VOA词汇掌故2023 "容易实现的目标"已经被别人抢先下手了

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

欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。

Have you ever gone to a farm or an orchard² to pick fruit?

你去过农场或果园采摘过水果吗？

Was all of the fruit easy to pick, or were some pieces easier to reach than others?

是所有的水果都很容易摘到，还是有些水果比其他水果更容易摘到？

Perhaps there were some apples in a tree that were too high for you to reach.

也许树上有一些苹果太高了，你够不着。

And maybe you saw that others had picked the easiest fruit to reach before you.

也许你会发现，别人比你先摘了最容易够到的水果。

Today's Words and Their Stories, however, is not about fruit, but about ideas.

然而，今天的《词汇掌故》节目不是关于水果的，而是关于想法的。

If you are the first person to arrive at an apple tree during harvest time, you can easily find some low-hanging fruit.

如果你是第一个在收获季节来到苹果树前的人，你可以很容易地找到一些长在低处的水果。

These are the apples that are on the branches closest to the ground.

这些苹果长在离地面最近的树枝上。

Low-hanging fruit describes the most obvious or easiest things to do to help you reach a goal.

Low-hanging fruit指的是做最明显或最简单的事情以帮助你达到目标。

The problem with low-hanging fruit is that it is easy for others to get there first, too.

low-hanging fruit的问题在于，其他人也很容易先到手。

People who try to create new music, TV shows, or movies sometimes face this problem.

试图创作新音乐、电视节目或电影的人有时会面临这个问题。

They might believe that the best melodies³ and story ideas have already been taken.

他们可能会认为，最好的旋律和故事创意已经被采纳了。

Some songwriters or scriptwriters might say that the creative low-hanging fruit has already been picked.

有些词曲作者或编剧可能会说，创意上容易摘到的果实可能已经被摘走了。

When most of the fruit, ideas, or things that we desire have already been taken, we can say that the remains⁴ are slim pickings.

当我们渴望得到的水果、想法或东西大多已被别人拿走时，我们可以说剩下的收获很少。

This means there are only a few useful things left to choose from.

意思是只剩下少数有用的东西可供选择。

And, when almost nothing of value remains, we are scraping⁵ the bottom of the barrel⁶.

而且，当几乎没有任何有价值的东西剩下时，我们只好退而求其次。

That means we are trying to get the last little bits.

意思是我们正在努力获得最后的一小部分。

There is nothing but scraps⁷ left.

只剩下“残羹剩饭”了。

"Scraps" are small, unwanted pieces that remain at the end of a process, like bits of food remaining after making or eating a meal.

“Scraps”指的是在一个过程结束时残留的小块、无用的残留物，比如吃完饭后剩下的食物。

The scraps are often given to animals or thrown away.

这些“残羹剩饭”经常被喂给动物或扔掉。

So, if you have nothing but scraps, it means you have the least valuable things, worth almost nothing to most people.

因此，如果你除了“残羹剩饭”什么都没有，那就意味着你拥有最不值钱的东西，对大多数人来说几乎一文不值。

When there is nothing left of something we need, like water, we must solve the problem.

当我们需要的东西，如水，没有了的时候，我们必须解决问题。

One answer is to dig a well to reach water underground.

一种解决办法是挖一口井从地下取水。

Some wells can last for many years, but others run dry.

有些井可以用很多年，但有些井会干涸。

When the well has run dry, there is nothing left.

井干了，就什么都没有了。

Paul Simon is a famous American songwriter.

保罗·西蒙是美国著名的词曲作者。

In 2007, he told a reporter, "I think there's a certain reservoir⁸ of melody⁹ that you are born with, and in the beginning, you draw on that. And then after a while, a relatively¹⁰ short while, you use it up."

2007年，他告诉记者，“我认为你生来就有某种旋律储备，一开始，你会利用它。然后，过了一段时间，一段相对较短的时间，你就会用完它。”

A reservoir is a place where water is stored, such as a pool, a pond, or a lake.

水库是储存水的地方，如水池、池塘或湖泊。

Simon added that when the artist has used all that is in the reservoir, he or she needs to expand their skills. Otherwise, their creative well is going to run dry.

西蒙补充说，当艺术家用完了水库中的所有东西时，他或她需要扩展他们的技能。否则，他们的创意之井就会枯竭。

So far, we have talked about running out of ideas.

到目前为止，我们已经谈到了创意枯竭的问题。

But what happens if you get lucky and find a lot of something valuable, like oil or gold?

但如果你幸运地发现了很多有价值的东西，比如石油或黄金，会发生什么？

In those cases, you have hit the mother lode¹¹.

在这些情况下，你找到了主矿脉。

The term mother lode came from California after gold was discovered there in 1848.

1848年在加利福尼亚州发现金矿后，“主矿脉”一词产生了。

It describes a narrow area of rock in the state about 190 kilometers in length.

它指的是该州一片约190公里长的狭窄岩石区域。

This rock was the source, or "mother," of the gold found in rivers and streams in the area.

这片岩石区域是在该地区河流和溪流中发现的黄金的来源。

Is VOA Learning English your mother lode for learning new idioms and expressions?

VOA慢速英语是你学习新习语和短语的主要来源吗？

Let us know in the comments below.

请在下面的评论区里告诉我们。

And be sure to keep reading Words and Their Stories!

一定要继续收听《词汇掌故》节目！

I'm Andrew Smith.

我是安德鲁·史密斯。

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 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

3 melodies   

曲调( melody的名词复数 )； 旋律； 乐曲的音符编排； 美妙的音乐

参考例句：

• The two melodies are played in counterpoint. 用对位法来演奏这两首曲调。
• And now for your further delectation, we present a selection of popular melodies. 为使你们更加愉快，我们奉献给你们一组精选的流行歌曲。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 scraping   

胶水；(复)碎屑

参考例句：

• I can't bear the sound of chalk scraping on a blackboard. 我受不了粉笔在黑板上摩擦时发出的刺耳声音。
• He spent all day scraping paint off the walls. 他一整天都在刮墙壁上的漆。

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。

7 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

8 reservoir   

n.水库，蓄水池；(人才等的)储藏，汇集

参考例句：

• The town is supplied with water from a reservoir.该城镇由小山中的一座水库供水。
• A large quantity of water is stored in the reservoir.水库存了大量的水。

9 melody   

n.旋律，曲调，悦耳的音乐

参考例句：

• She struck up a folk melody on the piano.她开始用钢琴演奏那首民歌。
• After she wrote the melody,she asked us for criticisms.她做好曲之后，请我们提意见。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

11 lode   

n.矿脉

参考例句：

• We discovered the rich lode bellied out.我们发现丰富的矿脉突然增大了。
• A lode of gold was discovered。他们发现了一处黄金矿藏。