【趣谈英语】鳄鱼的眼泪-Crocodiles Tear Up While Eating

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

• tear up: to cry a little bit; to become weepy
• insincere: fake; not truthful¹
• shed: to drop or remove something, such as a layer of skin or a tear
• remorseful²: full of guilt³
• sympathy: a feeling of sadness for another person’s loss
• paralysis⁴: the inability to move an area of the body

Crocodiles Tear Up While Eating

 

The expression “to cry crocodile tears” means to cry insincerely. Children are often accused of shedding crocodile tears in order to get attention. The expression “crocodile tears” goes back as far as the 1400s. It come from a myth that crocodiles pretend to be remorseful after killing⁵ their prey⁶. While scientists don’t believe that crocodiles are capable of sympathy, crocodiles do tend to shed tears while eating. This is likely a physical response that goes along with their tendency to blow out air as they eat. Humans who suffer from a rare facial paralysis sometimes exhibit a similar physical response. When they taste or eat food, they start to cry.

1 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

2 remorseful   

adj.悔恨的

参考例句：

• He represented to the court that the accused was very remorseful.他代被告向法庭陈情说被告十分懊悔。
• The minister well knew--subtle,but remorseful hypocrite that he was!牧师深知这一切——他是一个多么难以捉摸又懊悔不迭的伪君子啊！

3 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

4 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。