VOA慢速英語:綠色代表著春天和其他事物

Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories.

這里是VOA慢速英語節(jié)目詞匯的故事。

Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is also the color of most growing plants.

綠色是自然界中重要的顏色，是嫩草和樹葉的顏色，還是大多數(shù)生長植物的顏色。

Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet ripe or finished.

有些時候“綠色”這個詞還作年輕，新鮮，生長講。有些時候還可以指一些沒有成熟沒有完成的事物。

For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed. A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in battle. By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today - a person who is new in a job.

例如新手這個詞就代表著沒有經(jīng)驗，“初出的牛犢”。在15實際，這個詞代表著角都沒有長全的小牛。一個世紀或者更久之后，這個詞被用來形容沒有戰(zhàn)場經(jīng)驗的小兵。到了18世紀，這個詞就開始有了現(xiàn)在的意義，剛剛找到新工作的人。

About one hundred years ago, greenhorn was a popular expression in the American west. Old-timers used it to describe a man who had just arrived from one of the big cities back east. The greenhorn lacked the skills he would need to live in the hard, rough country.

大約一百年前，美國西部非常流行這種新浪潮，老一輩的人稱從大城市回來的人為”greenhorn”。“奶油小生”缺乏工作技巧，需要生活的磨練。

Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundreds.

一些有植物種植技巧的人被夸贊為“綠拇指”——有特殊園藝技巧的人。這一表達方式來自于二十世紀早些時候。

A person with agreen thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.

有“綠拇指”的人似乎雙手沾滿魔力可以讓植物長得又快又好。你可能會夸隔壁的太太在你家植物都奄奄一息之后她的植物還能活好長時間。

The Green Revolution is the name given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural scientists who had green thumbs.

綠色革命是幾年前為開發(fā)新大米品種和其他谷物命名的。這種植物會產(chǎn)生更多的莊稼。綠色革命是擁有綠拇指的農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)家辛勤工作的記過。

Green is also the color used to describe the powerful emotion, jealousy. The green-eyed monster is not a frightening creature from outer space. It is an expression used about four hundred years ago by British writer William Shakespeare in his play "Othello."

綠色還被用來形容強烈的嫉妒感情色彩。“綠眼妖怪”并不是一種來自外太空的可怕生物，而是大約四百年前莎士比亞用來形容他的戲劇《奧賽羅》里的角色。

It describes the unplesant feeling a person has when someone has something he wants. A young man may suffer from the green-eyed monster if his girlfriend begins going out with someone else. Or, that green-eyed monster may affect your friend if you get a pay raise and she does not.

這個詞描述的是當別人得到了你一直想要的東西之后內(nèi)心產(chǎn)生的一種不愉快的感情。年輕男子可能會因為自己的女朋友跟別人出去產(chǎn)生嫉妒。或者說你自己獲得了加薪而你朋友沒有，這時你朋友就會產(chǎn)生這種嫉妒情感。

In most places in the world, a green light is a signal to move ahead. A green light on a traffic signal means your car can continue on. In everyday speech, a green light means approval to continue with a project. We want you to know we have a green light to continue this series next week.

世界上大多數(shù)地方都把綠燈當做前進的信號。綠燈在交通信號中表示車輛前進。在日常講話中，綠燈意味著可以講話。我們想告訴大家下周這一系列節(jié)目會繼續(xù)播出。

This VOA Special English program, "Words and Their Stories," was written by Marilyn Christiano. I'm Warren Scheer.

這里是VOA慢速英語詞匯的故事，Marilyn Christiano編輯，我是Warren Scheer。