英语听力精选进阶版 20131

（单词翻译）

Down the pan¹ 泡汤了、完蛋了

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节目梗概：

好多事情都会因为突发因素不能进行下去，英语中有句俗话 down the pan 特别 贴切。不过你知道这个 pan 是指什么吗？听 Neil 来说说吧。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Helen

Hello and welcome to Authentic² Real English. I'm Helen and joining me today is Neil.

Neil

Hello everyone. You know my friend Jeff the documentary³ maker⁴?

Helen

Oh yeah.

Neil

Well he had this great story he was about to make a film about - the most expensive wedding in the UK.

Helen

So what happened? Is it finished?

Neil

He was due to film the wedding on Saturday. Then yesterday, he got a call from the bride.

Helen

Don't tell me the wedding is off. 

Neil

It is. After all that hard work, everything just went down the pan.

Helen

Gone down the pan? 掉到了平底锅里面？这是什么意思？What do you  mean?

Neil

It's an expression we use informally to say something disastrous⁵ has happened. It's not the cooking pan we are referring to here. It’s actually the toilet!

Helen

不会吧，你说的这个pan 原来不是指平底锅，而是指抽水马桶 toilet。听着就觉得情况很糟糕了。  

Neil

Just imagine, when you flush⁶ the toilet, everything gets washed down the pipe. That's what I mean – 'down the pan', everything's gone! Total disaster! Here are a few examples:

Examples

Jason had great dreams of becoming a football player, but they went down the pan when he broke his leg.

I'm afraid all that careful preparation we did for Jemma's surprise birthday party went down the pan when her brother told her about it.

He was ready to move into his new home, but everything went down the pan when the fire destroyed the house last night.

Helen

Yuck! 这么说，如果什么事情本来进行得很顺利，突然出现意外而变得无法挽救，这种情况就可以用 down the pan 来表示。就像冲马桶，全没了。也就是我们说的“泡汤了，完蛋了”。

Neil

That's right. Er, Helen, I think you forgot to press the record button in the studio.

Helen

Oh no. What a disaster. Neil, would you mind re-recording this?       

Neil

(Sigh). Helen, that's my tea break down the pan.