美國(guó)之音之流行美語(yǔ)Lesson 157 - clam up / tank

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Larry和李華正在為他們的朋友Laura擔(dān)心。他們兩人都覺(jué)得Laura好像有什么心事。今天李華會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：clam up和to tank。

LL: Laura has been acting really strange lately, but every time I try to ask her what's bothering her, she just clams up.

LH: 我也注意到了，Laura最近是有點(diǎn)怪怪的。我也問(wèn)過(guò)她怎么回事，她就是不肯說(shuō)....對(duì)了，Larry，你剛才說(shuō)clam up，那是什么意思??？

LL: To clam up is to become silent and refuse to talk about something.

LH: To clam up就是閉緊了嘴巴，不肯把心里的事告訴別人?？墒荓arry，clam不是一種蛤蜊嗎？這跟說(shuō)不說(shuō)話(huà)有什么關(guān)系？

LL: Yes, in fact, that's where the expression comes from. Clams can close their shells very tightly. If a person refuses to talk, his lips are closed just like a clam's shell.

LH: 噢，對(duì)了。一個(gè)人嘴巴閉得緊緊的時(shí)候，就好像蛤蜊閉上殼，怎么也不打開(kāi)。這個(gè)說(shuō)法太形象了！

LH: The problem is that Laura has clammed up about whatever is bothering her, which means that we have no way of helping her out.

LH: 那倒也是。她要不說(shuō)，我們又怎么能幫她。也許我們應(yīng)該讓她一個(gè)人靜一靜，等她想說(shuō)的時(shí)候自然會(huì)告訴我們到底是怎么回事。

LL: That's probably the only thing we can do.

LH: 其實(shí)我爸爸也是一樣。心里如果有事，從來(lái)不肯說(shuō)。有的時(shí)候把我媽急的一直生氣。

LL: A lot of people clam up when something is bothering them. I tend to clam up when I'm really nervous.

LH: 我也是耶！我只要一緊張，就不說(shuō)話(huà)了。每個(gè)人不一樣，我妹妹一生氣就可以幾天不說(shuō)話(huà)。別人也不知道她在生什么氣。

LL: That's like my mother. She could clam up for days when she is angry with my father.

LH: 你媽媽跟你爸爸生氣幾天不說(shuō)話(huà)。那你爸爸怎么辦哪？

LL：Whenever my mother clams up, he clams up too.

******

LL: I found out what was bothering Laura. She was upset because the last play she wrote tanked. Everyone criticized it.

LH: 大家都批評(píng)她最近寫(xiě)的劇本。為什么？你說(shuō)她寫(xiě)的那個(gè)劇本tanked，那是什么意思？Tank， 不就是打仗用的坦克嗎？

LL: No, this has nothing to do with the tank used in war. This "tank" is a verb. When something "tanks" that means that it is a complete failure.

LH: 噢，這個(gè)tank 和軍用坦克毫無(wú)關(guān)系。這里說(shuō)的tank是個(gè)動(dòng)詞。意思是完全失敗。所有的劇評(píng)家都批評(píng)Laura的舞臺(tái)劇。那真是太慘了?？蓱z的Laura!

LL: Yeah, no wonder she clammed up. I wouldn't want to talk about it if one of my projects tanked, either.

LH: 就是啊，自己的成果被別人這樣批評(píng)，心情一定不好受。對(duì)了，Larry，為什么大家不喜歡Laura的劇本呢？

LL: I have no idea. I haven't seen or read her play, so I have no way of judging her work. Laura is a good playwright, I don't understand why her work tanked.

LH: 嗯，沒(méi)有看過(guò)她的劇本是很難判斷。不過(guò)，Laura確實(shí)是一個(gè)很好的劇作家。也許我們應(yīng)該去看看她寫(xiě)的舞臺(tái)劇，說(shuō)不定沒(méi)有這么糟么。

LL: Even if the play really is terrible, we could at least show our support by going to see it.

LH: 你說(shuō)的對(duì)，不管是好是壞，我們?nèi)タ淳痛砦覀儗?duì)Laura的支持。好！我去問(wèn)她在哪兒可以買(mǎi)票。Larry，那你什么時(shí)候有空去看呢？

LL: Let's go this Friday. Originally, I had planned to see a movie this Friday, but the movie I wanted to see tanked, so I might as well go and see Laura's play.

LH: 怎么就那么巧呢？你要看的電影也失敗了。好，就這么說(shuō)定了。我去買(mǎi)票，星期五我們就去看Laura的舞臺(tái)劇嘍！

今天李華學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。第一個(gè)是clam up，是指一個(gè)人不肯把心里的話(huà)告訴別人。另一個(gè)常用語(yǔ)是to tank，也就是失敗的意思。