点击这里收藏《每日英语》
   《每日英语》电子报总第99期-10.12
 

   《每日英语》

主办:中国英语学习网  2006-10-12 
【总第99期】
 ::每日一词:: 
 
quality (a.)有品质的
<点击收听>
A: How is that bottle of wine you bought?
你买的那瓶酒如何?
B: It's really high quality.
品质真的很好。
 
 ::每日一句:: 


The thief was so luck to slip under the radar.

那个小偷很幸运地逃过一劫。


Slip under the radar的意思是go unnoticed。很多地方都有雷达(radar)自动测试并记录过往车辆的时速,如果哪辆车超速会被拍下来,之后车主就等着受罚。但雷达偶尔也有不保险的时候,明明违规的车辆却没有逮住。这种情况下,肇事车和司机就是slip under the radar。引申开去,凡是应该被注意,却没有被注意到的情况(通常是坏事)都可以叫slip under the radar。比如:It's unfair that some people always slip under the radar even though they don't deserve luck. Alas, life is never fair to begin with.有些人根本不应得到幸运女神的眷顾,但他们总有办法不被别人看到丑陋的一面。唉,生活本来就不公平。此外,还有一种意思相同的说法叫fly under the radar,显然比slip更常用。

 
 ::每日一笑:: 

I Can't Let Him Get Away

  A male crab met a female crab and asked her to marry him. She noticed that he was walking straight instead of sideways. Wow, she thought, this crab is really special. I can't let him get away .So they got married immediately.
  The next day she noticed her new husband waking sideways like all the other crabs, and got upset. "What happened?" she asked. "You used to walk straight before we were married."
  "Oh, honey, " he replied, "I can't drink that much every day.



中文:

不能让他跑了

  一只雄蟹遇到一只雌蟹,便要娶她为妻。她注意到他走路是直着走,而不是横着走。哇!她想,这只雄蟹可真特别,我可不能让他跑了。因此他们立刻结婚了。
  第二天,她又发现她的新郎像其他蟹一样横着走路了。她深感不安。“你怎么了?”她问,“我们结婚前你可是直着走路的。”
  “哦,宝贝,”他回答说,“我不可能每天都喝那么多。”

 
 ::每日一图:: 

"A subtle palette radiates from Nabataean tombs east of the city center. Scattered over 400 square miles [1,035 square kilometers], Petra includes dozens of such enclaves."

 
 ::每日一文:: 

 <点击收听>

人生的大石头(Big Rocks)

One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.

一天,时间管理专家为一群学生讲课。他现场做了演示,给学生们留下了一生都难以磨灭的印象。

As he stood in front of the group of overachievers he said, "OK, time for a quiz." He pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouth jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"

站在那些高智商高学历的学生前面,他说:“我们来做个小测验”,拿出一个一加仑的广口瓶放在他面前的桌上。随后,他取出一堆拳头大小的石块,仔细地一块放进玻璃瓶。直到石块高出瓶口,再也放不下了,他问道:“瓶子满了?”

Everyone in the class yelled, "Yes." The time management expert replied, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked the group once more, "Is this jar full?"

所有学生应道:“满了!”。时间管理专家反问:“真的?”他伸手从桌下拿出一桶砾石,倒了一些进去,并敲击玻璃瓶壁使砾石填满下面石块的间隙。“现在瓶子满了吗?”他第二次问道。

By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"

但这一次学生有些明白了,“可能还没有”,一位学生应道。“很好!”专家说。他伸手从桌下拿出一桶沙子,开始慢慢倒进玻璃瓶。沙子填满了石块和砾石的所有间隙。他又一次问学生:“瓶子满了吗?”

"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager student raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!"

“没满!”学生们大声说。他再一次说:“很好!”然后他拿过一壶水倒进玻璃瓶直到水面与瓶口平。抬头看着学生,问道:“这个例子说明什么?”一个心急的学生举手发言:“无论你的时间多少,如果你确实努力,你可以做更多的事情!”

"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Time with your loved ones, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these big rocks in first or you'll never get them in at all."

“不!”时间管理专家说,“那不是它真正的意思,这个例子告诉我们:如果你不是先放大石块,那你就再也不能把它放进瓶子了。那么,什么是你生命中的大石头呢?也许是你的道德感、你的梦想?还有你的---切切记得先去处理这些大石块,否则,一辈子你都不能做!”

我们可曾问过自己这个问题:人一生的“大石头”是什么?找出自己人生的“大石头”,然后把它们先放进我们人生的瓶子中!
 
 ::每日一曲:: 

 <点击收听>

澳洲荆棘鸟: On a bad day

就旋律和节奏而言,这支曲子并不是Kasey Chambers的代表作,也不能凸显她贯有的桀骜和不驯,但就歌曲的意境而言,它却是Kasey Chambers最棒的、最能打动人心。

1000多年前,南唐后主李煜有一首词最为人熟知:“春花秋月何时了?往事知多少!…… 问君能有几多愁?恰似一江春水向东流。” 词人拿“春天连绵澎湃的江水”来比自己的愁和怨,足见愁有多深,怨有多广。“这江春水”之所以被千古传颂,妙在后主把抽象、难捉摸的愁怨,变成了具体可感知的实体。 1000多年之后,在澳洲歌手Kasey Chmabers忧伤的歌里,我们竟也能寻到伤痛的类似“不能承载之重”。只不过,这“重”不再如“奔腾的江水”,而是拿风、雨、雪作比——风雨潇潇、白雪皑皑,都难以载动“我”泪儿涟涟、意气沉沉…… 歌曲每两个小节都会有充满诗意的“心情对话”。歌手总希望自己能够坚强,能够忍住伤悲,等到合适的时候,再来借助自然的神力,把眼泪彻底冲洗,把悲伤完全遗忘,可是,最终等到的却是无助、揪心的“载不动”。

歌中,Kasey Chambers的嗓音一如继往,朴实高亢、没有雕饰,如一个情感还未成型的小孩,纯真未脱、野性未脱…… 很喜欢音乐行至01:36时的小提琴间奏,幽怨的琴声如一位如泣如诉的女子,既反衬了Kasey独特的风沙尘粒状嗓音,也弥补了她嗓音里所缺乏的温情和细腻。



On a bad day      by   Kasey Chambers

Every time my tears
Have ever fallen
I keep 'em in my pocket
For a rainy day
So when it's pouring
I take them outside
I let the rain start washing
My tears away But on a bad day
When hearts are breaking
There's not enough rain to carry
All the tears away Everytime I'm blue
I take my feeling
I hold it tighter
And I don't let go
And when the sky gets whiter
And the air is colder
I throw my feeling
To the falling snow But on a bad day
When hearts are breaking
There's not enough snow to carry
All the blues away Every time my heart
My heart starts breaking
I take this pain
And I hold it down
And I wait for the wailing
When the wind is comin'
And my pain is blowin'
Through another town But on a bad day
When hearts are breaking
There's not enough wind to carry
All the pain away

Every time my tears
Have ever falling
I keep 'em in my pocket
For a rainy day

歌手简介 传说中有一种鸟儿,从离巢的那一刻起,它就在寻找着荆棘树,直到如愿以偿。然后,它把身体扎进最长、最尖的棘刺上,便在那荒蔓的枝条间放开歌喉。那歌声响遏行云,使云雀和夜莺都黯然失色…… 不知为什么,Kasey Chambers总让我想到传说中的荆棘鸟,一只栖息于澳大利亚荒蔓枝条间的荆棘鸟。与澳洲小天后Delta Goodrem 相比,Kasey Chambers肯定不是高贵的云雀,她没有动人的容颜,嗓音也不圆润、甚至不优美,但她的音质却很独特——高亢的声线不加一点修饰,随性的娃娃音里夹杂着几颗风沙尘粒,有那么一点点不羁,那么一点点野性…… 

如果说Delta Goodrem是高雅艺术的宠儿,Kasey Chambers则是澳大利亚土地的最爱,她是澳洲沙漠里一块倔强的顽石,一只喜欢在荒蛮枝条间自由歌唱的荆棘鸟。单看那一首首歌名——Barricades & brickwalls(《栅栏和围墙》),Nullarbor song(《纳拉伯平原之歌》),Stronger(《更坚强》),Wayward angel(《韧性天使》)——你就知道这顽石有多不驯……
1976年,几个月大的Kasey Chambers,随着爸妈和两岁的哥哥,来到南澳一块叫做“Nullarbor Plain(纳拉伯平原)”的沙漠地带。那里的旷野很迷人,土地却也广袤的令人生畏,日间平均温度为40摄氏度,只有野生动物和少量的灌木丛能适应这种气候。一家人就在这块荒漠之地过起了游牧生活,白天狩猎,夜晚露营搭帐篷,当然,帐篷旁少不了融融篝火和动听的吉他声、响遏星空的歌声……

十年后,10岁的Kasey Chambers和爸妈离开荒漠返回“文明世界”。之后不久,四口人组建了家庭乐队“Dead ringer band”。他们开着大篷车行走于城市和乡村之间,开始了真正的职业音乐人生涯。在随后的几年里,尤其是在上个世纪90年代,“Dead ringer band”成为澳大利亚最为成功的乡村乐队之一。1998年,随着Kasey Chambers爸妈婚姻生活的破裂,该家庭乐队也宣告解散。不过,Kasey自此开始了单飞生活,并赢得了“乡村摇滚歌手”的头衔。

从1998年至今,Kasey Chambers一共发行过三张个人专辑:The Captain(1998),Barricades and brickwalls(2002),Wayward angel(2004)。每张专辑只要问世,必为她赢得惹人羡慕的声誉和众所觊觎的音乐奖项。就整体而言,Kasey Chamber的专辑一张比一张更为流畅和疏缓,这种特色在她第四张专辑“Carvinal”(本月即将上市)里尤为凸显。在她的官方网站上听了该专辑的主打曲“Not at all”,MTV里Kasey Chambers漂亮温柔了许多,音色也圆润了许多。

就个人而言,我还是喜欢Kasey Chambers未被融化、行走于乡村和摇滚之间的风格。这种风格凸显在她的第二张专辑里。在专辑“Barricades and brickwalls”中,Kasey略显张扬却毫不造作的嗓音,以及她对强烈节奏的把握,让听歌的人听过之后不得不爱。歌曲“On a bad day”出自这张专辑。

每日英语:每日一小时,轻松学英语!
主页:http://Www.24EN.Com
《每日英语》每周一至周五出版

 
  查询往期
  免费订阅
  资料下载
  在线听力
  英语论坛
  爱思博客
  在线词典


每日英语频道由中国英语学习网[Www.24en.Com]承办
欢迎网站合作,共建英语频道,请联系我们
每日英语:每日一小时,轻松学英语!