PROGRAMME 41

第一部分對話：談?wù)摻鉀Q旱災(zāi)

在這一講里，農(nóng)場主Dick又和他的朋友Greg見面了。他們談的還是怎樣解決旱災(zāi)造成的困難。

Dialogue 1
英語情景對話1

DICK: Well, Greg:I might live to sell the farm and go to the city.
GREG: Oh, that'd be awful! Will you get a job there, do you think?
DICK: I don't know.I hope so.
GREG: Could be difficult at the moment…with things as they are.
DICK: Mm! Possibly.
GREG: Would it be possible to find a job around here, do you think? Closer to home, I mean.
DICK: Mm...perhaps. But I don't think so. It's just about impossible at the moment.
GREG: Oh, that's a shame!
DICK: Got any bright ideas?
GREG: You couldn't get another loan from the bank?
DICK: Mm. I've thought of that. I've got an appointment with the bank manager on Thursday. It's certainly worth a try.
GREG: Yeah! And that might tide you over until the drought breaks.

第二部分：英語詞匯表達(dá)

an appointment 約會
a flood 水災(zāi)
a loan 貸款
a suggestion 建議
thunder 雷
Do you think that's likely? 你覺得會出現(xiàn)這種情況嗎？
(Have you) got any bright ideas? 你有什么好主意？
Hullo, that's thunder! 哎呀，打雷啦！
I hope so 我希望如此
I'd like to find out if... 我想了解一下，是不是……
It's certainly worth a try 肯定值得試一下
It's just about impossible 那幾乎是不可能的
stay for dinner 留下吃飯
That might tide you over 這就可能幫你渡過難關(guān)
We'll have a flood on our hands 我們就該遭水災(zāi)了
Will he be forced to leave? 他會不會被迫離開呢？
You already owe us twenty (thousand dollars) 你已經(jīng)欠我們兩萬塊錢了
You couldn't get another loan from the bank? 你不能再從銀行弄到一筆貸款嗎？
Yeah! 是啊！

IDIOM:

It all depends. 那要看情況而定
GREG: Will they give you a loan? It all depends.
GREG: What on?(=What does it depend on?)

第三部分：課程

SPECULATING (Ⅱ) POSSIBILITY推測(Ⅱ) —有可能發(fā)生的事情
表示有可能發(fā)生的事情，有許多不同的說法。
1．用副詞perhaps, maybe; possibly,或用形容詞possible，或用形容詞possible。
Perhaps it'll rain today.
Maybe it'll rain today.
Possibly it'll rain today.
It's possible it'll rain today.
這幾個詞也常用作簡短的回答，例如：
Will it rain today?
- Perhaps.
- Maybe.
-Possibly.
- It's (quite) possible.
2．情態(tài)動詞may，might，could，后面接動詞不定式時，不用加to。
may break soon.
The drought might break soon.
could break soon.
(=It's possible the drought will break soon.)
請注意，may這個詞雖然河以用來比較正式地征求別人的同意，例如 May I borrow your book?但在更多的情況下，是用來表示可能性的。

第四部分：背景資料

澳大利亞的旱災(zāi)

最近這兩講講的是澳大利亞的農(nóng)場主在發(fā)生旱災(zāi)的時候遇到的困難。澳大利亞有一個很大的干旱地區(qū)，經(jīng)常發(fā)生旱災(zāi)。這個干旱地區(qū)包括中部的辛普森沙漠，以及其他一些不甚干旱、但雨量不足的地區(qū)。實(shí)際上全國許多地方都曾不周程度地受到干旱的襲擊。1979至1988年，新南威爾士州就經(jīng)受了一場特別嚴(yán)重的旱災(zāi)。
旱災(zāi)一發(fā)生，小麥和其他作物都受很大影響，時間長了，連牛羊吃的飼草都很難找到。在這種情況下，農(nóng)場主便遇到很多難題。他們需要不斷地估計(jì)形勢，以決定是把準(zhǔn)備賣掉，還是買糧食和飼草來喂養(yǎng)，還是把它們送到受災(zāi)地區(qū)以外飼草充足的地方去寄養(yǎng)(agistment)。如果需要寄養(yǎng)，有時就得把牛羊運(yùn)到幾百公里以外的地方，甚至運(yùn)到另外一個州。在旱災(zāi)嚴(yán)重的情況下，要等兩三年，在旱災(zāi)過去后，才能回來。寄養(yǎng)是很費(fèi)錢的，不過遇上大旱災(zāi)，如果不想把牲畜賣掉，這也不失為一條出路。