例句3：This new proposal looks good to me. But before we go ahead, let"s touch all the bases to make sure it"s okay: our sales manager, our production chief, our accountant, and of courses our lawyers. We don"t want any trouble later.

他说：我觉得这个建议很好，但是在我们着手开展之前我们得和所有与业务有关的关键人物进行沟通，包括营业主任、生产主任和会计师，当然也得和我们的律师联系。这样才能确定无误，以免日后麻烦。

通过这段话，你可以体会touch all the bases意思就是和所有与业务有关的关键人物进行联系和沟通。

美语咖啡屋第23课

Y: 各位听众好！ 我是杨晨！ 欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。

J: Hello, I"m Jody. Welcome to American Cafe! Yang Chen, that is a great outfit! You certainly have an eye for fashion. Hey, speaking of fashion have you ever thought about how fashion is connected to politics and society.

Y: 时装和政治的关系？我从来没想过。

J: I never thought about it until I spoke to a woman named Tina. She"s lived in Washington, D.C. for many years and she studied fashion.

Y: Tina在华盛顿住了多少年？

J: Let"s hear Tina as she answers the question, "How long have you lived in Washington, D.C.?"

Tina: Seven administrations.

Y: Interesting! 她没有说她在华盛顿住了多少年，而是说Seven administrations就是七届政府的意思。哇，她可真是个见过世面的人啊。

J: Oh, I bet she has. And with her background in fashion, Tina has a really interesting view of D.C. that involves the connection between politics, society and fashion.

Y: 说起fashion来，这当然是我最喜欢谈论的题目之一。不过政治和时装真的有那么大关系吗？

J: Oh, let"s hear from Tina as she compares the Democrats and the Clinton administration who she feels are more hip, more liberal, with the more conservative Republican Party.

Y: Jody, 你刚才说的hip， 你能给听众解释一下这个好吗？

J: Oh, sure. Hip is spelled H-I-P. If a person if "hip" they are in sync or in step with fashion.

Y: 就是很时髦的意思。

J: 对了！Exactly! Here"s Tina.

实录1 Tina: I"d say, since the Clinton administration it has become much more hip because the Clinton"s brought in a much younger, hipper, much more liberal crowd which is much open and less conservative clothing.

Y: 如果我没理解错的话， 她的意思是说，不同政党的政府能够影响人们的行为举止和穿着打扮， 是吗？

J: You got it. The pulse P-U-L-S-E of the city changes overnight.

Y: Pulse在这里是节奏的意思。

J: Talking about the former President Clinton, another difference is that he often had free concerts on the Mall where he brought in bands from all over the world.

Y: 没错，在克林顿执政的时候，在白宫附近的大草坪上经常有免费音乐会，而且那些乐队来自世界各地。

J: Again, here"s Tina.

实录2 Tina: You can feel the pulse It just changes overnight. Down to the inauguration Bill Clinton brought in bands from all over the world like Los Lobos and Santana. And these were free concerts on The Mall. Whereas, during the Reagan Administration they banned the Beach Boys. I mean, it"s this complete flip flop in culture.

Y: 你得解释一下Flip Flop这个说法。

J: Flip flop is spelled F-L-I-P, F-L-O-P. And flip flop means to change from one thing quickly to the exact opposite.

Y: Flip flop就是突然转变或截然不同的意思。

J: There"s also a flip flop in what restaurants are popular. Tina explains that Democrats usually prefer fun and trendy restaurants which is a flip flop from the more expensive, what she calls the "expense account" restaurants that Republicans prefer.

实录3 Tina: The restaurants that people go to are more fun. They are less like the expense account restaurants. That"s more of a Republican thing to do. Whereas the Democrats tend to bring in people who are working on human rights and the environment. You"re not going to take them to a steak house if you"re working with PETA. So, there"s a direct reflection on not only the clothes but on restaurants and business.

Y: Tina 这个人好玩儿 。不过你得先解释一下PETA是什么意思，要不别人以为你不带他们去吃牛排是因为你小气呢。

J: I"m not cheap. I just don"t eat meat very often. But PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Y: 噢，是个动物保护组织。

J: Exactly. So, I don"t think they eat a lot of steak. I"m sure of that. But you know Bush is from Texas and Texas produces a huge amount of beef.

Y: 对，这下我知道今年大选我要投谁的票了，我最不喜欢吃牛肉，所以...

J: Hey, what a minute! You"re not supposed to say that on the air! You know better than that.

Y: 那好吧，那我等会儿悄悄告诉你好了。各位听众，我们下次节目再见。

J: Thanks for joining us on American Cafe!

美语咖啡屋第24课

Y: 各位听众好，欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。

J: Hello and welcome to American Cafe! I"m Jody. This week, Yang Chen and I go back to the dance hall!

Y: 没错，不过这次我们要学的是交际舞。

J: Today we are going to talk to Sean and Natasha. They are dance partners who compete in a style of ballroom dancing called Latin dancing.

Y: 我告诉你一句悄悄话。

J: What"s that?

Y: 其实我不太喜欢交际舞。

J: Why don"t you like ballroom dancing, Yang Chen?

Y: 其实也没有什么特别的原因。就是一说起来交际舞我就想到那些跳舞的人，他们的姿势特别强硬，有时候脸上的表情有点奇怪。

J: Well, I think I know what you are talking about. But, Sean and Natasha don"t do that kind of dancing. The style of dancing that Sean and Natasha do is Latin style. And it is hot and passionate and dramatic and most of all sexy.

Y: Sexy?

J: Very sexy. When I was watching Sean and Natasha and the way their bodies moved together, 我的脸红了。 They have great chemistry.

Y: 你也会脸红。你刚才说的great chemistry，这里是不是说他们两人搭配得天衣无缝。

J: Exactly. Kind of like the great chemistry between us, Yang Chen!

Y: 现在轮到我脸红了。

J: First, let"s hear from Sean.

实录1 Sean: I"m Sean Murphy and we"re standing in the Chevy Chase Ballroom, which is on Wisconsin Avenue. And I"m here with Natasha, my partner. We both compete in international style Latin dancing which is a form of ballroom dance.

Y: 他们两人是不是一块儿跳舞有很长时间了？

J: It seemed like they had been dancing forever so I asked. And Natasha"s answer surprised me. Here"s Natasha.

实录2 Natasha: Together we"ve dancing since November of 2003. But separately of course we had different partners previously and danced separately, of course. But then we got together in November and decided to dance together.

Y: 其实他们两在一块儿的时间不是太长。

J: Not long at all. Yang Chen, Some people just click. C-L-I-C-K, which means they instantly, have great chemistry together.

Y: 没错，就好象我们两一样。一见如故。

J: 一见如故。

Y: Yeah.

J: We clicked.

Y: Natasha是从那个国家来的，听她讲话好象有点口音。

J: Natasha is from Russia but her accent is very slight. I think she"s been in the States for many, many years.

Y: Jody, 我想学跳舞并不难，但是要达到参加比赛的水平可就不容易了。

J: Most definitely. And according to Sean, if you are going to compete in a dance competition, a good partnership is everything.

Y: 好，我们听听 Sean 是怎么说的：

实录3 Sean: Oh, my gosh, partners ... A partnership is pretty much everything, because when...like right now we"re probably slacking a little bit and we"re practicing maybe three times a week, maybe six to nine hours a week. And to be really competitive, the top couples do it almost full-time, like 40 hours a week.

Y: 他和Natasha两个人每星期要练习6到9个小时，而且他还说练习这么长时间都不够。

J: And now back to Natasha, that "special something" for her is the fact that Sean is such a good lead on the dance floor.