VOA慢速英语2013 Words and Their Stories: Losing It

 

Words and Their Stories: Losing It

I'm Susan Clark with the Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

Tom Smith is the best hitter on his company's baseball team. For weeks during the playing season, Tom hit a home run in every game the team played. But then suddenly he stopped hitting home runs. He could not hit the baseball at all.

One day he struck out three times in one game. He said, "I am afraid I am losing it."

Mary Jones bought a dress in a woman's clothing store. She felt very happy about buying the dress until she got home. Then she remembered she had left her credit¹ card at the store when she used it to pay for the dress. It was the third time that month that Mary had forgotten something important.

Mary was angry with herself. She said, "Am I losing it?"

Emma Cleveland was teaching² a class in mathematics³ at a college. She began to explain to the students how to solve a very difficult problem. She undersood it very well. But somehow, at that moment, she could not explain it. Emma said, "I must be losing it."

Americans seem to have a lot of concern about losing it. At least that is what you would think from hearing them talk. They use the expression when they feel they are losing control. It can mean losing emotional⁴ control. Or losing the ability to do something. Or losing mental powers.

Word experts differ about how the expression started. Some believe it came from television programs popular in the nineteen eighties. Others believe it began with psychologists⁶ and psychiatrists⁷ who deal with how people think, feel and act.

One psychologist⁵ said, "We Americans have many concerns about controlling our lives. Perhaps we worry too much."

She continued, "In many situations, to say you are losing it eases⁸ the tension⁹. It is healthy. And most people who say they are having a problem are not losing it." People may feel more like they are losing it when they are "down in the dumps¹⁰."

People who are down in the dumps are sad. They are depressed¹¹.

Word expert Charles Funk says people have been feeling down in the dumps for more than four-hundred years. Sir Thomas More used the expression in fifteen thirty-four. He wrote, "Our poor family ... has fallen in such dumps."

Word experts do not agree what the word dumps means¹². One expert, John Ayto, says the word dumps probably comes from the Scandanavian countries. The languages of Denmark and Norway both have similar words. The words mean to fall suddenly.

Americans borrowed this saying. And, over the years, it has become a popular way of expressing sadness.

1 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。

2 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

3 mathematics   

n.（用作单）数学；（用作单或复）计算(能力）

参考例句：

• He has come out in front in the study of mathematics.他在数学方面已名列前茅。
• She is working at a difficult problem in mathematics.她在做一道数学难题。

4 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

5 psychologist   

n.心理学家；心理学研究者

参考例句：

• Dr.Sinclair is a child psychologist.辛克莱博士是一位儿童心理学专家。
• Psychologist is expert who studies at psychology.心理学家是研究心理学的专家。

6 psychologists   

n.心理学研究者，心理学家( psychologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• However, psychologists distinguish between'sound" and "noise".'sound" is measured physically in decibels. 然而，心理学家把声音与噪声做了区别，声音实际上可以用分贝来测量，而噪声却不能用同样的方法来测量。 来自中级百科部分
• Using a scientific way, these psychologists set up experiments. 这些心理学家利用科学的方式做了很多实验。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

7 psychiatrists   

n.精神病专家，精神病医生( psychiatrist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They are psychiatrists in good standing. 他们是合格的精神病医生。 来自辞典例句
• Some psychiatrists have patients who grow almost alarmed at how congenial they suddenly feel. 有些精神分析学家发现，他们的某些病人在突然感到惬意的时候几乎会兴奋起来。 来自名作英译部分

8 eases   

安心( ease的名词复数 )； 无病无痛； （限制的）放松； 容易

参考例句：

• Centaury eases cough, bronchitis, inflammation of liver and eye. 咳嗽、支气管炎、肝脏及眼睛发炎有抑制功效。
• When the crisis eases and confidence returns, valuations are bound to recover. 当危机缓解、信心恢复，市值必将反弹。

9 tension   

n.(紧张)状态；拉(绷)紧；张力，拉力

参考例句：

• I could feel the tension in the room. 我可以感觉到房间里的紧张气氛。
• Relaxaion is better than tension. 缓和比紧张好。

10 dumps   

n.抑郁v.倾倒( dump的第三人称单数 )；丢下；随便堆放；释放

参考例句：

• They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps. 他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It's no use letting yourself fall into the dumps. 你听任自己的情绪低沉下去一点用也没有。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

12 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。