今天我们要讲的习惯用语里都有一个主要的单词：scratch。很多人都知道scratch这个词的意思是抓、或者刨刮表面。你要是给蚊子叮了一口，你就会这样做：scratch your skin with your fingernails。就是你会用指甲去抓痒。也许不少人都知道这句很有意思的俗语：You scratch my back and I"ll scratch yours. 这句话直译就是：你给我搔背，我也为你抓痒痒。它风趣地表达了彼此帮忙、相互捧场的意思。Scratch在这里都当动词用，但是它也可以作名词，而且有新的含意。
一百多年前人们在赛前用棍子在泥沙跑道上划出一条直线，运动员就从这儿起步，所以scratch可以解释“起跑线”。我们今天要学的第一个习惯用语，就有这个名词。Start from scratch，也许很多人听了这个短语会想：它的意思不就是“从起跑线开始”吗？你先别忙下结论。我们先来听下面这段话，说的是鼎鼎大名的肯德基炸鸡店的发迹。你知道“肯德基炸鸡店”英文怎么说吗？Kentucky Fried Chicken。好，我们来听这段话。请注意start from scratch这个短语的含义。
例句-1: He started from scratch with a small chicken restaurant down south. But he worked hard, had some luck and now Kentucky Fried Chicken is sold around the world.
它说的是“肯德基炸鸡店”的创办人白手起家，从南方的一家路边小餐馆做起。他既勤奋又有运气，发展成今天行销全球的肯德基炸鸡。
一定有不少听众朋友已经明白不能从字面意义来理解scratch这个词在start from scratch这个习惯用语里意思。整个短语的意思是“从零开始”，“白手起家”。
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我们要学的第二个习惯用语是：up to scratch。Up to scratch，这个习惯用语也和运动有关。在拳击赛中，scratch指裁判在拳击场中间划的界线，根据以前的规则，如果一个拳击手被击倒在地，他必须在38秒内站起来、回到这条界线上并能继续搏斗，否则就认输。所以up to scratch意味着这个选手处于良好竞技状态。
我想听众朋友一定明白up to scratch这个习惯用语虽然来自拳击赛，却也被广泛应用到其它方面。我们来听听下面这段话。这是牛仔裤工厂的经理和他购买布料的纺织厂在通话。请你边听边体会up to scratch这个习惯用语的含义。
例句2: Sorry but that cloth you sent us isn"t up to scratch. It"s too thin and the color is too dark. We can"t use it so I"m shipping it back.
那位经理批评那批布料太薄，颜色又太深，质量够不上标准，不合用，所以要退货。可见up to scratch有合乎标准、合格的意思。
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现在我们来讲scratch这个词的第三种用法。这回scratch意思完全不同。近五十年来人们给“钱”取了个绰号，就是scratch。这在日常会话中很普遍。我们一起来听听这段话：
例句3: My wife and I are saving as much as we can - we are trying to get enough scratch to buy a house.
这个人和他的太太尽量节省，为了攒够钱买房子。
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在我们今天要学的最后一个习惯用语里， scratch回到了它的原意。就是“刨括表面”。这个习惯用语是：scratch the surface. Surface的意思就是“表面”。Scratch the surface这个习惯用语来自农活。你下种如果想得到好收成，就必须深耕细作，而不能刨去一层表土就撒种完事。就是说不能光是scratch the surface。这句话逐渐被应用到日常生活的各种场合。因为它形像地表达了流于表面、不深入的工作。好，我们来听一个例子。这是警方在对记者谈一件轰动一时的谋杀案：
例句4: We don"t have much yet because we"ve just started to scratch the surface. But we are putting more men on the job and we will dig deeper into the facts.
警方说，目前他们掌握的案情不多，但是他们增加了办案人员，将深入探究证据。可见scratch the surface含义是肤浅表面、或者还处于初步阶段、有待深入的工作。
美语咖啡屋第7课
J: Hello and welcome to American Cafe! My name is Jody!
Y: 大家好，我是杨晨。Eh, Jody... 你拿了一堆什么东西啊?
J: Oh, this stuff? Let"s see, I have political posters .... what else do I have flyers, you know, information sheets... Wow, I really have a lot of work to do!
Y: 一大堆工作你还这么高兴啊，为什么？
J: Well, I"m excited because the work is for a political grassroots campaign. See, I volunteered to hang posters and hand out flyers to people at subway stops.
Y: 噢，原来你是热衷于这种基层群众活动。
J: It"s the best way for everyday citizens to get involved and make a difference! But hey, some of the people I met a grassroots campaign meeting can explain that it much better than I. Let"s hear from them. Here"s Rudy who organized the meeting that I went to.
Y: 下面我们就来听听Rudy是怎么说的：
实录1 Rudy: My name is Rudy. I"ve lived in DC for a little under a year. And grassroots campaigning to me is a movement of people coming toward for a common cause, be it political or social, or whatever, banding together, working together to come to a common goal and hopefully be victorious in its outcome. The hierarchy is loose so everybody"s voice counts. And in the end hopefully everyone is happy with the outcome.
Y: Rudy总结的很好。他说基层活动就是为了共同的目的， 大家聚集在一起，共同努力，最后获得成功。 Jody, 你给大家解释一下hierarchy的意思好吗？
J: Okay! The hierarchy means the chain of command. And in a grassroots campaign the structure of the hierarchy is very loose. That means there"s really no specific leader or boss.
Y: 对，这个hierarchy就是指挥系统，或者说体系。当然了，既然是基层群众运动，那么它的结构一定是比较松散。
J: Right. And in a grassroots campaign everybody comes together for, as Rudy said, a common goal and contributes what they can.
Y: 那多好啊。每个人都是平等的，没有什么上下级之分。
J: Right, like a true democracy.
Y: 你说的一点没错。这一类的自发性群众活动正是美国民主的基础。
J: Here"s another definition of grassroots campaigning that I liked a lot from Michael.
Y: 好，我们再听听Michael的观点。
实录2 Michael Briggs: If I had to define grassroots campaigning, I would think that it"s people working with each trying to really bring democracy to life, share ideas, get people involved behind their candidate, trying to change minds, and raise awareness about an issue or a politician.
Y: 哎，Jody，我突然想到，grassroots campaign这个说法是怎么来的呢？
J: Oh, you know, I was curious about the origin, or the roots, haha, get it? Grassroots...anyway. I was curious about that myself. So let"s have Michael help us out again.
实录3 Michael Briggs: My understanding of it is that grass has roots that are very broad, and they"re not very deep but they broad. The way grass grows is it sends its roots out and then sprouts and those sprouts send more and more roots out. So it"s about a chain reaction or a growing web of people that over time come to life.
Y: 中文里的“grassroots”就是草根的意思。草的生命力很旺盛，它的根部蔓延得很快，用这个词来形容这种基层群众活动非常形象。另外，Michael说的chain reaction就是连锁反应的意思。
J: The more people you reach out to, the more people they reach out to, and so on, and so on and so on. I"d say that joining a grassroots campaign is the best to empower yourself.
Y:你说得没错。这种亲身参与确实有一种鼓舞人心的力量。
J: That"s why a woman named Catayune joined a grassroots campaign to elect a political candidate.
实录4 Catayune: My name is Catayune and I live in Washington DC. I grew up in Ohio. Grassroots campaign helps me because it means that ideas and emphasis and energy comes up from the grassroots, from everyday citizens. So it helps empower everyday citizens to really have a voice in national politics.
Y: 你觉不觉得今天我们采访的这几个人他们都强调群众参与，每个公民都应该发出自己的声音这样一种概念，这也正是群众运动的意义所在。
J: Well, what do you think, Yang Chen. Joining a big group of people and fighting for the same common goal doesn"t it sound exciting?
Y: 嗯，太让人激动了。
J: You don"t sound very 激动了. Come on let"s go join everyone and take part in the grassroots campaign.
Y: 那就走吧，还等什么呢？
J: Thanks for joining us on American Cafe. We gotta go! See ya!
美语咖啡屋第8课
Y:大家好, 我是杨晨! 欢迎您到美语咖啡屋!
J: Hello and welcome to American Cafe! I"m Jody. Here, Yang Chen. I bought you something. An instant Lottery Ticket. See, you scratch off the surface to see if you have won. Let me do mine first. (scratch, scratch) Come on Lady Luck! Make me a winner! (scratch, scratch) Damn! Nothing.