大家好！今天我們?yōu)槟コ觥懊勒Z(yǔ)三級(jí)跳”節(jié)目“開(kāi)車(chē)”單元的初級(jí)課程。

家住洛杉磯的Phil想趁周末來(lái)躺自駕游，去賭城拉斯維加斯享受一番。不過(guò)，他得先租輛車(chē)。

Professor:Winnie, have you ever gone to Las Vegas?

去過(guò)一次。Professor Bowman, 如果我是租車(chē)公司老板，一定不愿意把車(chē)租給去賭城的人，因?yàn)樗麄兛赡軙?huì)連車(chē)一起輸?shù)?

Phil:Hello, I'd like to rent a car please.

Employee:OK, how long do you need it for?

Phil:I just need it for the weekend.

Employee:Alright, how far will you drive the car?

Phil:Umm ... I'm not sure. How far away is Las Vegas?

看來(lái)，Phil準(zhǔn)備周末打個(gè)來(lái)回。不過(guò)，租車(chē)公司的店員為什么要問(wèn)Phil去哪兒呢？這關(guān)她什么事？

Professor:Winnie, sometimes if you drive a long distance, it will cost you more money to rent the car.

啊？在租車(chē)時(shí)，如果開(kāi)得遠(yuǎn)就要多交錢(qián)？那么，從洛杉磯到拉斯維加斯算不算遠(yuǎn)呢？

Professor:Well, Phil doesn't know how far he has to drive, so he asks the attendant how far away Las Vegas is.

Employee:Las Vegas is about 260 miles from here. Is that where you're going?

Phil:Yes, so I need a nice car so that I look really cool.

Employee:I see .... well would you like a car with a sunroof?

Phil:A sunroof? That's not cool enough. I need a convertible.

Professor:So Winnie, what kind of car does Phil want to drive to Las Vegas.

他想開(kāi)一輛酷酷的車(chē)！去拉斯維加斯這種花花世界當(dāng)然得開(kāi)輛好車(chē)了!

Professor:Yes, and what kind of car does the rental company employee say he might like?

店員建議Phil租一輛有sunroof--天窗的車(chē)，可他覺(jué)得這還不夠酷，他要一輛convertible--敞篷車(chē)! 真希望他能把我也帶上!

Employee:Yes, we have a nice red convertible for an extra 40 dollars per day.

Phil:Alright, are there any other taxes or fees?

Employee:Not if you remember to fill the car with gas before you return it.

Phil:Hmm ... well, this sounds like a pretty good deal.

看來(lái)扮酷也是有代價(jià)的！ 敞篷車(chē)每天的租金比普通車(chē)高出40美元...不過(guò)，想到開(kāi)著敞篷車(chē)，在風(fēng)中馳騁的感覺(jué)，這筆錢(qián)，咬咬牙，值了！

Professor:Maybe ... but then you wouldn't look very cool if your hair is all messed up by the wind and all the bugs splattered on your face.

MC:Professor Bowman，你怎么總要破壞氣氛！

Professor:Okay, Winnie. So, what does Phil have to do before he returns the car?

店員說(shuō)，他在還車(chē)前要把油加滿。除此之外，就沒(méi)有其它的taxes or fees——稅和費(fèi)用了。Phil覺(jué)得這是個(gè)good deal，很值，看來(lái)他就打算租這輛敞篷車(chē)了！

Professor:Well, not so fast. Let's see what happens.

Phil:Actually, I have one more question. Is the car a manual or an automatic?

Employee:It's a manual. Is that alright?

Phil:No, I can only drive an automatic.

Employee:Well I'm sorry, but all of our convertibles are manuals.

Professor:Well Winnie, do you know what the difference between a manual and an automatic car is?

當(dāng)然知道，manual transmission 就是手動(dòng)換檔，人工換檔，相反的，an automatic transmission 是自動(dòng)換檔的車(chē)。可惜，這里所有的敞篷車(chē)都是manual的，而Phil只會(huì)開(kāi)automatic。

Phil:Oh no ... all your convertibles are manuals? Well, do you have any other cool cars?

Employee:Not really. Our cars are economical, not cool.

Phil:Well too bad ... Maybe my friend Tom will let me borrow his convertible.

Employee:I'm sorry we couldn't help you.

Professor:Winnie, do you know what an economical car is?

MC:Economical, e-c-o-n-o-m-i-c-a-l 是“經(jīng)濟(jì)實(shí)惠”的意思，所以economical car就是經(jīng)濟(jì)型轎車(chē)嘍!

Professor:That's right! So Phil wants to borrow his friend Tom's convertible. That will be very "economical" for him, and he will look cool.

MC:嗯，這的確是個(gè)省錢(qián)又扮酷的好主意！就是不知道Tom愿不愿意把自己的敞篷車(chē)借給Phil。

Professor:Well, we will have to listen next time to find out!

Ａ：Driving a convertible in Las Vegas! That's really cool!

B:But Tom couldn't get the convertible because he can't drive manual cars.

A:所以他打算去向朋友借車(chē)。其實(shí)上網(wǎng)查一下，肯定有別的租車(chē)公司能滿足他的要求。

B：Wow, Yanglin, it seems like you're a savvy online shopper!

A:Of course! 好了，咱們來(lái)繼續(xù)聽(tīng)節(jié)目，上次在禮節(jié)美語(yǔ)中我們說(shuō)到了office gossip, 今天，咱們來(lái)看看這閑話傳得怎么樣了。

B:I sure hope they've stopped gossiping![qh]

禮節(jié)美語(yǔ)——BE-222 Office Gossip II

Sally 跟同事Lisa和Mary議論辦公室里關(guān)于Tom的傳聞，說(shuō)Tom 大搞婚外情，被老婆發(fā)現(xiàn)。Mary覺(jué)得，在辦公室里議論這些不好，而且并不知道消息是否屬實(shí)。Mary 問(wèn)Lisa小時(shí)候玩沒(méi)玩過(guò)一個(gè)叫“打電話的游戲”，玩的人坐成一圈，把一句話從第一個(gè)人用耳語(yǔ)的方式一直傳下去，看傳到最后一個(gè)人會(huì)是什么樣子。Lisa 說(shuō)，

L:Oh, yes! I've played that game! By the time you come to the end of the circle the original sentence has been completely mangled.

M:Right! "John hates chocolate cookies" gets transformed into something like, "James likes monkey pudding."

S:Ok, I get your point. What you mean is that when information gets passed around, often times it becomes corrupted and incorrect, right?

M:Exactly. Also, I think there is a difference between office gossip and commenting on someone's private life.

Lisa 記得，小時(shí)候確實(shí)玩過(guò)這個(gè)游戲。一圈人，等傳到最后一個(gè)人，最開(kāi)始那句話，已經(jīng)徹底走樣了。她在這里用到的一個(gè)動(dòng)詞mangle is spelled m-a-n-g-l-e, mangle, 意思是被肢解，破壞得不像樣子。換句話說(shuō)，一件事一傳十，十傳百，是很難保證準(zhǔn)確無(wú)誤的。Mary 還說(shuō)，她覺(jué)得，大家議論辦公室里發(fā)生的事情，跟討論別人的私生活也是有差別的。

Mary:If the boss was hard on you today and you tell your colleagues about it, well... maybe that's just part of office life. But Tom's private life is no concern of ours.

L:But people have been gossiping since the dawn of time! It's sort of a way for people to bond.

M:Yes, I understand that. But I worry about spreading personal attacks or revealing secrets about someone's private life.

L:You might be right. For one thing, the person we're talking about isn't here to defend himself, and that's not really fair. And like you mentioned, we don't even know if the story is true.

Mary說(shuō)，如果是老板對(duì)你過(guò)于嚴(yán)厲，if the boss was too hard on you. 你回來(lái)跟同事抱怨，這可能是辦公室生活很正常的內(nèi)容，但 Tom 的私生活 is no concern of ours. 完全不是我們應(yīng)該關(guān)心的范疇。Lisa覺(jué)得很有道理，而且，被議論的對(duì)象現(xiàn)在不在現(xiàn)場(chǎng)，所以無(wú)法為自己做出辯解，而且大家也并不知道傳聞是否屬實(shí)。 Sally 說(shuō)，

S:Those are good points. Tom is actually a really nice guy. I've worked with him for five years and he's always been a good friend.

L:For us, if Tom is a good co-worker that's all that really matters.

S:All right...I'm not going to discuss this rumor any further. Let's leave it alone.

L:Good idea.

M:I think we all hope Tom and his wife can work out any troubles they might be having. Let's wish them the best.

Sally跟Tom共事過(guò)五年，覺(jué)得Tom是個(gè)很好的人。Lisa說(shuō)，對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)，Tom只要是個(gè)好同事就足夠了，其他都不重要。Sally保證，不再去議論Tom的事，Let's leave it alone. 不要再去管這些流言蜚語(yǔ)。Mary 補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，希望Tom夫婦兩人能 work out any troubles they might be having. 妥善解決兩人之間的問(wèn)題。

A:有句話說(shuō)：謠言止于智者。看來(lái)Mary就是這個(gè)辦公室里的智者。She knows gossiping can be counterproductive and it has crossed the line between office life and private life.

B:Well, but do you think she could really stop people from talking about this alleged affair once and for all?

A:嗯，可能也不行。大家表面雖然說(shuō)，對(duì)對(duì)對(duì)，不議論了，可以后說(shuō)不定還是會(huì)八卦起來(lái)。最好是Tom夫妻倆能用實(shí)際行動(dòng)粉碎這些傳聞。Actions speak louder than words! 對(duì)不對(duì)？

B:I hope so too! 好了，now let's relax and listen to American Sports English!

A:好!今天我們要學(xué)游泳呢!

American Sports English:Swimming

Y:大家好。我是楊晨。

P:我是Patrick。

Y:Patrick，Are you ready for the pool?

P:Oh yeah, I've got my bathing suit, my goggles...

Y:這個(gè)帽子好可笑，是干什么用的?

P:This is my swim cap. It keeps the chlorine out of my hair and it lets me swim faster. Say, Are you going to do some laps?

Y:Laps?

P:You know, swimming in the lane back and forth a few times for exercise.

Y:Oh, doing laps 就是在游泳池里一趟一趟地來(lái)回游。 怪不得上次我買(mǎi)游泳衣，那個(gè)店員問(wèn)我Are you just doing laps? 不過(guò)，Swimming laps sounds like too much work. 我還是曬太陽(yáng)好了。

P:It is a good workout. Which style are you best at?

Y:我喜歡backstroke仰泳。

P:Backstroke isn't bad, you should check out my butterfly stroke

Y:That's a butterfly? 我看你不像蝴蝶，倒是像個(gè)螞蚱。

P:I don't look like a grasshopper. Are you going to get in or just stand there criticizing?

Y:Ok, Ok, I'm coming in, 不過(guò)我要跳水。

P:Dive in? Remember not to dive in the shallow end!

Y:Why not?

P:That's the part that is not deep enough to dive in. You don't want to hit your head!

Y:Oh, OK, Thank you Patrick. Here I go!

A:我可不喜歡帶游泳帽，太難看了，無(wú)法展示我的一頭秀發(fā)!

B:But if you swim without wearing the cap, the chlorine will do damage on your hair.

A:少游會(huì)兒?jiǎn)h! 多在岸上趟會(huì)兒，看看帥哥!

B:Is that the main reason why you go to the swimming pool or the beach?

A:Bingo!

B:Then you definitely don't need a swimming cap. You should use the money to buy a good bikini!

A:That's exactly what I did! 哈哈! 好了，節(jié)目時(shí)間差不多了，這次的撰稿人是曉北，編輯是蔚然。同學(xué)們，我們下次的美語(yǔ)訓(xùn)練班再見(jiàn)!

B:Bye!