J: That"s a great idea. What type of dance?

Y: Flamenco!

J: Flamenco!? Did you say Flamenco?!

Y: 没错。你干吗那么吃惊，是不是觉得我学不会？

J: I"m sure you can learn Flamenco. But Flamenco, F-l-a-m-e-n-c-o. Flamenco comes from the Gypsies, you know.

(Flamenco music)

Y: 吉普赛舞蹈。太好了。

J: Yes, yes. And Flamenco is fiery! Like the Gypsies! And Flamenco, Yang Chen, is full of passion and excitement!

Y: 等一等，你冷静一下，不要这么激动。 不过仔细想一想也许你说的对，我可能真的不适合跳这种舞。我看我还是放弃吧。

J: I have an idea. Listen to what my friend Marlene has to say about Flamenco. Marlene, take it away:

实录1 Marlene: I"m Marlene English and this DC Dance Collective. And I am a Flamenco Dancer. I take classes here at DC Dance. Flamenco is probably different from mostly anything that you ever see. It is very, first, it"s very fast. It"s very loud. It"s very fiery. The clothes alone are wonderful. There are a lot of ruffles and colors and it"s very exciting.

Y: 热情、浪漫、自由、奔放。我就向往这样的生活！ 哎，这个Marlene学跳舞有多长时间了呢？

J: About six years now. And she began studying Flamenco as an adult. She started out in ballet as a child but was deeply drawn to Flamenco when she saw it perform at the age 14.

Y: 她为什么不在小时候就开始学呢？

J: Let"s hear Marlene explain it.

实录2 Marlene: In this country, unfortunately, when I was younger it wasn"t available. We did not see much of it. It wasn"t very popular and it wasn"t well known. I saw it one time when I was 14. And I loved it. But at that time I was in ballet as most American girls are. And I just always wanted to do it. But I wasn"t able to ever really find where to do it or how to come to it until I actually was an adult.

Y: 噢，原来她小时候Flamenco并不流行，所以她一开始学的是芭蕾，长大以后才有机会学习Flamenco。

J: Let"s listen to Marlene talk more about studying Flamenco:

实录3 Marlene: I have been dancing my entire life. I came to Flamenco about 6 years ago. And I have to tell it"s one of the hardest things I"ve ever done. It"s a very difficult dance form. It"s physically strenuous. What hardest to learn, however, are the complicated rhythms.

Y: 听她这么一说，我倒真有点担心。Marlene都练了这么多年了，还说很难，她还说这种舞蹈的节奏很难掌握。这是什么意思呢？

J: Maybe the best way to explain is to play some Flamenco music.

(Enter Flamenco music)

Y: 现在我明白了这种音乐的节奏确实比别的音乐要快得多。我觉得我光听这个音乐我的膝盖都要软了。

J: Well nothing worthwhile is easy. Here is Marlene:

实录4 Marlene: The challenge is hard but the rewards are wonderful. It is something that is a complete release of passion. You are so consumed by it that"s it worth all of that. It"s a wonderful reward for all the hard work.

Y: Marlene说的没错。迎接挑战才能享受成功的快乐。这个大道理我是懂，不过如果要吃太多的苦我可要重新考虑考虑。

J: Wait, Yang Chen. Before you say another word, listen to the advice Marlene gives you about Flamenco:

实录5 Marlene: If you are interested in trying out Flamenco and doing it, it"s great fun. There are great challenges but it is so fun and so rewarding. Don"t let it scare you, even if you"re older and you haven"t danced. Do it anyway. Let your soul be free!

Y: Marlene说得太好了。Flamenco。

J: No, Yang Chen, say it louder!

Y: Flamenco?

J: Flamenco! Repeat after me.

J & Y: Flamenco!!!

Y: 请你给我的灵魂装上翅膀，让我自由地飞翔吧！

J: Way to go, my Gypsy Soul Sister!

Y: 哎， Jody, 我怎么受了你的影响，也变得疯疯颠颠了。

J: No more talking, it"s time to dance. Thank you for joining us on American Cafe!

美国习惯用语第292讲

有些美国人干一行、怨一行，讨厌自己的工作，也有更多的人对他们的职业还算满意，然而却不愿意实话直说。这样一来他们都会使用一些带有贬意的俚语来描述自己的工作。我们今天要讲的第一个俚语是：rat race。大家都知道rat是老鼠，race意为竞赛，那么rat race岂不就是老鼠赛跑。想象一下一群饿得发慌的老鼠看到好吃的就一拥而上、争先恐后、你抢我夺的样子。所以要是一个人用rat race来指自己的办公室，那可不是个好地方；一定是人人像老鼠那样争权夺利，唯恐他人多占了便宜。好，让我们来看个例子。这是一位工作繁忙的律师刚和朋友在一家高级餐馆用餐完毕之后说的话：

例句-1：Man, look at the time! Almost two o"clock! Got to get back to the rat race - I"ve got people coming to see me all afternoon.

他说：咳，看看都什么时间了!快到两点了。我非得回去搏斗了。整个下午都有人要来看我。

他这儿说的rat race当然是指办公室。但是这位律师这样称呼他的办公室究竟是什么意思呢？是因为他讨厌这个争名夺利的地方呢，还是他只是要向朋友显示一下自己实在是个日理万机的要人贵人多忙事而且顾客盈门呢？这两种可能性都有，只有他自己心里明白，但是不论他这样说的真正用意是什么， rat race的意思都指十分激烈的竞争。

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我们要学的第二种说法是：treadmill。Treadmill原是一种简单的机械装置，称为踏车，由人或者驴子踩踏可滑动的皮带或者踏板，使它带动机器。想象一下从早到晚没完没了地重复同样的踏步动作，每天走过脚步加起来可能总共长达三十公里，然而实际上你却始终停留在原地。这该是多么单调乏味的活儿啊。怪不得早年是让囚犯来踩踏车，作为惩罚的。如果用treadmill来描述自己的工作。这是甚么样的工作呢？你能想象有多糟糕。好，我们来看个例子。这是一个人过完圣诞假期刚回家，他一边打开行李，一边在说话：

例句2： Well, it was a great holiday. But I"m afraid it"s back to the treadmill Monday morning with everybody else. However, I have two more weeks of vacation at summer time.

他说：假期过得可真好。但是我就担心星期一早上又得回去和大家一起干那单调乏味的工作了。然而值得安慰的是夏天我还有两星期的假期。

treadmill 就是指单调乏味、一无乐趣、二无成就感的工作。

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我们要学的下一个习惯用语是：salt mine。Salt是“盐”，mine是“矿”，所以salt mine就是“盐矿”。不知你有没有看过在盐矿里开采盐的工作，没完没了地挖掘盐块然后装进筐子。这工作跟treadmill一样的单调乏味，更糟的是还得在暗无天日的地下坑道里苦干。盐矿的工作实在太差，所以前苏联政府是把政治犯发配到西伯利亚盐矿去干活的。这样说来，要是一个人把自己的工作称作salt mine，那么他一定认为、或者要说话对象认为这是枯燥而毫无乐趣的事务性工作，简直比关监狱好不了多少。好，我们听一个人怎么说自己的职业。

例句3：I"ve been working in this place for 29 years. It"s a real salt mine and I"m just waiting to finish 30 years and retire and get a good pension.

他说：我在这儿已经干了整整二十九年。这份工作既苦又累，而且枯燥乏味。我就盼着做满三十年退休，能拿到不错的退休金了。

所以salt mine就是指既辛苦又乏味的工作。

美国习惯用语第293讲

今天要讲的惯用语里有个共同的词act。这真是个多义词，但是我们的时间有限说不了那么多，所以今天要说到的act都有“表演”的意思。比方说，我们要学的第一个习惯用语是：class act。 Class这里的意思是first class，第一流的，换句话说就是“优秀的”。那么 class act不就是“卓越的表演”吗？对。但是和别的习惯用语的一样class act也是用来作比喻的。让我们看一个例子。这是一个顾客在夸一家他最爱光顾的百货商店：

例句-1：I always shop there. Not only do they have top goods and fair prices, but sales people who are friendly and helpful. It"s a real class act - in fact the best store in town.

他说：我总是去那儿买东西，不仅因为他们货真价实，而且由于那儿的营业员既和气又乐意助人。这家商店实在出色，实际上它是城里最好的店。

可见class act意思不再局限于表演，它可以泛指生活中各方面的出色表现。

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