VOA慢速英語,作為國際英語學習者的重要資源,通過清晰緩慢的發(fā)音與簡潔的詞匯,為初學者及中等水平學習者搭建了通往流利英語的橋梁。它不僅幫助提升聽力理解能力,還豐富了詞匯量,增強了語感,是學習地道英語表達不可或缺的工具,對全球英語學習者的語言提升至關(guān)重要。讓我們一起進入今天的VOA慢速英語聽力訓練:詞匯故事考試。

英文原文
During September in the United States and in many places around the world, children are going back to school. Even if your school days have long passed, you may remember this time of the year well: the smell of books and pencils, the sound of your footsteps as you enter a strange classroom, the nervous feeling in your stomach as you meet your new teacher.
在美國以及世界上許多地方,九月的時候孩子們都要返校了。即便你的學生時代早已遠去,你可能依然對每年的這個時候記憶猶新:書本和鉛筆的氣味,走進陌生教室時腳步的聲音,見到新老師時胃里那種緊張的感覺。
Naturally, we all want to do well in school and life. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. So today we are going to talk about both. The expressions you will hear in today's program are commonly used in a classroom, but they can also be used in other situations.
自然,我們都想在學校和生活中表現(xiàn)出色。有時我們做到了,有時卻沒有。所以今天我們要兩方面都談一談。你在今天的節(jié)目中會聽到的這些表達,通常在教室里使用,但也可用于其他情境。
Let's start with the bad situations first. Now, as you probably know, a bomb is something that blows things up. In American slang, when something bombs, it fails completely. So if you fail a test, you bombed it.
我們先從不好的情況說起?,F(xiàn)在,你可能知道,炸彈是一種能把東西炸毀的東西。在美國俚語中,當某件事“bomb”(搞砸)時,就是徹底失敗了。所以,如果你考試不及格,就是“bombed”(考砸了)。
We also often use bomb this way when talking about movies, plays, or performing. For example, if a comedian is on stage telling jokes, but no one is laughing, you can say his jokes are bombing. Afterward, if you are feeling very mean, you could say to him, "Wow, you really bombed."
我們在談論電影、戲劇或表演時也常用“bomb”這個詞。例如,如果一個喜劇演員在臺上講笑話,但沒人笑,你可以說他的笑話“bombing”(冷場了)。之后,如果你想調(diào)侃他,可以說:“哇,你真的搞砸了。”
Now let's say nobody goes to the new superhero movie. You can say it bombed at the box office. The box office is where people buy their movie tickets. In this case, they were buying tickets for a dud or a flop. These two words are often used to describe a form of entertainment that failed in its purpose to entertain. Even a party that bombs can be called a dud or a flop. And if a class you are taking is boring or useless, you could call it a real dud.
現(xiàn)在假設沒人去看那部新的超級英雄電影。你可以說這部電影在票房上“bombed”(慘?。?。票房就是人們買電影票的地方。在這種情況下,他們買的是一部“dud”(失敗之作)或“flop”(票房慘敗之作)的票。這兩個詞常用來形容未能達到娛樂目的的娛樂形式。甚至搞砸的派對也可以被稱為“dud”或“flop”。如果你上的課很無聊或沒用,你可以稱它為真正的“dud”。
Now let's go back to bombing. Please take note that when the word bomb is a verb, it means to fail. As a slang expression, however, the bomb often describes something really good. For example, if a high school student wears a new pair of sneakers to school, his friends could say those shoes are the bomb. That means they are great in a cool, awesome kind of way.
現(xiàn)在讓我們回到“bombing”這個詞。請注意,當“bomb”是動詞時,意思是失敗。然而,作為俚語表達,“the bomb”通常用來形容非常棒的東西。例如,如果一個高中生穿了一雙新運動鞋去學校,他的朋友可能會說那雙鞋“the bomb”(太棒了)。意思是它們很酷、很棒。
But please be careful. Using the bomb this way is extremely casual and would not be appropriate to use in a formal situation. For example, let's say your boss wears a new suit to an important meeting. It might not be a good career move to say to her, "That outfit is the bomb. You look awesome." And making comments about a bomb at a US airport could get you arrested. So, as we said, be careful.
但請小心。這樣使用“bomb”非常隨意,在正式場合使用不合適。例如,假設你的老板穿了一套新西裝去參加一個重要會議。對她說“那套衣服太棒了,你看起來美極了”可能不是個好的職業(yè)選擇。在美國機場說關(guān)于炸彈的評論可能會讓你被捕。所以,正如我們所說,要小心。
Now let's talk about expressions to use when you do something really well. Let's say you did well on a test. You got 100% correct. You aced it. You can also say that you passed with flying colors.
現(xiàn)在我們來談談當你做得非常好時可以用的表達。假設你考試考得很好,得了滿分。你“aced it”(考得超棒)。你也可以說你“passed with flying colors”(大獲全勝)。
The last expression might make you think of a big celebration, like maybe your parents celebrated your passing grade by lighting colorful fireworks. But you would be wrong. Word experts seem to agree that the expression "to pass with flying colors" comes from the military. In this case, pass doesn't mean to succeed but to travel, and colors doesn't mean shades like red or blue, but flags.
最后一個表達可能會讓你想到一場盛大的慶?;顒?,比如你的父母可能會通過燃放彩色煙花來慶祝你考試及格。但你錯了。詞匯專家似乎都認同“to pass with flying colors”(大獲全勝)這個表達源于軍事領域。在這種情況下,“pass”不是指成功,而是指航行,“colors”不是指紅色或藍色等顏色,而是指旗幟。
According to the website The Phrase Finder, "pass with flying colors" originally describes winning ships sailing into port with flags flying from all the mastheads. By around 1700, the phrase was being used to describe any kind of victory. That means you can use "pass with flying colors" when you are being graded on a test or course, but also in a situation that is out of your control, such as a medical exam.
據(jù)The Phrase Finder網(wǎng)站稱,“pass with flying colors”原本描述的是勝利的船只駛?cè)敫劭?,所有桅桿上都飄揚著旗幟。到1700年左右,這個短語被用來形容任何形式的勝利。這意味著你可以在考試或課程中取得好成績時使用“pass with flying colors”,也可以在一些你無法控制的情況下使用,比如體檢。
Let's say you are nervously waiting in a doctor's exam room for the results of a blood test. The doctor may come in and say, "Don't worry. I'm looking at the results of your blood test, and you passed with flying colors." It's not as if you studied for your blood test and then did well on it. So this is the doctor's way of being lighthearted or funny.
假設你在醫(yī)生的檢查室里緊張地等待驗血結(jié)果。醫(yī)生可能會走進來說:“別擔心。我看了你的驗血結(jié)果,你大獲全勝?!边@并不是說你為驗血做了準備然后考得很好。所以這是醫(yī)生在開玩笑或輕松幽默的方式。
以上便是VOA慢速英語聽力訓練:詞匯故事考試相關(guān)內(nèi)容,希望能幫助你提升聽力!