ESL Podcast 345 – The Seven-year Itch

Sunny: Did you hear the news? Nancy and Brian are splitting up.

Igor: How long have they been married?

Sunny: Eight years. I’m sure it was the seven- year itch¹. I bet Brian was unfaithful to Nancy.

Igor: How do you know? Maybe it was Nancy who had a wandering eye.

Sunny: Maybe, but it’s a shame. They were such a nice couple. Doesn’t anyone take marriage vows² seriously these days? To me, it’s a lifelong commitment.

Igor: If you ask me, I think our notion of marriage is out of date. Conventional wisdom is that everybody wants to be unfaithful after they’ve been married a few years. Why not make marriage a short- term arrangement? In my view, a marriage should last for seven years unless you want to renew. If you don’t, you each go your separate ways.

Sunny: You make marriage sound like an apartment contract! Not everybody is as cynical³ as you are. I don’t think that most couples think seriously about committing adultery, and many couples stay together for life.

Igor: You may live in la-la land, but I live in the real world.

Sunny: If that’s the real world, I don’t want to live there!


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 itch   

n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望

参考例句：

• Shylock has an itch for money.夏洛克渴望发财。
• He had an itch on his back.他背部发痒。

2 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

3 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。