时差N小时 空中城堡真的存在吗?(下)

So when someone describes a plan or course of action that we believe may be impossible to achieve,

所以，当有人描述一个计划或行动时，我们觉得那是不可能实现的，

we tell him, "You're building castles in the air."

我们会告诉他：“你的想法就如空中楼阁一样。”

A similar idiom is "building castles in the sand."

类似的俗语还有“在沙滩上建城堡。

We know that, on a beach, sand castles are inevitably¹ and easily destroyed by the tide.

”我们知道，沙滩上的城堡不可避免且容易被海浪摧毁。

They are not built to last a long time.

这样的城堡维持不了多久。

So when we say someone is "building castles in the sand," we mean they are creating something that won't endure² very long.

所以，我们说有人是“在沙滩上建城堡”，其实就是指他们正在创造的东西持续不了多长时间。

1 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

2 endure   

vt.忍受(痛苦、困难等)，耐住

参考例句：

• If other people can endure hardship,why can't I? 人家能吃苦，我就不能？
• You can only guess at what mental suffering they endure.你只能猜测他们忍受着多大的精神痛苦。