VOA慢速英语2020 驻足闻香

Take Time to 'Stop and Smell the Roses'

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning¹ English.

现在是美国之音慢速英语单词故事节目。 

Are you feeling overworked?Are you so concerned with moving up in your career that you feel stressed and unhappy?If so, maybe it is time for you to stop and smell the roses.

你觉得工作过度了吗?你是否因为太过关注自己的职业发展而感到压力和不开心?如果是这样的话，也许是时候让自己停下来，忙里偷闲，闻闻玫瑰花香，看看沿途的风景享受生活。

People who need to stop and smell the roses should stop working so hard. They need to slow down and take time to appreciate the many things that life has to offer.Often this means enjoying the wonders of nature – looking at stars in the night sky,feeling the wind blowing your hair, smelling flowers growing near a busy street.

那些需要停下来闻闻玫瑰花香享受生活的人应该停止这么辛苦地工作。他们需要放慢脚步，花时间去欣赏生活所给予的许多东西。通常这意味着享受大自然的奇观——仰望夜空中的星星，感受微风吹拂过头发，闻一闻生长在繁忙街道附近鲜花的花香。

But the flowers do not have to be roses.

但这些花不一定是玫瑰。 

While this expression relates to roses, it can be anything rather small or even commonplace².These things may seem small but they can give us great joy.

虽然这个表达和玫瑰有关，但它可以是任何细小的，甚至是普通的东西。这些东西可能看起来微不足道，但它们能给我们带来巨大的快乐。

The thing that you stop to watch could be an old married couple holding hands,a child jumping in a puddle³ or a musician performing by your bus stop.These are the things -- simple but beautiful things --

你停下来驻足观看的可能是一对牵手的老夫妻，一个跳进水坑的小孩，或者是在公交车站表演的音乐家。这些事物—简单但美丽—

that we often walk by in a hurry to get to our next appointment.Very ambitious⁴, highly⁵ driven people often need to stop and smell the roses.We sometimes call this kind of person Type A.Such people often do not know when to sit back and stop working.

可我们经常会因为赶赴下一个约会而匆匆走过忽略掉。雄心勃勃、干劲十足的人经常需要停下脚步闻闻玫瑰花的香味，享受一下生活。我们有时把这种人称为a型人。这种人往往不知道什么时候该坐下来休息，停止工作。

So, they may have a hard time slowing down and doing something as simple as smelling flowers.But you know, maybe for a Type A person, the best thing in the world might be working.In that case, stopping to smell the roses may give them no joy at all.Maybe smelling flowers gives them an allergic⁶ reaction.Maybe the person has many mouths to feed at home and does not have time to stop and smell the roses.

所以，他们可能很难放慢脚步，做一些像闻花这样简单的事情。但是你知道，也许对于a型人来说，世界上最好的事情就是工作。在这种情况下，停下来闻闻玫瑰的香味，忙里偷闲可能根本不会给他们带来快乐。也许闻花会让他们产生过敏反应。也许这个人家里有很多人要养活，没有时间停下来闻闻玫瑰花的香味，享受生活。

People and their situations are complex.

人们和他们的处境都是复杂的。 

Now, we turn to another "rose" expression: Every rose has its thorns⁸.

现在，我们来看另一个关于“玫瑰”的表达:每朵玫瑰都是带刺的。 

Roses come in many colors and many are beautiful.Also, some of the flowers give off a wonderful smell.No one can argue with that.But most roses have something that is not very nice – thorns.

玫瑰有很多颜色，很多都很漂亮。此外，一些散发出一种美妙的气味。没有人能否认这一点。但是大多数玫瑰都带有一些不太好的东西—刺。

Thorns stick out from the stem⁹ of the plant.They can cut into the skin and make you bleed. They hurt!

刺从植物的茎中伸展出来。它们会划破皮肤，让你流血。它们会伤到人! 

Every rose has its thorns means that everything usually has a bad side – even beautiful things.

每朵玫瑰都带刺，这意味着任何事物都有不好的一面——即使是美好的事物。 

This expression can also mean that a thorn⁷ does not take away from a roses beauty.Are the thorns unpleasant when they cut us? Well, yes.But is the rose still beautiful and worthwhile to have? Again … yes!

这个表达也可以表示有刺并不会有损玫瑰的美丽。刺扎我们的时候，会不会不舒服?嗯,是的。但玫瑰是否依然美丽，值得拥有?再一次……是的!

We need to respect the beauty of roses and the thing that can hurt us – the thorn.Thorns help protect the plant from plant-eating animals.So, they serve a purpose.

我们需要尊重玫瑰的美丽和其伤害我们的东西——刺。刺有助于保护植物免受食草动物的伤害。所以，它们的存在也是有目的的。

Maybe flowers are as complex as we are.

也许花和我们人类一样复杂。 

Which expression best describes your feelings right now:to stop and smell the roses or every rose has its thorns?

现在哪种表达方式最能描述你的感受：停下来闻闻玫瑰的香味，还是每朵玫瑰都有刺? 

And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.Join us again next week as we explore more expressions in American English.

以上就是本期单词故事节目的全部内容。下周再和我们一起学习，我们将探索更多美式英语的表达方式。

Until next time … Im Anna Matteo!

我们下次再见，安娜·马特奥为您播报。 

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 commonplace   

adj.平凡的，普通的；n.寻常的事物，常见的事

参考例句：

• Soon it will be commonplace for men to travel to the moon.人们去月球旅行很快就会成为常事。
• What he has said is a mere commonplace view.他所说的不过是尘俗之见而已。

3 puddle   

n.(雨)水坑，泥潭

参考例句：

• The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。
• She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

4 ambitious   

adj.有雄心的，劲头十足的，有野心的

参考例句：

• One may be poor but never ceases to be ambitious.人穷志不穷。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

5 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

6 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

7 thorn   

n.刺，荆棘，带刺小灌木

参考例句：

• The little boy stepped on a sharp thorn.那小男孩踩着了一根尖刺。
• The dog had a thorn in its pad.这只狗的爪垫上扎了根刺。

8 thorns   

（玫瑰之类植物的）刺( thorn的名词复数 )； 棘刺； 带刺的树； 荆棘

参考例句：

• I was sitting on the thorns while waiting for the outcome. 等待结果时我如坐针毡。
• They had to stop to pick out thorns from their feet. 他们只得停下来把脚上的刺拔去。

9 stem   

n.茎，干，船首，词干，血统；vt.堵住，阻止，抽去梗；vi.起源于，发生

参考例句：

• Cut the stem cleanly,just beneath a leaf joint.把茎切整齐点，正好切在叶根下。
• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。