生活英语对话 Episode 55: Fatherly advice

本单元是关于慈爱的忠告的对话

Michal: Hello, I've been sent to take you.
Dad: I can't get a minute's peace around here!
Michal: No wonders you love it here, your garden's beautiful.
Dad: Thank you Michal. Just my luck though, neither Helen nor her mother has green fingers.
Michal: I love gardening!
Dad: I knew I liked you for a reason! Helen's head is filled with love and romance¹ but I am more of a realist. I've built up my business and my garden the same way - years of hard graft². Helen's looking for a handsome husband but I want a hard-working son-in-law. Of course it will be a slog but the rewards are right here for you to see.
Michal: Eh, yeah, it must be time for tea! Let's talk later.


Vocabulary (词汇):

I can't get a minute's peace （无法得到哪怕是短暂的安宁）:
I want some quiet time but people keep interrupting me

hard graft （苦活、棘手的事）:
hard or difficult work

a slog （艰苦工作）:
a piece of work that is difficult, unpleasant or tiring

本单元的点是关于手指的习语，语言中的习语不能从字面上去理解，因为它通常是以比喻的形式出现的。如果有人说，you have 'green fingers',那是说你有园艺技能，擅长种花草和绿色植物（在这里是比喻用法），而不是说你的手指是绿色的（字面上的意思）。习语通常是一些固定词组，不能随意改变。比如，人们可以说‘She never lifts a finger’来形容她很懒惰，但却不可以说‘She never picks up a finger’

Idioms: fingers and thumbs

Idioms use language metaphorically⁴ rather than literally⁶. If you have ‘green fingers’, it means you are very good at gardening and looking after flowers and plants (the metaphorical³ meaning) not that your fingers are the colour green (the literal⁵ meaning).

Idioms are also fixed⁷ groups of words so you can't change the wording of an idiom. For example, you can say ‘She never lifts a finger' to mean that she's very lazy but you can't say 'She never picks up a finger’.

Idioms - fingers （与fingers有关的习语）:

After the money was stolen in the office,she pointed⁸ the finger at her colleague.
She accused her colleague of stealing the money.

I'll have my fingers crossed for you when you sit your exam.
I wish you luck and will be thinking about you when you take your exam.

He's really clever. He's got every answer right at his fingertips.
He know the answers without having to think about them or research them.

You can count the friends she has on the fingers of one hand.
She doesn’t have many friends.

You'd better not lay a finger on him!
Don't hurt him!
Note: This idiom is generally only used in the negative or question form; not in the positive form.

She's got her finger in every pie. I wish she would just concentrate on her own job instead.
She's over-involved in every project at work.

She works in advertising⁹ so she's really got her finger on the pulse of today's teenagers.
She knows all about the current young people's trends and fashions.


Idioms - thumbs （与thumbs有关的习语）:

He stuck out like a sore thumb at the wedding because he was wearing jeans and everyone else was dressed so formally.
He was very noticeable because he was different to everyone else at the wedding.

She's completely under his thumb. She has to do whatever he wants, it's so unfair.
She is dominated¹⁰ by him. He's the boss in their relationship.

He's all fingers and thumbs. Don't give him that plate to carry, he'll drop it.
He's very clumsy.

I’m really pleased the idea I put forward got the thumbs up from the boss.
The boss liked my idea.

Don't sit there twiddling your thumbs, help me tidy up!
You're doing nothing. Help me clean up the room.

1 romance   

n.恋爱关系，浪漫气氛，爱情小说，传奇

参考例句：

• She wrote a romance about an artist's life in Tokyo.她写了一个关于一位艺术家在东京生活的浪漫故事。
• They tried to rekindle the flames of romance.他们试图重燃爱火。

2 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。

3 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

4 metaphorically   

adv. 用比喻地

参考例句：

• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
• Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。

5 literal   

adj.照字面的，原义的，逐字的

参考例句：

• This word should not be taken in its literal sense.这个词不能按本义去理解。
• He made a literal interpretation.他逐字解释。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

10 dominated   

受控的 -tive

参考例句：

• As a child he was dominated by his father. 他小时候由父亲主宰一切。
• His personality dominated over the other members of the committee. 他的人格影响委员会的其他成员。