英语口语学习网

双语：萤火虫造就的奇幻画面(组图)

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:57:15 +0000

萤火虫造就的奇幻画面

萤火虫属于有翼甲虫类，在晚上它们通过腹部的化学物质放出绿色光亮

　　According to the Daily Mail of September 2, amateur photographer and full time physicist Kristian Cvecek from Erlangan, near Nuremburg, German, used slow shutter speeds to capture on camera fireflies’movements between the trees and ferns at night。

　　英国每日邮报9月2日报道，来自德国纽伦堡附近埃朗根的克里斯蒂安那•西维塞克是一名物理学家和业余摄影师。他用放慢相机快门速度的方法，拍下树林里和厥类植物中萤火虫夜间活动的照片。

　　Fireflies are winged beetles and give off a green luminous glow from chemicals in their lower abdomen at night. And scientists call this process as bioluminescence。

　　萤火虫属于有翼甲虫类，在晚上它们通过腹部的化学物质放出绿色光亮。科学家一般称这一过程为“生物发光”。

双语美文：求求你坚持自己的梦想吧

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:55:44 +0000

　We were just about getting ready to warm up for the practice game over the weekend when I had an interesting conversation with one of the team mates I actually didn’t know quite well。

　　周末的时候，当我们正要为即将到来的游戏热身，团队成员中有一个我其实不太了解的成员和我进行了一场有趣的对话。

　　”So what do you do?” he asked. “Well, we work for ourselves, we run a software company”, I replied. “Oh really! that’s awesome! I work for xyz company, but you know I always wanted to get into animation design and work for myself. It was my dream. I got stuck in the wrong industry.”

　　“你是做什么工作的？”他问道。“嗯，我们为自己打工，我们开了一个软件公司”我回答。“真的？那真是太棒了！我为XX公司工作，但你知道我一直想做动画设计，想做自由职业。那是我的梦想。我现在被困在一个错误的行业里。”

　　”You ain’t dead yet, are you?” I thought trying hard not say that aloud. He continued “You know, I’ve been wanting to do this for 10 years now, but once you have a family, it’s very tough to do anything else.”

　　“你不还没死呢吗……” 我挣扎着没把这句吼出来。他继续说：“你知道吗？我想做这行都有十年了，但是一旦你有了家庭，那想要再做点儿别的事就难了。”

　　I couldn’t resist anymore, so I said “That’s great, if you really want to do that, may be you should take up some animation classes, or do some self learning at your own pace. That would be a good start”. Pat came the reply “Nahh it’s very difficult, with family, full time job, no time. I would love to, but I can’t.”

　　我再也受不了了，于是我说：“如果你真想做那行那很好啊！也许你应该上一些动画设计的课程，或者是用你自己的节奏自学。那会是个好开始！” 那哥们儿给我回了一句：“啊！？那得多难啊。有家庭、有全职工作，我根本没时间！我是很喜欢，但是我做不了啊！”

　　Reluctantly, I suggested “Then may be you should consider training full time for a few weeks/months and perhaps dive in full-time?” He looked at me like I had just asked him to cut off his right hand. “Are you crazy? Where will the paycheck come from?”

　　我老大不乐意地建议他说：“那也许，你应该试试花几周、或是几个月的时间集中培训，要不就辞职去学习？” 他看着我那小样儿就跟我在教他剁掉自己右手似的：“你疯了吗？那我要怎么生活！？”

　　Realizing this conversation was heading towards an argument with someone I didn’t know very well at the first place, I chose to just smile and leave it at that. But it made me think. What is it with people refusing to take some risks to follow their dreams. Are their dreams not worth it? If not, why do we sulk about them later? Don’t we owe it to ourselves to at least give our dreams a fair shot?

　　想到这场对话跟着就会向吵架发展了，而对方我一开始就不太熟，于是我选择放弃，只是笑笑。但这确实让我想到：这些人都怎么了？不就要你们冒点儿险、追随自己的梦想吗？是你们的梦想不值得你们这么做吗？如果真不是，那到头来你们又在烦什么呢？我们是不是应该给我们自己的梦想至少一个机会呢？

　　(本文是一个国外作者的博文，我们可以看到英文的用词都很口语化，难度不大。大家不妨试试自己的翻译水平接着翻译接下去的段落吧。)

　　Now, I understand, diving in full time isn’t always an option for everybody, but that shouldn’t deter us from at least starting to move in the right direction. Take baby steps I say, if you can’t afford drastic measures, but for God’s sake don’t kill your dreams。

　　We all had some crazy ideas and dreams when we were kids. When people asked – “What do you want to do when you grow up?” you didn’t say “I want to play safe and be an executive for a fortune 100 company” or “I want to work for the government for the job security”? You wanted to do something that excited you, that you were passionate about – “Armed forces, scientist, sports, music, dance, miss world” etc. You didn’t even think if that would get you enough money. You just wanted to do it。

　　So why is it that as we grow up we lose all the passion, the energy, the will and the strength to keep our dreams alive. Why does money dictate our passion or in most cases, kill it? Why do we let “safety of a paycheck” screw our dreams? Why do we stop thinking about what we love?

　　We are so seduced by the thought of a guaranteed paycheck every month that we completely ignore the fact that it’s actually never too late to pursue our dreams. The reason as I can understand is probably “fear of failure”. We fear we might fail and that fear leads us to cook up stories about why you can’t have what you want. Alibis like “I don’t have time, I have family, I’ll do it when I have more money etc”. Stories that convince us that it’s ok not to follow up on our dreams, that it’s ok not to do what you love, that it’s ok to just keep doing the everyday drill。

　　Like Tony Robbins put it – “The only thing that’s keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself about why you can’t have it”

　　What are we waiting for? A perfect day when all stars would line up in just the right direction and you would be guaranteed success? It never works that way. That moment of glory never arrives. All circumstances will almost never be in your favor. There will always be something that would be challenging. You just have to bite the bullet and take the plunge. When we set out to create Rootein, we didn’t wait for everything to be just perfect, much as we would have liked. We just dived in. We started developing rootein while we were working full-time. We loved what we were doing and we did it while keeping our day time jobs. It wasn’t easy, but it was fun because we were chasing our dream of working for ourselves, building software that we were passionate about。

　　May be it’s just us. May be we are weird. May be we are foolish, but we would rather be foolish and strive to live our dream than come up with some alibis. True success is not money driven, it’s driven by love and passion. You’ve got to love what you are doing and you’ve got to be passionate about it。

　　Failing is not scary. What’s scary is that you are 60 and reflecting back on your life “May be I should’ve given my dreams a chance, may be I would’ve succeeded, may be I would’ve lived my dream” But now it’s too late. You might have missed the boat。

　　Don’t be scared to follow your dreams. That’s the worst thing you can do to yourself。

　　Rocky sing!

　　”So many times, it happens too fast

　　You change your passion for glory

　　Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past

　　You must fight just to keep them alive”

双语趣闻：长得丑不是史莱克的错(图)

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:54:38 +0000

一种亚洲羊头濑鱼因其诡异的相貌特征被冠以新名“史莱克”

　　According to Daily Mail of September 2, a type of Asian sheepshead wrasse off the Japanese coast have ‘Shrek’ as its new name because of bizarre features. The particular specimen is so odd-looking that scuba divers who videoed him instantly christened him after the famous animated ogre from the hit films. He is estimated to be 30 years old and feeds on shellfish。

　　据英国《每日邮报》9月2日报道，近日一种亚洲羊头濑鱼因其诡异的相貌特征被冠以新名“史莱克”。这种鱼长相如此怪异，以至于拍摄它的潜水人员为它起了个和大热动画电影《怪物史莱克》中那个怪物名字一样的绰号。据了解，这条鱼已有30岁，以海底贝类生物为食。

双语：美国总统办公室原来是这样(组图)

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:53:43 +0000

美国总统府内装修

美国总统府

　　According to Daily Mail of September 1, after 18 months as President, Barack Obama has finally put his own stamp on The Oval Office. In the redecorated Oval Office, two plump mustard corduroy sofas take pride of place, facing a boxy, modern coffee table covered with marble-looking tiles. The pale wallpaper of the Bush era has been replaced with a two-tone stripe of beige and gold. Americans got their first look at the revamp last night。

　　据英国《每日邮报》9月1日报道，在担任美国总统18个月后，巴拉克-奥巴马的工作地——椭圆形办公室——终于有了他自己的色彩。在这件重新装修的办公室内，两个大型黄褐色灯芯绒沙发占据了大部分空间，对面是貌似用大理石覆盖而成的四四方方但不失新潮的咖啡桌。小布什钟爱的苍白色墙纸被换成了米色与金色相间的条纹纸。昨晚这个重新装修的办公室第一次对美国人亮相。

实用口语：和平分手时常用的英语表达

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:48:55 +0000

　　当你的女朋友说”I just want to be friends”时，究竟是什么意思？分手也快乐，请看预示感情破产的英语表达。

　　To get dumped

　　如果某人和你分手，你就可以说你got dumped。

　　To split up

　　这代表两个人在没有谁抛弃谁的情况下分手！

　　We need to talk

　　如果你的恋人这么说的话，他们想要和你谈一些严肃的问题或告诉你一些坏消息。

　　I’ve met someone else

　　如果你遇到了更希望在情感上有所发展的人(不只是熟识的人)时，你就可以这么所。

　　I think we should see other people

　　在这种表达方式中，/see/代表着“约会”或“和。。。交往”。

　　I need some space

　　这意味着此人需要独处的时间，或是和朋友在一起，而不是和你！

　　I need a break

　　这可能意味着恋人只是想要和你分开一小段时间，但是如果你听到此话是很可能将会被抛弃！

　　I need time to think

　　这和taking a break的意思很相似，而且意味着此人必须对现有的关系作出一些重大的决定。

　　My life is very complicated right now.。。

　　这是表达您没有时间维持目前的关系的另一种方式，或仅仅表示对此人已经不感兴趣了。

　　Let’s just be friends

　　这很可能意味着他们再也不想见到你了。

双语：网友眼中15年来最好看的电影

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:46:45 +0000

这个榜单是小编根据四个来源编写的，一是的网友评选出来的经典电影1000部；二是欧美十个著名影评人的年度TOP 10；三是IMDB的top205；四是欧洲三大电影节和《电影手册》、《画面与音响》的评奖。

　　1. 三色：蓝白红 ( Three Colours: Blue | Kieslowski, Krszystof | 1993 )

　　2. 低俗小说 ( Pulp Fiction | Tarantino, Quentin | 1994 )

　　3. 穆赫兰道 ( Mulholland Dr. | Lynch, David | 2001 )

　　4. 辛德勒名单 ( Schindler’s List | Spielberg, Steven | 1993 )

　　5. 一一 ( Yi yi | 杨德昌 Yang, Edward | 2000 )

　　6. 破浪 ( Breaking the Waves | von Trier, Lars | 1996 )

　　7. 樱桃的滋味 ( Taste of Cherry, A | Kiarostami, Abbas | 1997 )

　　8. 永恒与一天 ( Eternity and a Day | Angelopoulos, Theo | 1998 )

　　9. 罗塞塔 ( Rosetta | Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne | 1999 )

　　10. 魔戒 ( The Lord of the Rings | Jackson, Peter | 2001 )

　　11. 禁闭双眼 ( Eyes Wide Shut | Kubrick, Stanley | 1999 )

　　12. 海上花 (The Flowers of Shanghai | 侯孝贤 | 1998 )

　　13. 大象 ( Elephant | Gus Vant Sant | 2003 )

　　14. 纯真年代 ( Age of Innocence, The | Scorsese, Martin | 1993 )

　　15. 撒旦探戈 ( Sátántang | Tarr, Bla | 1994 )

　　16. 冰血暴 ( Fargo | Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen | 1995 )

　　17. 撞车 ( Crash | Cronenberg, David | 1996 )

　　18. 鳗鱼 ( The Eel | 今村昌平 | 1997 )

　　19. 风儿带着我们飘 ( Wind Will Carry Us, The | Kiarostami, Abbas | 1999 )

　　20. 阿甘正传 ( Forrest Gump | Zemeckis, Robert | 1994 )

　　21. 肖申克的救赎( Shawshank Redemption, The | Darabont, Frank| 1994 )

　　22. 暴雨将至 ( Before the Rain | Milcho Manchevski | 1994 )

　　23. 钢琴课 ( Piano, The | Campion, Jane | 1993 )

　　24. 短片集 ( Short Cuts | Altman, Robert | 1993 )

　　25. 亲爱的日记 ( Caro diario | Moretti, Nanni | 1994 )

　　26. 地下 ( Underground | Kusturica, Emir | 1995 )

　　27. 千与千寻 ( Spirited Away | 宫崎骏 | 2001 )

　　28. 神秘之河 ( Mystic River | Clint Eastwood | 2003 )

　　29. 风吹麦浪 ( The Wind That Shakes The Barley | Ken Loach | 2006 )

　　30. 这个杀手不太冷 ( Lon | Luc Besson | 1994 )

　　31. 离魂异客 ( Dead Man | Jarmusch, Jim | 1995 )

　　32. 云上的日子 ( Beyond the Clouds | Michelangelo Antonioni | 1995 )

　　33. 橄榄树下 ( Through the Olive Trees | Kiarostami, Abbas | 1994 )

　　34. 戏梦人生 ( Puppetmaster, The | 侯孝贤 Hou Hsiao-Hsien | 1993 )

　　35. 红色警戒 ( Thin Red Line, The | Malick, Terrence | 1998 )

　　36. 花火 ( Hana-Bi | 北野武 | 1997 )

　　37. 重庆森林 ( Chungking Express | 王家卫 Wong Kar-Wai | 1994 )

　　38. 花样年华 ( In the Mood for Love | 王家卫 Wong Kar-Wai | 2000 )

　　39. 关于我的母亲 ( All About My Mother | Almodvar, Pedro | 1999 )

　　40. 瓦力 ( WALL-E | Andrew Stanton | 2008 )

　　41. 英国病人 ( The English Patient | Anthony Minghella | 1996 )

　　42. 洛城机密 ( L.A. Confidential | Hanson, Curtis | 1997 )

　　43. 中央车站 ( Central Station | Salles, Walter | 1998 )

　　44. 黑暗中的舞者 ( Dancer in the Dark | Lars von Trier | 2000 )

　　45. 卧虎藏龙 ( Wo hu cang long | 李安 | 2000 )

　　46. 断背山 ( Brokeback Mountain | Ang Lee | 2005 )

　　47. 鬼吸血 ( Irma Vep | Assayas, Olivier | 1996 )

　　48. 霸王别姬 ( Farewell, My Concubine | 陈凯歌 Chen Kaige | 1993 )

　　49. 赌场 ( Casino | Scorsese, Martin | 1995 )

　　50. 泰坦尼克号 ( Titanic | James Cameron | 1997 )

　　TOP 51-100

　　赤裸 ( Naked | Leigh, Mike | 1993 )

　　爱情万岁 ( Vive L’Amour | 蔡明亮 | 1994 )

　　活着 ( To Live | 张艺谋 Zhang Yimou | 1994 )

　　烈日灼人 ( Burnt by the Sun | Mikhalkov, Nikita | 1994 )

　　理智与情感 ( Sense and Sensibility | Ang Lee | 1995 )

　　仇恨( Haine, La | Mathieu Kassovitz | 1995 )

　　三轮车夫 ( Cyclo | 陈英雄 | 1995 )

　　勇敢的心 ( Braveheart | Mel Gibson | 1995 )

　　盗火线 ( Heat | Mann, Michael | 1995 )

　　玩具总动员 ( Toy Story | John Lasseter | 1995 )

　　尤利西斯的凝视 ( Ulysses’ Gaze | Theo Angelopoulos | 1995 )

　　远离赌城 (Leaving Las Vegas | Mike Figgis | 1995)

　　猜火车 ( Trainspotting | Danny Boyle | 1996 )

　　秘密与谎言 ( Secrets &Lies | mike leigh | 1996 )

　　妖夜荒踪 ( Lost Highway | Lynch, David | 1996 )

　　幽灵公主 ( Mononoke-hime | 宫崎骏 | 1997 )

　　美丽人生 ( Vita bella, La | Roberto Benigni | 1997 )

　　意外的春天 ( Sweet Hereafter, The | Egoyan, Atom | 1997 )

　　不羁夜 ( Boogie Nights | Anderson, Paul Thomas | 1997 )

　　罗拉快跑 ( Run Lola Run | Tom Tykwer | 1998 )

　　拯救大兵瑞恩 ( Saving Private Ryan | Steven Spielberg | 1998 )

　　楚门的世界 ( The Truman Show | Peter Weir | 1998 )

　　军中禁恋 ( Beau travail | Denis, Claire | 1998 )

　　搏击俱乐部 ( Fight Club | Fincher, David | 1999 )

　　酣歌畅戏 ( Topsy-Turvy | Mike Leigh | 1999 )

　　黑客帝国 ( The Matrix | Andy &Larry Wachowski | 1999 )

　　美国美人 ( American Beauty | Sam Mendes | 1999 )

　　木兰花 ( Magnolia | Anderson, Paul Thomas | 1999 )

　　站台 ( Platform | 贾樟柯 | 2000 )

　　梦之安魂曲 ( Requiem for a Dream | Darren Aronofsky | 2000 )

　　记忆碎片 ( Memento | Christopher Nolan | 2000 )

　　天使艾米莉 ( Fabuleux destin d’Amlie Poulain, Le | Jean-Pierre Jeunet | 2001 )

　　儿子的房间 ( The Son’s Room | Nanni Moretti | 2001 )

　　绿洲 ( Oasis | 李沧东 | 2002 )

　　对她说 ( Talk to Her | Almodvar, Pedro | 2002 )

　　上帝之城 ( Cidade de Deus | Fernando Meirelles | 2002 )

　　俄罗斯方舟 ( Russian Ark | Sokurov, Aleksandr | 2002 )

钢琴师 ( The Pianist | Roman Polanski | 2002 )

　　杀人的回忆 ( Memories of Murder | 奉俊昊 | 2003 )

　　迷失东京 ( Lost in Translation | Sofia Coppols | 2003 )

　　老男孩 ( Oldboy | 朴赞郁 | 2003 )

　　杀死比尔 ( Kill Bill | Quentin Tarantino | 2004 )

　　百万美元宝贝 ( Million Dollar Baby | Clint Eastwood | 2004 )

　　隐藏 ( Cach | Michael Haneke | 2005 )

　　孩子 ( L’Enfant | Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne | 2005 )

　　巴别塔 ( Babel | Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu | 2006 )

　　窃听风暴 ( Das Leben der Anderen | Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck | 2006 )

　　四月三周两天 ( 4 luni, 3 saptamini si 2 zile | Cristian Mungiu | 2007 )

　　老无所依 ( No Country for Old Men | Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen | 2007 )

　　格莫拉 ( Gomorra | Matteo Garrone | 2008 )

　　TOP 101-150

　　红松鼠杀人事件 ( Ardilla roja, La | Julio Medem | 1993 )

　　吸烟/不吸烟 ( Smoking/No Smoking | Alain Resnais | 1993 )

　　咫尺天涯 ( Faraway, So Close! | Wim Wenders | 1993 )

　　偷天情缘 ( Groundhog Day | Ramis, Harold | 1993 )

　　四个婚礼和一个葬礼 ( Four Weddings and a Funeral | Mike Newell | 1994 )

　　以父之名 ( In the Name of the Father | Jim Sheridan | 1994 )

　　爱德·伍德 ( Ed Wood | Tim Burton | 1994 )

　　普通嫌疑犯 ( The Usual Suspects | Bryan Singer | 1994 )

　　情书 ( Love Letter | 岩井俊二 | 1995 )

　　冷酷祭典 ( La Ceremonie | Claude Chabrol | 1995 )

　　十二只猴子 ( Twelve Monkeys | Terry Gilliam | 1995 )

　　无知时刻 ( Moment of Innocence, A | Makhmalbaf, Mohsen | 1995 )

　　七宗罪 ( Se7en | David Fincher | 1995 )

　　夜夜夜贼 ( Voleurs, Les | Andre Techine | 1996 )

　　勇闯夺命岛 ( The Rock | Michael Bay | 1996 )

　　职业特工队 ( Mission: Impossible | Brian DePalma | 1996 )

　　迈克尔·柯林斯 ( Michael Collins | Neil Jordan | 1996 )

　　一脱到底 ( The Full Monty | Peter Cattaneo | 1997 )

　　海上钢琴师 ( The Legend of 1900 | Giuseppe Tornatore | 1998 )

　　秋天的故事 ( Conte d’automne | Eric Rohmer | 1998 )

　　紫醉金迷 ( Velvet Goldmine | Todd Haynes | 1998 )

　　西伯利亚理发师 ( The Barber Of Siberia | Nikita Mikhalkov | 1998 )

　　两只大烟枪 ( Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | Guy Ritchie | 1998 )

　　那一个晚上 ( Festen | Vinterberg, Thomas | 1998 )

　　天使热爱的生活 ( Vie rve des anges, La | Erick Zonca | 1998 )

　　第六感 ( The Sixth Sense | M. Night Shyamalan | 1999 )

　　人性 ( L’Humanit | Bruno Dumont | 1999 )

　　爱情是狗娘 ( Amores perros | Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu | 2000 )

　　鬼子来了 ( Devils on the Doorstep | 姜文 | 2000 )

　　几近成名 ( Almost Famous | Cameron Crowe | 2000 )

　　角斗士 ( Gladiator | Ridley Scott | 2000 )

　　怪物史莱克 ( Shrek | Andrew Adamson | 2001 )

　　天才一族 ( The Royal Tenenbaums | Wes Anderson | 2001 )

　　钢琴教师 ( Piano Teacher | Michael Haneke | 2001 )

　　红磨坊 ( Moulin Rouge! | Luhrmann, Baz | 2001 )

　　缺席的人 ( The Man Who Wasn’t There | Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen | 2001 )

　　没有过去的男人 ( The Man Without A Past | Aki Kaurism?ki | 2002 )

　　血腥星期天 ( Bloody Sunday | Paul Greengrass | 2002 )

　　乌扎克 ( Uzak | Nuri Bilge Ceylan | 2002 )

　　疯狂约会美丽都 ( Triplettes de Belleville, Les | Sylvain Chomet | 2003 )

　　再见列宁 ( Good bye, Lenin! | Wolfgang Becker | 2003 )

　　勇往直前 ( Gegen die Wand | Fatih Akin | 2004 )

　　撞车 ( Crash | Paul Haggis | 2004 )

　　赛末点 ( Match Point | Woody Allen | 2005 )

　　关塔那摩之路( The Road to Guantánamo | Michael Winterbottom | 2006 )

　　回归 ( Volver | Pedro Almodvar | 2006 )

　　三峽好人 ( Still Life | 贾樟柯 | 2006 )

　　无间行者 ( The Departed | Scorsese, Martin | 2006 )

　　摔跤王 ( The Wrestler | Darren Aronofsky | 2008 )

　　墙壁之间 ( Entre les murs | Laurent Cantet | 2008 )

学车族必备：安全驾驶必备的英文短语

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:44:32 +0000

禁止标志：

　　禁喇叭 No horn。

　　禁闯红灯 No joywalking。

　　禁止通行 No passing. No Through Traffic。

　　禁止越线 Keep in lane。

　　禁止汽车 Auto Not Permitted。

　　不准回转 No U Turn

　　不准入内 No Entry

　　不准停车 No Parking

　　不准等候 No Waiting

　　不准左转 Keep Right

　　不准右转 Keep Left

　　不准超车 No Overhead

　　不准掉头 No Turns

　　禁止鸣笛 No tooting

　　指示标志：

　　慢(快)车道 Slow(Quick) Lane

　　单行道 One Way Only, Single Lane

　　双车道 Two-way Traffic

　　高速公路 Freeway(FWY)， highway

　　公路 Express way

　　收费站 Toll Station

　　高架道路 Elevated road

　　入口 Entrance

　　出口 Exit

　　由此而入 Enter here

　　绕路而行 Detour

　　大路 Avenue

　　林荫大道 Boulevard(Blvd)

　　小路 Path

　　人行道 Pavement

　　宁静区 Silent Zone

　　徒步区 Walking area

　　拱桥 Arch bridge

　　停车处 Parking Lot(Zone)

　　地下道 Underpass

　　警示标志：

　　窄路 Narrow road

　　滑路 Slippery road

　　弯路 curve road

　　此路不通 Blocked, Road closed

　　修路 Road Works Ahead

　　改道 Diversion; Detour

　　险陡 Dangerous Ahead

　　危险弯路 Dangerous Curves

　　三岔路 Road Junction

　　十字路 Cross Road

　　回车道 Loop road

　　左(右)弯 Left (Right) Curve

　　弯曲路 Winding road

　　之字路 Double bend road

　　让车弯 Passing Bay

　　小心火车 RR Crossing

　　前有工程 Men Working

　　前有狭桥 Narrow Bridge Ahead

　　塌方 Landslide

　　当心行人 Caution pedestrian crossing

　　让 Yield

　　行人穿越马路先按钮等候 To across street push button wait for WALK

地道英语：上班族周一易患“周末时差”

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:10:53 +0000

很多上班族把周一叫做“黑色星期一”，因为刚过完悠闲的周末，又要恢复早起上班的作息，大家都会有点回不过神儿来。这种情况在英语里叫做weekend lag，就跟长途飞行结束后的飞机时差类似。

周末时差 weekend lag

Weekend lag is a condition affecting the body’s circadian clock, similar to jet lag, but instead stemming from altering one’s sleep hours over a weekend of hard partying and drinking rather than from a long flight。

周末时差是跟飞机时差类似的情况，通常会对人体的生物钟产生影响。只不过，导致周末时差的原因是周末聚会、豪饮以及作息时间的变化，而飞机时差主要是因为长途飞行引起的。

For example:

Monday morning classes are so rough. It’s only 8 in the morning but I feel like it is 7 PM. That’s a serious case of weekend lag。

周一早上的课真痛苦啊。虽然现在是早上8点，可我觉得好像已经是晚上7点了。严重的周末时差反应啊。

小天后蕾哈娜送别男友大秀激情热吻(图)

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:10:10 +0000

小天后蕾哈娜送别男友大秀激情热吻

　　Rihanna shared a lingering goodbye kiss with her boyfriend Matt Kemp today as he prepared to fly out of Los Angeles. Kemp, 25, then dashed off to catch a flight to Arizona where his team the Los Angeles Dodgers will take on the Arizona Diamondbacks。

　　昨天有媒体拍到，小天后蕾哈娜在机场依依不舍得送别男友时的情景，面对即将离开洛杉矶的马特-肯普，蕾哈娜更是大方献上激情热吻，丝毫没有掩饰两人郎情妾意的甜蜜。

　　The pair, who quietly started dating last year, have proved inseparable in recent weeks and were last spotted visiting LA’s Colony nightclub together to watch rapper Lil’ Jon perform。

　　蕾哈娜与棒球运动员肯普的恋情悄无声息地开始于2009年，近段时间来，两人你侬我侬形影不离的画面频繁见诸于各家八卦媒体，就在上礼拜前几天，两人还手牵手的来到洛杉矶的一家酒吧观看说舌歌手Lil’ Jon的演出。

　　Rihanna, who endured an assault at the hands of her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, has revealed she is happier than ever. ‘There’s a balance in my life that wasn’t there before,’ she tells Seventeen magazine。

　　在经历过被前男友克里斯-布朗人身攻击的风波之后，蕾哈娜透露，自己从未像现在这般幸福过。在接受媒体的采访中，她说：“我找到了之前未曾出现过的人生平衡点，那是一种非同寻常的安宁与力量，是一种真正意义上的解放。你会为自己在经历无数之后而达到现在这个状态而感到自豪。”

　　’It’s a really different peace, a different energy. It’s really liberating. It makes you feel so proud when you look back and see how much it took you to actually get here. ‘And it’s the best feeling. I’m really enjoying life right now.’

　　“这是种最幸福的感受，我真的很享受现在的人生。”她说。

　　Rihanna is on a break from her Last Girl On Earth tour, which resumes in America later this month。

　　趁着《Last Girl On Earth》巡演的间隙，蕾哈娜特意到机场送别男友马特-肯普，而肯普所在的“洛杉矶道奇队“即将于“亚利桑那响尾蛇队”展开新一轮的比赛。

时代新语：你是职场“橡皮族”吗(图)

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:08:27 +0000

你是职场“橡皮族”吗

　　一开始听到“橡皮族”的时候，小编第一反应就是啥恶魔果实，啥草帽军团了，查询一番后才发现这原来是职场中的一个新词诶。

　　“橡皮族”指的是啥？

　　借用一个最普遍的定义，他们就是如橡皮一般，“没有神经、没有痛感、没有效率、没有反应，不接受任何新生事物和意见，不在意批评表扬。整个人犹如橡皮做成的，力度小了他根本不在乎，力度大了，他还会反弹一些不满过来。”的人。

　　“橡皮族”的英语怎么说？

　　我们知道很多“族”类的说法，比如“thumb tribe”(拇指族)，“moonlight clan”(月光族)，“ant tribe”(蚁族)等。那么“橡皮族”的英语难道是“rubber tribe”吗？

　　相较于我们上面看到的类似于直译的说法，“橡皮族”的英语则更揭示其本身的涵义，为“disengaged employee”。

　　“disengaged”表示的是“(or a person) free from social or professional obligations(人没有社会或职业负担，无牵无挂)”的意思。

　　我们看一下摘自《疯狂英语口语版》中的一段对话：

　　Tommy: Is Sandra making mountains out of molehills again?

　　Stephanie: I think so. What’s with that?

　　Tommy: That is a grade A example of what we call a disengaged employee。

　　Stephanie: Disengaged? Like they have no passion or motivation for their job anymore?

　　Tommy: Exactly. I read an article that said employees like Sandra cost the US economy up to $350 billion a year。

　　汤米：桑德拉又小题大做、喋喋不休了？

　　史蒂芬妮：我想是吧。她究竟怎么了？

　　汤米：这就是一个所谓 “橡皮族”的最佳范本。

　　史蒂芬妮：橡皮族？是说他们对工作失去了热情和野心吗？

　　汤米：没错。我读过一篇报道，说像桑德拉这样的员工每年给美国经济造成的损失高达3500亿美元。

　　你是职场中的“橡皮族”吗？“橡皮族”有些什么特征？

　　Characteristics of Disengaged Employee

　　• Tend to concentrate on tasks other than the goals and outcomes they are expected to accomplish。

　　• Do just enough work to get by. The disengaged adversely affect productivity simply because it takes them longer to produce. Simply, time is money。

　　• Non-engaged employees are highly individualized and can have a collective effect on an organization’s profitability and performance。

　　• Can adversely affect the organization in the manner in which they speak to clients and customers。

　　• Disengaged employees can affect client satisfaction and increase customer attrition。

　　• They rarely take the initiative and prefer to stay in the background。

　　• They focus on accomplishing a task rather than achieving an outcome. Actively disengaged employees aren’t just unhappy at work. They spread their discontentment to other employees。

　　• They are not just indifferent to company goals and mission but also express their mistrust and animosity。

　　• Employees who are not engaged tend to feel their contributions are being overlooked, and their potential is not being tapped。

　　• Employees who feel disconnected emotionally from their coworkers and supervisor do not feel committed to their work。

　　• They hang back and do the minimum because they believe their contribution hardly counts。

职场情景口语：我为什么要辞职(图)

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:07:20 +0000

我为什么要辞职

　　Snow: What positions have you held before?

　　Ben: I have been a salesman. But now, I can do public relations。

　　Snow: How many places have you worked altogether?

　　Ben: Three。

　　Snow: Would you give me a general description of your present job?

　　Ben: I am in charge of the trading department, handling invoices, shipping bills and computing freight costs。

　　Snow: What made you decide to change your job?

　　Peter: I am working in a small company where further promotion is impossible, so I decided to change my job. I’d like to find a job which is more challenging。

　　Notes：

　　1. What positions have you held before? 就是”你以前是做什么工作的”。hold a certain position，”做某个职位”。

　　2. I can do public relations，可以做公关工作。表示”做某种工作”，就在do后面加上职位的名称就可以了。

　　3. How many places have you worked altogether? 你以前一共在几个地方工作过？也就是问你已经换过几份工作了？

　　4. Would you give me a general description of your present job? 你能描述你一下你现在的工作吗？也就是想了解一下你现在的工作状况。

　　5. Ben把自己的工作简单地描述了一下，主要是负责了哪些事情，这是考官最想听到的，不用面面俱到，be in charge of something，负责某事，也可以说be responsible for something。

　　6. Would you give me a general description of your present job? 那你为什么要辞职呢？Ben回答说现在的公司没有什么晋升的机会了，他希望找一份更加有挑战性的工作。陈述你辞职的原因的时候，只要说出最主要原因就可以了，千万不要把以前公司的所有缺点意义罗列，特别是不要说以前上司和同事的坏话，这样会给考官留下非常不好的印象。

双语：文化背景决定白领工作理念(图)

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:06:12 +0000

文化背景决定白领工作理念

　　A new article in a special section on Culture and Psychology in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Associationfor Psychological Science, explains that people in different cultures think about work in different ways。

　　日前，一篇刊登在美国心理科学联合会的学术期刊《心理科学视角》文化与心理版块的文章称，在不同文化生活的人对工作的理解也不一样。

　　For example, people have different expectations about teamwork, says Cristina B. Gibson, of the University of Western Australia。

　　例如，人们对“团队合作”就有不同的期望，西澳大学教授克里斯蒂娜-B-吉布森说道。

　　Gibson has interviewed people to understand how they conceptualizeteams. “In the US, people used a lot of sports metaphors. Elsewhere, that just wasn’t a common metaphor。” In Latin America, for example, many people talked about the work team as a family。

　　吉布森调查了人们对于“团队合作”这一概念的认识。“在美国，人们使用很多体育方面的比喻。而在其他地方就不是一个普通的比喻了。”例如在拉丁美洲，很多人把“团队合作”看做是一个“家”。

　　“If you just use those two contrasts and think about what you might expect from your family versus what you might expect from your sports team, you start to see the differences。” Families are involved in all parts of your life, and are expected to celebrate with you socially. “Your involvementin your sports team is more limited. Less caretaking, more competitive。”

　　“如果你对比这两种认识，想想你能从家庭看到什么以及能从体育团队看到什么，就会看出差别来。”“家”涉及你生活的方方面面，并且就社会层面上与你共享成功的喜悦。“而你在体育团队中的参与度是有限的。关爱更少，竞争更多。”

　　Another example is in the realm of leadership. Many people assume that charismaticleadership is a good thing – using a strong personality to inspire loyalty in others. But that’s not going to work for everyone, Gibson says. “The very same behaviors that are deemed desirablefrom a leader in one culture might be viewed as interference or micromanagementin other settings。”

　　另外一个例子便是人们对“领导”的理解。许多人认为有魅力的领导作风是件好事——用人格魅力激发员工的忠诚。但吉布森称这并不对每个人都管用。“同样的行为，在一种文化中被看做是领导者的必备素质，在另一种文化中却成了干涉或是微观管理。”

　　And as this research continues, she says, people should consider that cultures can vary a lot within countries, too, especially as large numbers of people continue to migrate between countries. “We can’t make these assumptions that everybody in the US is like this and everybody in China is like that。”

　　吉布森还称，随着研究的进行，尤其是随着庞大数目的移民持续在国家间流动，人们需要意识到一国内部文化的多元性。“我们不能假设在美国的所有人都是这样的，或者假设中国的所有人全都是那样的。”

双语：希特勒可能是犹太人或非洲人后裔(图)

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:05:17 +0000

最新的DNA检测显示，阿道夫•希特勒很可能是犹太人和非洲人的后裔

　　Adolf Hitler is likely to have been of Jewish and African descent, the latest DNA tests show。

　　According to the Daily Mail of August 23, journalist Jean-Paul Mulders and historian Marc Vermeeren used DNA to track down 39 of Hitler’s relatives earlier this year, which shows that he was biologically linked to the ‘sub-human’ races he sought to exterminate。

　　A Belgian news magazine reported that samples of saliva taken from these people strongly suggest Hitler had antecedents he certainly would not have cared for。

　　A chromosome called haplogroup E1b1b (Y-DNA) in their samples is rare in Germany and indeed Western Europe. It is most commonly found in the Berbers of Morocco, in Algeria, Libya and Tunisia as well as among Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, Mr Vermeeren said。

　　据英国《每日邮报》8月23日报道，今年早些时候，记者让•保罗•穆德斯和历史学家马克•维尔米伦对希特勒的39位亲戚进行DNA检测，结果显示，希特勒和他曾经下令赶尽杀绝的“异人类”种族在生物学上有很大的联系。

　　一家比利时新闻媒体披露，从这些人身上取得的染色体样本明显显示，希特勒很多可能是他曾经“深恶痛绝”的种族的后裔。

　　维尔米伦说，在这些人身上取得样本中都含有一种叫“Haplopgroup E1b1b”的染色体，即父系遗传(Y-DNA)。这种染色体在德国和西欧很少见，但是在摩洛哥的柏柏尔、阿尔及利亚、利比亚和突尼斯很常见。此外，在德系犹太人和西班牙系犹太人中也比较常见。

双语：特蕾莎修女的人生箴言录(图)

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:03:16 +0000

特蕾莎修女箴言录

　　人们不讲道理、思想谬误、自我中心，不管怎样，还是爱他们；

　　People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Love them anyway。

　　如果你做善事，人们说你自私自利、别有用心，不管怎样，还是要做善事；

　　If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway。

　　如果你成功以后，身边尽是假的朋友和真的敌人，不管怎样，还是要成功；

　　If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway。

　　你所做的善事明天就会被遗忘，不管怎样，还是要做善事；

　　The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow; Do good anyway。

　　诚实与坦率使你容易受到欺骗和伤害，不管怎样，还是要诚实与坦率；

　　If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway。

　　人都会同情弱者，却只追随赢家，不管怎样，还是要为一些弱者奋斗；

　　People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway。

　　你耗费数年所建设的可能毁于一旦，不管怎样，还是要建设；

　　What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight; Build anyway。

　　如果你找到了平静和幸福，人们可能会嫉妒你，不管怎样，还是要快乐；

　　If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway。

　　人们确实需要帮助，然而如果你帮助他们，却可能遭到攻击，不管怎样，还是要帮助；

　　People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway。

　　将你所拥有最好的东西献给世界，可能永远都不够，不管怎样，还是要将最好的东西付出！

　　Give the world the best you have, And it may never be enough; Give the world the best you have anyway。

　　你看，说到底，它是你和上帝之间的事，而决不是你和他人之间的事。

　　You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It is never between you and them anyway。

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