礼节美语062讲

陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作。他跟美国同事Amy一起走出会议室。

(Office ambience)

C：Amy, 今天我第一次主持会议。你觉得怎么样？

A：I thought you did well considering that you have not been in that position before.

C：可我自己觉得挺糟糕的。虽然来开会的人并没说什么，但是我能感觉到，有好几个人并不欣赏我的报告，或者是根本不感兴趣。

A：What made you think that? Anyone in particular?

C：比如说吧，会开到一半的时候，Ken把笔记本一合，双手抱臂，往椅子上一仰。

A：How did you feel when he did that?

C：我立刻很紧张，觉得他认为我的发言很糟糕。

A：I noticed that, too. In fact it was pretty obvious to everyone.

C：你觉得他是故意这样做的吗？

A：Knowing Ken, I would say yes and I would add that he wanted to make sure you got the message.

C：如果他对我有什么意见，我宁可他告诉我。

A：What he did was use his body to send his message. It`s a discourteous tactic that many people use in business to express their feelings without putting them in words.

C：你是说在商业界很多人都会用这种方式表达自己的看法，而不是直接把意见说出来，那又是为什么呢？

A：Sometimes people feel safer using body language to intimidate or humiliate others.

C：他们为什么会觉得用肢体语言去羞辱别人更安全呢？

A：I am sorry, Chen Hao. Can we continue this later? I need to meet my boss in five minutes.

C：那你先忙。我们一会儿见。

******

当天下午陈豪和Amy一起喝咖啡。

C：Amy, 你上午说有人更愿意用肢体语言表达自己的看法。这是为什么呢？

A：People can always refute or deny the meaning of their body language.

C：噢，如果有人事后指责他们表现消极，他们可以矢口否认，说这是误会。那所有人都是有意这样做的吗？

A：A lot of people aren`t even aware of their body language. I think that it is often unintentional.

C：很多人都是无意的？你能举个例子吗？

A：Like Sue. Did you notice that she came to our meeting for the first time today?

C：我注意到了，Sue是第一次来参加会议，但是她坐在后面的角落里，从头到尾一言不发。

A：I think she felt left out.

C：你为什么说Sue觉得自己被忽视了呢？

A：Because the two people closest to her kept moving their chairs with their backs turned more and more to her. I don`t think it was intentional - they were just trying to see and hear better.

C：Sue 一定是误会了，觉得别人不欢迎她。

A：That`s right. So she withdrew as well.

流行美语第300课

李华跟Larry一起去看美式足球赛。今天我们要学两个常用语：get with the program和cost an arm and a leg.

LH: Larry, 你干嘛不穿衬衣，光着膀子，还把身上涂成这样？吓我一跳。

LL: Do you like it? I spent all morning painting myself the colors of my favorite football team, the Washington Redskins.

LH: 支持红人队也不用把自己糟蹋成这样啊，戴顶帽子，穿件球衣不就得了。

LL: Oh come on, Lihua. Get with the program. Anybody can wear a hat. Only REAL fans paint their entire bodies.

LH: 等会儿，你说get with the what?

LL: Get with the program. If somebody doesn`t understand something that you think should be obvious, you can tell that person to "get with the program."

LH: 我明白了， 如果你觉得是明摆着的事，而别人却不明白，你就可以告诉对方，get with the program. 那你是说，你光着膀子，把自己画成这样，我不该大惊小怪了？

LL: Exactly. Don`t spectators at ping pong tournaments in China paint their chests and drink beer and scream at the players from the stands?

LH: Larry, I think YOU need to get with the program. 看乒乓球的人是绝对不会光着膀子，一边喝啤酒一边呐喊助威的，能让中国球迷如此疯狂的可能只有姚明了。

LL: Ok, ok. Well are you ready to go to the parking lot. I`m starving!

LH: 我们难道就在停车场里吃东西吗？还是进到球场里面去买点吃吧。

LL: C`mon Lihua, get with the program. Everybody knows that the food in the stadium is too expensive. So before the game everyone brings a BBQ grill and cooks food out in the parking lot. We call it "tailgating" because you sit on the tail gate of your truck while you eat.

LH: 真的吗？大家就坐在皮卡后面，一边烧烤一边聊天？太好玩了。不过，这好象跟你答应我的浪漫约会差得远点儿。

LL: You don`t find eating hot dogs in a parking lot romantic?

LH: Larry, I think you need to get with the program. 大多数女孩子都不会觉得在停车场里坐在车尾巴上啃热狗有多浪漫的。

LL: Lihua, I think you need to get with the program too. By now you should know that dates with me may not be romantic, but at least they aren`t boring.

******

李华和Larry进场看比赛。

LL: Oh Lihua .. I think I may have eaten too many hot dogs in the parking lot. I`m not feeling so well.

LH: 谁让你不听我劝，非要跟那个人比赛吃热狗，现在肚子痛了吧！

LL: I know ... but he was rooting for the other team, so I had to accept his challenge. I had to do it for my team`s pride.

LH: 唯一值得庆幸的是，你最后赢了，还免费吃了那么多热狗。

LL: That`s true. If I had tried to buy all those hot dogs in the stadium it would have cost me an arm and a leg.

LH: 要花一条胳膊一条腿？真形象。这是一种很常用的说法吗？

LL: Whenever you buy something that is unreasonably expensive, you can say that it cost you an arm and a leg.

LH: 在中文里，这叫吐血。那我问你，我们坐在最后一排，什么都看不见，这个位子的票价一定没有让你损失一条胳膊一条腿吧？

LL: Hey, they were the best I could get. But you`re right, I can barely see the players. I would give my right arm for some binoculars.

LH: 你要用右胳膊换望远镜？要这么个换法，我看，用不了多久，你身上的零部件就要用光了。不过说真的，你刚才说的give my right arm跟cost an arm and a leg是一个意思吗？

LL: Kind of. When you say that you would give your right arm for something, that means that you really want it.

LH: 我明白了，说愿意用右胳膊换，意思就是特别想要。Larry, 这比赛看得我真是一头雾水。I would give my right arm to know what the rules of football are.

LL: And I would give my right arm for a jacket. It`s freezing out, and it turns out that this paint doesn`t provide any warmth at all!

LH: 我可以把外衣借给你穿，而且it won`t even cost you an arm and a leg.

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是get with the program意思是这是明摆着的。另一个是cost an arm and a leg，意思是价钱贵得离谱。