英语听力精选进阶版 7936

This week's question is about a British English word - 'cheers'. We had an email from Jo Jo who has observed that it's a word people use instead of thank you and wants to know more.

Cheers is perhaps more commonly known as something people say before they drink alcohol¹ to wish someone good health.

However, it's a word used by all British people and not just young people, to mean thank you. So any time you want to say thank you, you can just replace that with the word cheers in British English.

It's used in an informal way but it can be used in formal situations, like when talking to your boss or someone you don't know very well.

So what are the origins of this word? Well, it's likely it has evolved² over the years from when people used to say many years ago 'be of good cheer' or 'good cheer to you'. This would have been a greeting to wish someone well that has been shortened³ to cheers over time.

Cheers is only used in British English and you wouldn't really hear this word spoken in North America to mean thank you.

Another British English word to watch out for that is used to mean thank you is ta. This is basically⁴ a short form of thank you that is used with very small children and lots of adults use it too.

Glossary 词汇

observed

注意到

to wish someone good health

祝某人身体健康

replace

代替

informal

非正式的

formal

正式的

boss

老板

origins

起源

evolved

演变

cheer

欢乐，乐观

to wish someone well

祝某人健康（问候语）

shortened

缩短

over time

随着时间的推移

1 alcohol   

n.酒精，乙醇；含酒精的饮料

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
• The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。

2 evolved   

动词evolve的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The idea evolved from a drawing I discovered in the attic. 这种想法是从我在阁楼里发现的一幅画得到启发的。
• Man was evolved from an ancestor that was probably arboreal. 人大概是从住在树上的祖先进化而来的。

3 shortened   

v.弄短，缩短( shorten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shortened the skirt by an inch. 她把裙子缩短了一英寸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Vacations have lengthened and the work week has shortened. 假期延长，工作周就缩短了。 来自辞典例句

4 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。