VOA慢速英语 2007 1104b

WORDS AND THEIR STORIES - Monkey: No Monkey Business Here
By Marilyn Rice Christiano / Broadcast: Sat, 3 Nov 2007 16:00:00 UTC
Now, the VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

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Monkeys are very similar to us in many ways. Most have ten fingers and ten toes, and brains much like ours. We enjoy watching them because they often act like us. In fact, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution says that monkeys and humans share a common ancestor.

Songwriter William Gilbert, in the musical Princess Ida, wrote:

Darwinian man, though well-behaved, at best is only a monkey shaved.

His words -- sung to Sir Arthur Sullivan's music -- make listeners smile. Well, monkeys make us smile, too, because they are creatures full of playful tricks.

This is why many monkey expressions are about tricky¹ people or playful acts. One of these expressions is monkeyshines, meaning tricks or foolish acts.

The meaning is clear if you have ever watched a group of monkeys playfully chasing² each other: pulling tails, stealing food, doing tricks. So, when a teacher says to a group of students: Stop those monkeyshines right now! you know that the boys and girls are playing, instead of studying.

You might hear that same teacher warn a student not to monkey around with a valuable piece of equipment. You monkey around with something when you do not know what you are doing. You are touching³ or playing with something you should leave alone.

Also, you can monkey around when you feel like doing something, but have no firm idea of what to do. For example, you tell your friend you are going to spend the day monkeying around with your car. You do not have any job or goal in mind. It is just a way to pass the time.

Monkey business usually means secret, maybe illegal, activities. A news report may say there is monkey business involved in building the new airport, with some officials getting secret payments⁴ from builders.

You may make a monkey out of someone when you make that person look foolish. Some people make a monkey out of themselves by acting⁵ foolish or silly.

If one monkey has fun, imagine how much fun a barrel⁶ of monkeys can have. If your friend says he had more fun than a barrel of monkeys at your party, you know that he had a really good time.

Monkey suits are common names for clothes or uniforms soldiers wear.

In earlier years in many American cities, you would find men playing musical hand organs on the street. Dancing to the music would be the man's small monkey dressed in a tight-fitting, colorful jacket similar to a military uniform. So, people began to call a military uniform a monkey suit.

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This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano. Maurice Joyce was the narrator. I'm Shirley Griffith.

1 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

2 chasing   

n.雕镂术，雕刻工作；车螺丝；抛光；螺旋板

参考例句：

• My dog likes chasing rabbits. 我的狗喜欢追捕兔子。
• The children were having fun, chasing each other's shadows. 孩子们追逐着彼此的影子，玩得很开心。

3 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

4 payments   

n.支付，付款，缴纳，报酬( payment的名词复数 )；付出的[要付出的]款项；报答，报偿

参考例句：

• Welfare payments cease as soon as an individual starts a job. 一旦就业，即停发福利救济。
• The law can compel fathers to make regular payments for their children. 这项法律可强制父亲定期支付子女的费用。

5 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

6 barrel   

n.圆桶；一桶的量；枪管；vt.把...装桶

参考例句：

• I drew off three pints of beer from the barrel.我从酒桶里抽出三品脱啤酒。
• The man rolled the barrel into the yard.那个人把圆桶滚进院子。