VOA慢速英语-- Get Ready to Have Your 'Mind Blown!’

 

Now, the VOA Learning¹ English program Words and Their Stories. On this program we explore common expressions that we use in everyday life.

Today we are talking about a simple verb -- "to blow."

Sometimes the word means to push air out of your mouth, like when a child blows bubbles³ or when you blow out the candles on your birthday cake. You can also blow your nose when you are sick. Or, when you love someone, you may blow them a kiss.

Those expressions are easy to understand. But what does it mean to blow someone's cover?

Here is a hint⁴: A spy might worry about her cover being blown, especially if she uses a false name and a made-up life story. When someone's cover is blown, that person’s real identity⁵ is discovered!

But even us non-spies can use this expression. Anytime you present false information and then you let the truth slip out, you have blown your cover.

Being discovered when you are trying to hide can be very upsetting. You could become angry. In such times, you might blow your stack⁶, or blow your top. You could also blow a fuse⁷ or blow a gasket. These all mean to get so angry that you lose control.

FILE - Kevin Real, a research assistant at the University of Nebraska's Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior in Lincoln, Nebraska, is fitted with a device⁸ to detect⁹ brain activity.

So, be careful when you are blowing your stack, top, fuse or gasket. When you are so angry, you might make mistakes. For example, if you blow your stack while taking a test, you might blow it. In other words, you fail it as a result of your own actions.

You can also blow an important assignment at work. You can blow it with a personal relationship. Unfortunately, with almost anything … you can blow it!

Blowing it is really upsetting. So, to blow off steam, you might go for a long walk in the woods. Blowing off steam helps us to relax when we are angry or upset. Think of a teapot. It releases¹⁰ steam when it gets too hot. The same can be said for us!

Now, let's talk about grammar for a moment.

As you probably know, when we use the active tense of a verb, the subject is doing the action. In the passive¹¹ tense, the subject is receiving the action.

For example, we often use the expression mind blown in the passive tense. You can have your mind blown by just about anything that’s really, really good. I've had my mind blown by a really smart movie or by a really delicious meal.

You can also turn this expression around and make it active. For example, I can say, “I had an amazing Saturday night. That movie and meal really blew my mind!”

We also commonly use this expression as an adjective¹².

Let's say you are a great soccer player. Your abilities to dribble¹³ and score are mind-blowing. In fact, in your last season, every game you played was a blow out. In other words, your team beat the other team by many, many points.

Now, let's say you that during one of those blow-out games, you scored the most points. So, when reporters interview you, you take credit¹⁴ for the win. You even criticize¹⁵ your teammates for almost blowing the game with all of their mistakes. As a result, your team gets upset with you, and your fans are not too happy either.

You blew your own horn way too much. When people blow their own horns, they talk too much and too proudly about their own successes. The words may be music to their ears, but others rarely enjoy listening to people blowing their own horns.

But let’s go back to your soccer game.

Everyone is angry with you after you blew the press conference. So, you decide to leave town for a few days -- just until the bad press blows over.

When a storm blows over, it passes. If I look out the window and see that the dark clouds moving quickly and blue skies are in the distance, I can say, "Don't worry. This storm will blow over soon."

Happily for us, problems can blow over too.

See? We have thousands of expressions that use the verb "blow." Okay, not really thousands. I am blowing things out of proportion¹⁶. When you blow something out of proportion you make it seem bigger and more important than it is.

Since we are talking about making a big deal out of nothing, we have a fun expression that means the same thing. If you make a small problem into a bigger one, you have made a mountain out of a molehill.

And that's the end of this week's Words and Their Stories.

I promise that I won't blow off my weekly assignment of writing another story -- because that would mean I did not do something that I was supposed to do.

I'm Anna Matteo.

When it all blows over, can we start again? When we’ve both grown older will you love me then? Say you’ll love me then.”

Words in This Story

bubble² – n. a very light ball of air inside a thin layer of soap

slip out – phrasal verb : to be said by mistake

stack – n. a tall chimney¹⁷ on a factory, ship, etc., for carrying smoke away : smokestack

fuse – n. a device that causes electricity to stop flowing when a current becomes too strong

gasket – n. a piece of rubber or some other material that is used to make a tight seal between two parts that are joined together

proportion – n. the relationship that exists between the size, number, or amount of two things

molehill – n. a small pile of dirt that is pushed up by a mole when it digs tunnels underground

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 bubble   

n.泡，水泡，气泡；泡影，妄想；v.(使)起泡

参考例句：

• The water begins to bubble.水开始起泡了。
• Their hopes of success have burst like a bubble.他们成功的希望已经成了泡影。

3 bubbles   

泡( bubble的名词复数 )； 泡影； 肥皂泡； （欲表达的）一点感情

参考例句：

• Bubbles are rising from the bottom of the boiling water. 水泡从沸水的底部升到水面。
• The incorporation of air bubbles in the glass spoiled it. 玻璃含有气泡，使它质量降低。

4 hint   

n.暗示，示意；[pl]建议；线索，迹象；v.暗示

参考例句：

• He gave me a hint that I was being cheated.他暗示我在受人欺骗。
• He quickly took the hint.一点他就明白了。

5 identity   

n.身份，本体，特征；同一(性)，一致

参考例句：

• He never revealed his identity.他从未暴露过自己的身份。
• He showed his identity card and went in.他把工作证亮了一下就进去了。

6 stack   

n.堆叠，堆；vt.堆积，成叠放在；vi.堆成一堆

参考例句：

• There's a whole stack of bills waiting to be paid.有一大堆账要付呢。
• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。

7 fuse   

n.导火线，引信，保险丝；v.熔，烧断电路

参考例句：

• The metal will fuse at a relatively low temperature.这金属在不太高的温度下熔化。
• This is the right fuse for the refrigerator.这是电冰箱上使用的保险丝。

8 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

9 detect   

vt.察觉，发现；探测

参考例句：

• I can detect signs of improvement in your thinking.我可以察觉出你思考问题方面的进步。
• Their instruments can detect the slightest vibration.他们的仪器能探测出极微弱的震动。

10 releases   

v.释放( release的第三人称单数 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• Nuclear fission releases tremendous amounts of energy. 核裂变释放出巨大的能量。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Zemel says that when calcium levels are low, the body releases a hormone that helps squeeze the most out of every available milligram of the mineral. 泽莫尔博士说，当人体中的钙含量偏低时，身体里就会产生一种荷尔蒙，它能帮助肌体最大限度地吸收所摄入的钙。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 passive   

adj.被动的；消极的

参考例句：

• He has a passive expression on his face.他脸上有一种漠然的表情。
• It lands the manager in a passive position.它使经理处于被动地位。

12 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。

13 dribble   

v.点滴留下，流口水；n.口水

参考例句：

• Melted wax dribbled down the side of the candle.熔化了的蜡一滴滴从蜡烛边上流下。
• He wiped a dribble of saliva from his chin.他擦掉了下巴上的几滴口水。

14 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。

15 criticize   

vt.批评；批判，指责；评论，评价

参考例句：

• Whenever you criticize him,he always has an excuse.你批评他，他总有说头儿。
• You are free to criticize my work.你可以随意批评我的工作。

16 proportion   

n.比率，比例；大小

参考例句：

• His head is out of proportion to the size of his body.他的头部与身体大小不成比例。
• The proportion of imports to exports is worrying the government.进口与出口的比例令政府担忧。

17 chimney   

n.烟囱，烟筒；玻璃罩

参考例句：

• The chimney blew out a cloud of black smoke.烟囱里喷出一团黑烟。
• His father is a chimney sweeper.他的父亲是一位扫烟囱的工人。