中英双语新闻——78 A satirical look at news

 　　In the West, the late-night talk show is a specific kind of comedy-oriented talk and variety show. It includes topical monologues¹ in which the host makes fun of the day’s news, comedy sketches² and celebrity³ interviews.

 

　　在西方国家，深夜脱口秀是一种特殊形式的诙谐谈话类综艺节目。节目包含针砭时事的单人脱口秀、短喜剧以及名人访谈几个环节，其中，在单人脱口秀环节中，主持人会恶搞一些当日的新闻。

 

　　Watching talk shows is good practice for English learners. While you might get distracted by the intricate plots of drama series, talk shows offer a chance to practice your listening and understanding of humor and the subtexts of the English language.

 

　　对于英语学习者而言，观看脱口秀节目是一种很好的练习方法。当你有可能会被电视剧集中错综复杂的剧情搞得心烦意乱时，脱口秀提供了一个可以训练听力，并学习理解英文中所蕴含的幽默及潜台词的机会。

 

　　In the following issues, 21st Century will introduce several popular talk shows. You can get a flavor of the hosts’ wit and humor.

 

　　在接下来的几期报纸中，《21世纪英文报》将会为大家介绍几档热门脱口秀节目。你可以从中感受到几位主持人的幽默与智慧。

 

　　The following segments of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which airs on Comedy Central television, demonstrate the satire⁴, criticism, and humor in the host’s commentaries.

 

　　接下来的这些节选片段摘自由美国喜剧中心频道播出的《乔恩每日脱口秀》。从主持人乔恩?斯图尔特的评论中你可以感受到那份讽刺、批判和幽默。

 

　　1. Jon Stewart celebrated⁵ the end of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which came to an end last Monday. The repeal⁶ means that gay men and women can serve openly in the armed forces, and that the 13,000 soldiers who were discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell” can re-enlist.

 

　　1. 乔恩?斯图尔特在节目中庆贺美国军方废除(对同性恋者)“不问不说”这一政策，该政策于上周一被废除。这意味着男女同性恋者能够公开入伍，而那些因“不问不说”政策而被开除的13000名士兵也可以重新参军。

 

　　Jon Stewart: That’s how ridiculous this policy was–the apology for the affront⁷ is, ‘Alright, sorry, you can go to Afghanistan and fight for your country.’

 

　　乔恩?斯图尔特说：“看看吧，这项政策是有多荒谬。对于之前种种侮辱与冒犯，这种致歉方式就像是在说，‘好吧，抱歉，现在你们可以去阿富汗并为国家而战了。’”（文章注释：这段话中，乔恩?斯图尔特调侃了美国军队废除对同性恋军人的“不问不说”政策。他讽刺说军方废除此政策看似是对同性恋军人的“优待”，实际上却是让他们去前线“送死”。）

 

　　By the way, they’re lucky with the gay people that they discharged from the army–only gay people would remain in good enough shape to be able to re-enlist.

 

　　“顺便说一下，他们（指军方）应该感到很幸运，因为他们开除的是同性恋军人，只有同性恋们才会保持足够好的身材，能够重新入伍。（文章注释：斯图尔特通过对同性恋的赞扬继续讽刺军方，他说“只有同性恋们有足够好的身材，够格去重新服役”，因为在国外，很多同性恋人群(尤指男性)非常注重维持身材。）

 

　　2. After Osama bin⁸ Laden⁹ was killed, US President Barack Obama made a national speech on TV.

 

　　在奥萨玛?本?拉登被击毙后，美国总统巴拉克?奥巴马在电视上发表了一次全国演讲。

 

　　Video clip: [Barack Obama: Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world, that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden…]

 

　　录像剪辑：【巴拉克?奥巴马：今晚，我可以向美国人民和全世界宣布，美国已经完成了消灭基地组织头目本-拉登的行动…】

 

　　Jon Stewart: As an American, as a New Yorker, you felt like the news couldn’t get any better … and then, it did.

 

　　乔恩?斯图尔特：“作为一位美国人，一名纽约市民，你会觉得这条消息已好得不能再好了……然而，它的确做到了。”

 

　　[Obama: Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.]

 

　　【奥巴马：今天，在我的指示下，军对巴基斯坦阿巴德的一处目标实施了有针对性的行动。】

 

　　Jon Stewart: What? Not only did we kill Bin Laden, we killed him in Abbottabad? Abbottabad sounds like a name most New Yorkers would have invented for the fictional¹⁰ place they would have loved to kill Bin Laden. Abbottabad. A-bbo-tta-bad.

 

　　乔恩?斯图尔特：“什么？我们不仅击毙了本?拉登，还是在阿伯塔巴德把他杀死的？阿伯塔巴德这个地名听上去就像大多数纽约人发明出来手刃本?拉登的虚构地方。阿伯塔巴德。阿~伯~塔~巴德。”（文章注释：对于本拉登之死，乔恩?斯图尔特也不忘发挥幽默，比如拿杀死本?拉登的地名开玩笑。他说“本?拉登在阿伯塔巴德被杀”比“本?拉登被杀”这件事本身更有趣，因为阿伯塔巴德——Abbottabad听起来像个纽约人自己发明的地名，并且在节目里一直用很滑稽的发音读这个地名。）

 

　　[News anchor: As satisfied as we are right now, we also realize that this increases threats to the United States… In the short term, there will be some kind of revenge attack…]

 

　　【新闻主播：尽管现在我们感到心满意足，但同时我们也意识到这一事件对美国构成进一步的威胁…短期内，可能会发生某种报复性袭击…】

 

　　Jon Stewart: Yeah, we shouldn’t have killed him. Now the terrorists want to attack us. But you know what, even when they do, you know who won’t see it? Bin Laden–because we shot out his eyes and now he lives in a pineapple under the sea.

 

　　乔恩?斯图尔特：“是啊，我们不应该杀他，这样恐怖分子就会想袭击我们。但你们是知道的，即便他们这样做了，你知道谁会看不到这一幕吗？本?拉登啊，因为我们打掉了他的眼睛，而他现在住在一个海底的菠萝里。（新闻注释：关于新闻中说本?拉登死后恐怖分子会进行报复，乔恩?斯图尔特调侃说“是啊，我们不应该杀他，这样恐怖分子就会想袭击我们”。但实际上斯图尔特和其他美国人一样，觉得本?拉登的死大快人心，说本?拉登现在住在海底的菠萝里，本?拉登死后被葬入海里)，借用海绵宝宝的情节开玩笑。）

 

　　3. Months before Apple’s iPhone 4 was out, a prototype used by an Apple product designer was “stolen” in a bar by an editor for the tech-news website Gizmodo.com.

 

　　3. 在苹果的iPhone 4问世前几个月，某苹果产品设计师所使用的手机原型在一间酒吧里被一名来自科技新闻网站Gizmodo.com编辑偷走了。

 

　　Video clip: [News anchor: A high-tech¹¹ crime investigation¹² team goes to this guy’s house – the editor of Gizmodo, bashes in his front door while he’s having dinner.]

 

　　录像剪辑：【新闻主播：一个高科技犯罪侦查小组冲入了这家伙(Gizmodo网站编辑)的家。警方在他吃晚餐的时候从前门破门而入。】

 

　　Jon Stewart: The cops had to bash in this guy’s door? Don’t they know there’s an app for that?

 

　　乔恩?斯图尔特：“警方必须冲破这家伙的房门吗？难道他们不知道有一项应用就是为此而设计的吗？”（文章注释：自从iPhone和app盛行以来，There’s an app for that已经成为英语里的一句流行语，几乎可以用在任何话之后，“去下一个app用吧”，表示app的火热程度。）

 

　　…Apple, you guys were the rebels, the underdogs, and people believed in you. Now look into the mirror, man. Or, actually just look into the screen of the iPad before you turn it on–it’s surprisingly reflective, it’s really beautiful. (murmuring) Thank you so much for making this. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Microsoft was supposed to be the evil one.

 

　　苹果，你们是群桀骜不驯的家伙，长久以来的弱势群体，人们相信你们。现在照照镜子吧，兄弟。或者你们只需要在启动iPad前看看它的屏幕，令人吃惊的反射成像，真是漂亮极了。（低语中)非常感谢你们发明了这个。事情本不应是这样子的。微软才应该被看作是邪恶的一方。（文章注释：Rebel除了指“造反者”，还指“抗拒控制的人”，属于中性词，在此表示苹果公司是与众不同、桀骜不驯的。Underdog表示“处于劣势的一方”。苹果和微软的竞争由来已久，在苹果产品风靡之前，微软一直都处于强势，以至于乔恩?斯图尔特会说微软才应该是“邪恶的一方”。）

 

　　…So come on, Steve, chill out with the paranoid corporate¹³ genius stuff, just chill, baby. (murmuring again) And, you know your new iPhone with the front camera and video chat, could you send me one of those? It looks totally sick.

 

　　…“来吧，史蒂夫，先放下那些妄想狂公司推出的所谓天才劣质品，放轻松，宝贝。(再次低语道)还有，你知道，你推出的新款iPhone有前置摄像头以及视频通话功能，可以送我一部吗？它看起来酷毙了。”

1 monologues   

n.（戏剧）长篇独白( monologue的名词复数 )；滔滔不绝的讲话；独角戏

参考例句：

• That film combines real testimonials with monologues read by actors. 电影中既有真人讲的真事，也有演员的独白。 来自互联网
• Her monologues may help her make sense of her day. 她的独白可以帮助她让她一天的感觉。 来自互联网

2 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

4 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

5 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

6 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

7 affront   

n./v.侮辱，触怒

参考例句：

• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
• This remark caused affront to many people.这句话得罪了不少人。

8 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

9 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

10 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

11 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。