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Words and Idioms #957
現在播送<美國習慣用語>第 957講。我是楊琳。
M: 我是 Douglas Johnson.
女: 昨天我去書店買書，看到浪漫小說那里多出了一大排，看起來是相同作者寫的一系列叢書。我隨便翻了兩三本，發現內容大同小異，情節也沒有什么特別吸引人的地方。這讓我想到一句習慣用語，那就是：
M: Churn out. Churn is spelled c-h-u-r-n, and out; o-u-t. Churn out.
Churn 作為動詞，本身有大量生產的意思。加上out，這個短語的意思就是ǒ不顧質量地粗糙生產；大量炮制ō。就像上面的例子中，這些浪漫小說內容相差不多，而且一本接著一本地上市。這讓我覺得這些書質量不高，完全是為了賺錢而批量生產。下面這個例子里的旅行者可不一樣，讓我們來聽聽他是如何選擇紀念品的:
M: "When I travel to a country I'm always looking for a souvenir to take back home with me. Many times, I try to find a local artisan who produces something unique. I don't want some factory-produced trinket. Why would I care for what's been CHURNED OUT by the millions?"
[這段話是說: 每次我去國外旅行的時候，我都會尋找特別的紀念品帶回家。很多時候，我會找一名當地的匠人，讓他制作一些特別的東西。我不想要那些工廠生產的小紀念品，那種成千上萬一模一樣的東西完全不吸引我。]
說起TRINKET，我的朋友經常帶給我這種東西，像鑰匙鏈，冰箱貼之類的。但其實我跟上面例子中的人觀點一樣，I would much prefer a good story than something churned out by the millions. 相比起那些批量生產的紀念品，我更想聽一個好故事。好了，讓我們再來聽聽剛才那段話:
M: "When I travel to a country I'm always looking for a souvenir to take back home with me. Many times, I try to find a local artisan who produces something unique. I don't want some factory-produced trinket. Why would I care for what's been CHURNED OUT by the millions?"
我的小侄女最近正在研究要申請哪所大學。選擇非常多，她該選擇一所有名氣的大學，還是離家近的? 是在城市，還是在郊區?是私人大學，還是公立大學? 需要考慮的因素很多。下面例子里談到了一所大學，讓我們來聽聽看:
M: "It's true that Acme University is less expensive than many other schools. And it offers classes on-line and at several campuses throughout the country. But the instruction it provides isn't very high-quality. It seems more concerned with CHURNING OUT as many graduates as possible each year. "
[這段話是說: 與其他大學相比，Acme大學的學費確實不高。它還提供網上課程，而且全國各地有很多校區。但是這所大學的教學質量可不高，而是更在乎每年ǒ炮制ō出盡量多的畢業生。]
我絕對不相信這種快速教育能教出優秀的畢業生。這也讓我想到我妹妹的婚禮策劃師。我看過他的很多作品，可是看起來新人的裝束，花束的選擇，還有婚禮流程，全都一模一樣! He seems to be churning out wedding ceremonies like a factory makes widgets. 他策劃婚禮就像工廠生產零件一樣，大量炮制。好的，我們再來聽聽剛才那段話:
M: "It's true that Acme University is less expensive than many other schools. And it offers classes on-line and at several campuses throughout the country. But the instruction it provides isn't very high-quality. It seems more concerned with CHURNING OUT as many graduates as possible each year. "
今天我們學習的習慣用語是CHURN OUT，意思是ǒ不顧質量地大量炮制ō。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, 我剛才提到的那個朋友可不是在文憑工廠混的學歷，人家是到全美排名前5的名校讀的！
B: Hmm, I'm not really obsessed with top schools. I think most rankings are skewed one way or anotherr.
A: I agree. Ranking is not as important as some people think it is. 不過我這個觀點好多父母就不贊同，就拿我媽來說，從我剛上小學開始，她就一直跟我說，以后一定要考上名牌大學，還要當全班第一。
B: Sounds like you have a demanding mom——虎媽！
A: 可不是么！正好，今天咱們的美語怎么說就要教這個詞兒!
