VOA流行美語 Unit 388:洗耳恭聽&喜歡指揮別人的人
今天Larry開車帶李華去購物中心。 李華會學到兩個常用語：all ears和back seat driver。
LL: (Singing "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars) "Oh, her eyes, her eyes. Make the stars look like they're not shining. Oh her..."
LH: LARRY! 音樂關小聲一點！！
(Larry turns the music down)
LL: What was that?
LH: 你音樂不要開那麼大聲啦，我有件事想問你。
LL: Oh? What is it? I'm all ears.
LH: I'm all ears...你在說什麼啊？
LL: I'm all ears means I'm listening attentively. I have all my attention on you now.
LH: 是嗎？ 你終於肯聽我說啦。不過all ears是專注地聽別人說話的意思。 那我讓大家注意聽我講話，就可以說please be all ears. 對嗎？
LL: Well, to be all ears is rarely used as a request. You can either say, I am all ears, to indicate you are paying attention, or he or she is all ears to say that another person is paying a lot of attention.
LH: 所以all ears通常是用來形容一個人在仔細聽。 比較少當做要求是嗎？
LL: Yes, that's right. So what was it that you wanted to say?
LH: 啊！對喔， 差點都忘了。就是啊....今天做實驗的時候， 跟我同組一個女生， 一直指揮我們做這個做那個的， 真討人厭。
LL: Ohh. You have a back seat driver in your group?
LH: Back seat driver...後座上的司機，那是什麼呢？
LL: A back seat driver is a person who gives unwanted advice; someone who tries to run things even though they don't have the power or authority to do so.
LH: 對對對！ 她就是這種人！ 也沒有讓她做組長，她就對我們指手劃腳的，哎怎麼辦呢？
LL: Well, you should let her know that you don't like it when she orders you around.
LH: 我應該清楚地告訴她，不喜歡被她指使來指使去的，對，說的也是。 不是應該在這裏左轉嗎？！ Larry!
LL: Whoa! You scared me!! I know where I'm going, Li Hua. You're becoming a back seat driver yourself.
LH: 喔？ 原來back seat driver是這樣來的啊？ 坐在汽車後座的人常常喜歡指揮駕駛開車， 所以 back seat driver, “後座駕駛”，這個詞就被用來形容喜歡指揮別人的人了，真有趣。How do you like me as a back seat driver, Larry?
LL: I do not like it Li Hua. And don't do it again. You scared me.
LH: 啊...不好意思。不過Larry, 你也滿厲害的，一邊開車還能一邊聽我說話，you have all ears.
LL: Li Hua, you cannot say someone "has all ears". You have to say someone "is all ears". So instead of saying "Larry, you have all ears." you should say, "Larry, you are all ears."
LH: 喔？ 不能說專心在聽的人has all ears, 而要說那個人 is all ears嗎？
LL: Yup. Try giving me an example using "all ears!"
LH: 好啊。When my mom said she wanted to talk to me about something important, I was all ears. 這樣用對嗎？
LL: Yes, that's correct. Can you give me an example of back seat driver now?
LH: 等等。我想先確認一下。 Back seat driver可以這樣用嗎： My boss is a back seat driver, he always orders us around.
LL: Not really. A back seat driver describes someone who tries to run things even though they don't have the power or authority to do so, or someone whose advice is not wanted. However, your boss would be someone who is authorized to give orders and probably gives out good advice too.
LH: 喔。這麼說，back seat driver是形容愛指揮別人但又沒有權力的人，所以用在老闆身上不適合。
LL: That's right. Hey, you've been all ears!
LH: 哈哈對呀。 啊！我們到購物中心了！
LL: Yup. Let's go shopping! We can practice these phrases another time.
今天李華從Larry那兒學到兩個常用語。一個是all ears, 表示“洗耳恭聽”。另一個是back seat driver, 也就是“喜歡指揮別人的人” 。
