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Words and Idioms
各位聽眾，現在播送<美國習慣用語>第 951講。我是楊琳。<美國習慣用語>
M:我是 Douglas Johnson.
女：去年我跟我妹妹一塊去旅游的時候，住的旅館很特別。我妹妹非常喜歡我們住的房間，還說回家后要把自己的房間也裝飾成那樣。我本想今年去幫她拍點照片，讓她好照著重新裝飾屋子。沒想到上個星期我去她家的時候，她的房間跟旅館的房間看起來... 真的不只是相似，而是，一模一樣了! 這讓我想到了一個習慣用語，那就是:
M:Carbon copy. Carbon is spelled c-a-r-b-o-n, and copy, c-o-p-y. Carbon-copy.
Carbon 本身是復寫紙的意思，那大家都猜到了吧，carbon copy，就是形容非常相似，一模一樣。我剛進我妹妹的房間時特別吃驚，因為Her room is a carbon copy of the hotel room we stayed in last year. 她的房間跟去年我們住的旅館房間一模一樣。
下面例子中的這個男生在見到一個人后大吃一驚，到底發生了什么事呢? 我們來聽聽看：
M:"My new girlfriend said she wanted me to meet someone. I was shocked when I answered the door. Standing there was a woman who looked exactly like my girlfriend. She talked just like her, too. In fact, she was a CARBON COPY. That's when I realized I was dating a twin."
[這段話是說：我的新女友說她想讓我見見一個人。結果開門的時候我大吃一驚。站在我面前的人跟我女友長的一模一樣，講話的樣子也跟我女友一樣。我這時候才意識到，原來她們是雙胞胎! ]
女：想起來，我原來也曾經有過一個雙胞胎男朋友！我還總分不清他跟他哥哥呢。 He is a carbon copy of his twin brother. 他們兄弟倆看起來一模一樣。形容這種長得一模一樣的人，英語里還有個特別的詞，叫 DOPPELGANGER. DOPPELGANGER is spelled d-o-p-p-e-l-g-a-n-g-e-r; doppelganger. 如果你找到了跟你長得一模一樣的人，你就找到了你的DOPPELGANGER! 好了，我們再來聽聽剛才那段話：
M:"My new girlfriend said she wanted me to meet someone. I was shocked when I answered the door. Standing there was a woman who looked exactly like my girlfriend. She talked just like her, too. In fact, she was a CARBON COPY. That's when I realized I was dating a twin."
女:碰到跟自己長得很像的人也許很有趣，不過啊，有時候你可能希望獨一無二，特別是涉及創造力的時候。下面例子里的市長大人大發脾氣。為什么呢? 我們來聽聽看:
M:"The architect claimed his designs for the city park were original. But on closer inspection, it became clear that wasn't true. All the features, including the gardens, pond, bridge and playing fields, were no different from those in a park in Boston. The mayor was furious. He trusted the architect to offer something unique, not a CARBON COPY. "
[這段話是說：這名設計師聲稱城市公園是他的原創設計。但是進一步的調查發現，這顯然不是事實。包括花園，池塘，橋梁和休閑場地的所有設施都跟波士頓一座公園分毫不差。市長大發脾氣。他是要這名建筑師設計一座獨一無二的公園，而不是一座仿制品。]
女:本來想要一座別致的公園，結果卻在城市里建了一座仿制品，換了我是市長，我一定也會大發雷霆。我記得我剛工作的時候也發生過類似的事情。我們的競爭對手不知道怎么得到了我們的創意，開啟了一個完全雷同的項目! Our business competitor launched a carbon copy of our project. I bet they've got our ideas somewhere. 我們的競爭對手推出了一個跟我們一模一樣的項目，他們肯定是從哪里得到了我們的創意。好了，我們再來聽聽剛才那段話:
M:"The architect claimed his designs for the city park were original. But on closer inspection, it became clear that wasn't true. All the features, including the gardens, pond, bridge and playing fields, were no different from those in a park in Boston. The mayor was furious. He trusted the architect to offer something unique, not a CARBON COPY. "
女：各位聽眾，今天我們學習的習慣用語是CARBON COPY，意思是非常相似，一模一樣。好的，這次[美國習慣用語]就到此結束，我是楊琳，我是 Douglas Johnson。謝謝各位的收聽。
A:Kat, you're right. Carbon copy art works can't measure up to the original ones because they're not unique or innovative. 比如主題雷同的電視劇或電影，第一部讓人覺得新鮮有趣，后面的就乏味了！
B：That's right. But even movies full of original ideas and surprises can fail to attract viewers.
A:你說拍攝手法新穎，驚奇不斷的電影也會讓觀眾打不起興趣？這是為什么呢？
B:If you've known the movie's ending before even watching it! For example, if some impatient friend of yours gives you a detailed description of the whole movie before you could watch it yourself.
A:我明白了！你是說有人特熱心，在你還沒看電影之前先把整個故事給你詳細講一遍！咳！這真是瞎幫忙。這就是咱們在節目開始時說到的“劇透”！正好，咱們來聽聽這個詞用美語怎么說！
JESSICA在北京學漢語，她的中國朋友要是遇到了不知道用美語怎么說的詞，就會來請教她。今天是吳瓊要問的：劇透。
JESSICA:吳瓊, I sent you a movie review article yesterday. Have you read it?
WQ:你是說那篇電影的影評，我可不能看!
JESSICA:Why not? !
WQ:因為電影我還沒看啊！影評上來就警告讀者說：本文有劇透！也就是說，看了文章就知道電影結局了！JESSICA, 這令人掃興的ǒ劇透ō用美語怎么說呢？
JESSICA:It's called a spoiler. Spoiler is spelled s-p-o-i-l-e-r. A spoiler will reveal the ending of the movie to you when you'd rather find it out by yourself.
WQ:I see！Spoilers can really ruin the fun of watching a movie!
JESSICA:True. That's why people write a warning at the beginning of a review, which says "the following review contains spoilers."
WQ:對！影評應該先警告大家有劇透內容，省得掃觀眾的興！ 不過話說回來，有些片子編得很濫，只要看了開頭，不用劇透，傻瓜都能猜出結局！
JESSICA:I agree. Those movies are no fun to begin with. You only need to avoid spoilers when there are plot twists.
WQ:Plot twist? P-l-o-t, plot是故事情節，t-w-i-s-t, twist，是扭曲，所以plot twist 我猜就是出乎意料的情節，電影里的形勢大逆轉，對不對？
JESSICA:Yes! Plot twists are the development that viewers don't expect to happen. Good writers use plot twists to keep viewers interested.
WQ:我就特別喜歡結局出人意料的片子，特別是電視劇，一集結尾留下個懸念，吊胃口！
JESSICA:In English, we call that a cliffhanger. It's usually a dilemma or a dangerous situation. So you want to watch the next episode to see how the characters deal with it.
WQ:哦！原來，在結尾時留下的懸念就是cliffhanger! C-l-i-f-f-h-a-n-g-e-r, cliffhanger. 誒呀，我要走了，My favorite show is about to start, and last episode ended on a cliffhanger!
JESSICA:Okay, but before you go, tell me what you've learned today!
WQ:第一，劇透是a spoiler；出乎意料的故事情節是 a plot twist；電影或電視結尾時的懸念是 a cliffhanger.
B:Well, speaking of cliffhanger...
A:還記得我們上次在GoEnglish節目里說到Phil向朋友借車，要去Las Vegas 玩兒，朋友還說，Phil要是賭博贏了錢，必須分一半給他。
B:Also, The car Phil borrowed was brand new and the owner was worried about Phil damaging his car in Vegas...
A:沒錯，一般電視劇的情節設置都是：怕什么來什么。我估計Phil一定會把車撞壞的，說不定輸個精光，還得把車賣了！
B:Let's listen to GoEnglish again and see if you guessed right.
