VOA慢速英语2021--Freeze!

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

In many places around the world, wintertime brings snow, ice, and really cold temperatures. Some places can even experience a deep freeze!

But even if you do not live in an area with really low temperatures, you can still use "freeze" idioms and expressions.

For example, you could use them at work.

During the coronavirus pandemic, many workplaces have put in place hiring freezes. With a hiring freeze, you are not able to hire more people. The hiring process is not moving. It is frozen².

During the pandemic, many businesses and companies also faced financial uncertainties³. And some were not sure they would survive. So, many places may have put a freeze on wages. When your wages are frozen, they stay at the current level.

There is another way we "freeze" money. If you are having legal or financial trouble, the courts might freeze your bank accounts. When this happens, you cannot use money in a frozen account.

Now, "freeze" is one of those verbs that changes with every preposition⁴ you add to it. Let's start with "out." It makes the verbal⁵ expression "freeze out."

Sometimes in business dealings, some people or groups may get frozen out by others. If you are frozen out of a business deal, you are not involved. You don't have a seat at the table.

If you are a cold, unfeeling person, you may want to isolate⁶ someone socially. You don't invite them to parties. You don't tell them about fun events. You are trying to freeze them out of a group.

But this seems mean and childish⁷. Freezing people out is something we might have done as children. If you ever have had a friend try to freeze you out of a group, if can hurt -- even years later. That memory can be frozen in your mind. It is unchanging and unaffected by the passing of time.

Now let's talk about the verbal phrase "freeze up." If something "freezes up" it stops working. An engine, for example, can freeze up – meaning it stops running.

People can also freeze up. If a person freezes up, they are so afraid or worried, they are unable to speak or move. For example, if I am afraid of public speaking, I might freeze up while speaking in front of a large group of people. I'm not able to say or do anything. Sometimes we can also just say "froze." I was so afraid that I just completely froze.

Of course, the word "freeze" also describes some weather conditions. The verbal "freeze over" is usually used to describe a body of water. If a lake has frozen over it is completely frozen. You can safely walk or skate on it.

But before we leave "freeze over," there is another way we use that expression. For example, if something is never going to happen, like not a chance, I can say "when hell⁸ freezes over." Hell is supposed to be a hot place. So, if it freezes over, you know things are bad.

Here's an example,

Hey, Alyssa I got my boating license⁹ yesterday. How about you join me on the river sometime?

Sure ..Bradley ... when hell freezes over!

Aw come on! It'll be fun! Why not?

First, I can't swim.

That's okay. You can stay in the boat.

And second, I've seen you drive. There's no way I'm getting in a boat with you.

That's cold, Alyssa. Real cold.

So, it's a funny way to say "never." We use it jokingly. Personally, I would not use it in any serious situations, such as during a job interview or when meeting someone's parents for the first time.

And that's all the time we have for this Word and Their Stories.

If you know friends who might like this show, don't freeze them out! Invite them to listen.

Words in This Story

wage – n. a payment¹⁰ usually of money for labor¹¹ or services usually according to contract and on an hourly, daily, or piecework basis —often used in plural¹²

isolate – v. to set apart from others

skate – v. to move or glide over a surface on skates

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 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

3 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告

4 preposition   

n.介词

参考例句：

• You should cancel this preposition in the sentence.你应该删去句子中的这个介词。
• We use different preposition to talk about time,days,months and seasons.我们用不动的介词来谈论时间，日，月和季节等。

5 verbal   

adj.口头的，用言辞的，用文字的，动词的

参考例句：

• Verbal statements are no guarantee.口说无凭。
• I delivered a verbal protest against their brutal acts.我对他们的暴行提出口头抗议。

6 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

7 childish   

adj.孩子的，孩子气的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• The little girl spoke in a high childish voice.这个小女孩用尖尖的童声讲话。
• We eventually ran out of patience with his childish behaviour.我们终于对他幼稚的行为忍无可忍。

8 hell   

n.地狱，阴间；用以咒骂或表示愤怒，不满

参考例句：

• It's a hell of a hike from Sydney to Perth.从悉尼到珀斯的徒步旅行简直苦死了。
• The boss really gave me hell today.老板今天着实数落了我一通。

9 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

10 payment   

n.付款，支付，偿还，偿还，报应

参考例句：

• I gave ten pounds in payment for the goods I bought.我买那些东西付了10英镑。
• This last payment will wipe out your debt to me.这最后一笔付款将了结你欠我的债务。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。