The English We Speak是英國BBC電臺為英語學習者量身打造的一檔英語學習節目。

今天，Wang Fei穿得特別正式，這是為什么呢？讓我們去了解一下。

Wang Fei: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, I'm Wang Fei.

William: And I'm William. Welcome to the programme. You look very smart today, Wang Fei.

Wang Fei: (false modesty) Mm, really? Do you think so?

William: Oh, yeah - very smart. Look at your bow tie! And your evening jacket!

Wang Fei: Well, this is just a little something I get out every now and then. I'm sure George and Jack and Tom will be will be wearing something similar.

William: Who? George, Jack and...?

Wang Fei: (off-hand) Oh yeah, you know. George Clooney, Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise.

William: What? You're going to see George Clooney and Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise tonight?!

Wang Fei: Yep. Cannes Film Festival opens tomorrow so I'm going to a little party tonight.

William: Wow! That's incredible! How did you get a ticket?

Wang Fei: Erm... well, I don't have a ticket as such. I'm just going to show up. I'm sure if I'm dressed like this they'll let me in.

William: Right... so basically you're going to gatecrash a celebrity party.

Wang Fei: Gatecrash? What's that?

William: To gatecrash a party. It means to go to a party even though you haven't been invited. Let's hear some more examples.

Examples

例1：

Woman A: What was the party like last night?

Woman B: Oh, it was awful! All these kids crashed it and drank all the beer.

例2：

Man A: How are the preparations going for the party tonight?

Man B: Yeah, not bad.

Man A: Aren't you worried it might get gatecrashed?

Man B: Yeah, we're going to pay a guy to be on the door to stop people coming in.

Wang Fei: In the first example, the speaker described a party that was ruined because kids crashed the party. So, to crash a party means to gatecrash a party?

William: Yeah. And in that second example, the speaker said that he was going to pay a guy to be on the door.

Wang Fei: 'To be on the door' – so this man will check that everyone who comes in has an invitation. Hmm… do you think that there might be someone on the door at this party tonight?

William: The one that you're going to?

Wang Fei: Yes.

William: The celebrity one in Cannes with George and Jack and Tom?

Wang Fei: Yeah.

William: Yeah, I think, Wang Fei, there might be.

Wang Fei: (crestfallen) Ah!

William: Well, I tell you what, Wang Fei, my friend's having a birthday party in the pub down the road. Why don't you come to that instead? You'll be a little bit overdressed but I'm sure it will be fun.

Wang Fei: I was just looking forward to a bit of glamour for a change, with George, Jack and…

William: ... and Tom, yeah I know. One day, Wang Fei, if you keep making great programmes with BBC Learning English then I'm sure that one day you'll be mixing it with George and Jack and Tom.

Wang Fei: But for now, I'll have to be happy with the pub. Again. Bye.

William: Bye!

賞析：

在西方，不同場合的穿著往往非常重要，比如一些正式的場合會場前會立一個牌子“Jacket Required”，即“必須穿西裝、正裝”，不然就不讓進去。今天，Wang Fei穿得比較正式是因為他想混進一個名人聚會，但是不是穿得正式點就會被放行呢？當然不是，因為他需要一張票。

假如Wang Fei當真混進去了，那么他就算是Gatecrash成功了，gate是“門”的意思，crash是“撞擊、沖毀”的意思，因此gatecrash意思是“不請自來、偷偷溜進去”的意思。Gatecrash也可以縮寫成crash，比如例1中的Kids crashed the party and drank all the beer，就是“孩子們溜進了派對，并且把啤酒都喝完了。”的意思。

為了避免這種情況就必須pay a guy to be on the door,意思是“請個人在門口檢票。”

當然，上有政策，下有對策，放個人檢票也不一定管用，各個party的不速之客還是讓人頭疼的事情。比如筆者就曾經gatecrashed a CBA basketball game. Hey guys, to be honest, have you ever gatecrashed a party?

其他語言點：

Bow tie: 領結

Every now and then: 時不時地

Celebrity: 名人

Overdressed: 著裝過分正式