce our packaging, and then advertise our environmentally-friendly business policies. Being"green" is definitely cool these days. Perhaps environmentally-friendly packaging would appeal to a younger customer demographic.
Lisa說，如今的趨勢是放棄過度包裝，實現包裝簡單化，因爲這樣做有利環保 environmentally-friendly. Frank覺得Lisa說得有道理，公司在包裝上可以走環保路線，用環保的新思維來吸引年輕客戶羣，appeal to 是吸引的意思，demographic is spelled d-e-m-o-g-r-a-p-h-i-c, demographic 在這裏指的是消費人羣中的一部分。
A: 由於銷售下降，公司主管brainstorm頭腦風暴。他們認爲需要get some celebrity endorsements 名人代言，實現包裝簡單化，be environmentally-friendly, 有利環保。這樣才能在市場中立足。
B: Sales is definitely a very tough profession! You need to meet a certain quota every month, otherwise you risk being fired! It needs people who are super creative and work well under pressure!
A: 對啊! 我認識的做銷售的朋友都說，他們得找到緩解壓力的方法，比如慢跑啊，瑜珈什麼的!
B: 是啊! 不過下面的體育美語裏，我們要去了解一個更刺激的運動! Biathlon!
ASE Biathlon
Y: Hey What's up, Patrick?
P: Well, Yang Chen, I'm watching the Winter Olympics on TV. Today they are having the biathlon competition.
Y: Biathlon是什麼?
P: The biathlon is one part cross country skiing, one part shooting.
Y: That's a real sport?
P: Yep, its pretty entertaining too.
Y: 那biathlon的比賽規則是什麼?
P: Well they are timed, so whoever goes through the course the fastest and hits the most targets shooting wins.
Y: 噢，我知道了，這叫冬季兩項，就是越野滑雪和射擊兩項運動。
P: That's why its called the biathlon.
Y: 那要是你 miss the target 沒有射中目標怎麼辦?
P: You have time added to your total.
Y: 就是說速度和射擊兩項的綜合成績。It's such a weird sport.
P: Oh come on. Yang Chen, you can't say it's weird just because you are not good at it.
Y: It is weird.
P: Well it's a tough sport too. But lucky for us, we're in here watching it on TV.
Y: Watching TV is your number one sport.
P：I'll have you know I am a very accomplished skier.
Y: Accomplished skier? 滑雪好手?
P: It's a shame there are no mountains in downtown Washington, or I'd show you a thing or two.
Y: 幸虧這周圍沒有山。 萬一你摔壞了，我可不想送你到急診室。
P: What about you, Yang Chen, do you ski?
Y: Oh no. Not me. 我怕冷。
P: You mean your warm personality isn't enough to keep you from getting frostbite?
Y: Don't be sarcastic, Patrick. I just prefer to be warm, that's all. Let's leave the biathlon to other people.
P: Sounds good to me. Pull up a seat and watch a round!
B: It's a tough sport that requires great skiing and shooting skills. Maybe I can give it a try...
A: 哈哈，這回輪到你白日做夢了! 咱倆還是老老實實，等會兒下了班跑跑步去吧!
B: 哈哈，that sounds good! We can jog around the Tidal Basin. The cherry blossoms are in full-bloom!
A: 邊鍛鍊邊賞櫻花？好主意！好了，這次節目時間就到這裏, 同學們，我們下次的美語訓練班再見！
B: Bye bye! See you next time!
