VOA慢速英语2014 不要着急!

Hold Your Horses! 不要着急!

Now, the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.

Today, we tell about "horse" expressions. In the past, many people depended on horses for transportation, farming and other kinds of work. A lot of people still like to ride horses. And horse racing¹ is also popular. So it is not surprising that Americans still use expressions about the animals.

Long ago, people who were rich or important rode horses that were very tall. Today, if a girl acts like she is better than everyone else, you might say she should "get off her high horse."

Yesterday, my children wanted me to take them to the playground. But I had to finish my work, so I told them to "hold your horses" -- wait until I finish what I am doing. My two boys like to compete against each other and play in a violent way. I always tell them to stop "horsing around" or someone could get hurt.

We live in a small town. It does not have any exciting activities to offer visitors. My children call it a "one-horse town."

Last night, I got a telephone call while I was watching my favorite television show. I decided² not to answer it because "wild horses could not drag me away" from the television -- there was nothing that could stop me from doing what I wanted to do.

Sometimes you get information "straight from the horse's mouth." It comes directly from the person who knows most about the subject and is the best source. Let us say your teacher tells you there is going to be a test tomorrow. You could say you got the information "straight from the horse's mouth." However, you would not want to call your teacher a horse!

You may have heard this expression: "You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink." That means you can give someone advice but you cannot force him to do something he does not want to do.

Sometimes a person fights a battle that has been decided or keeps arguing a question that has been settled. We say this is like "beating a dead horse."

In politics, a "dark-horse candidate³" is someone who is not well known to the public.  Sometimes, a dark horse unexpectedly⁴ wins an election⁵.

Another piece of advice is "do not change horses in midstream." You would not want to get off one horse and on to another in the middle of a river. Or make major changes in an activity that has already begun. In the past, this expression was used as an argument to re-elect a president, especially during a time when the country was at war.

1 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 candidate   

n.候选人；候补者；投考者，申请求职者

参考例句：

• Voters like a candidate who has the common touch. 投票者喜欢那些平易近人的候选人。
• The local newspapers dressed up the candidate as a boxer.当地报纸把那个候选人描绘成一个拳击手。

4 unexpectedly   

adv.未料到地，意外地；竟；居然；骤然

参考例句：

• The volcano unexpectedly blew up early in the morning. 火山一早突然爆发了。
• I had just put the dinner on when Jim walked in unexpectedly. 我刚把晚饭摆上桌，吉姆突然走进来。

5 election   

n.选举，选择权；当选

参考例句：

• There is no doubt but that he will win the election.毫无疑问，他将在竞选中获胜。
• The government will probably fall at the coming election.在即将到来的大选中，该政府很可能要垮台。