VOA慢速英语2015 虫子和蛇:动物让我们又爱又恨

Worms and Snakes: Animals We Love to Hate 虫子和蛇:动物让我们又爱又恨

Hello and welcome to the VOA Learning¹ English program, “Words and Their Stories.”

欢迎来到VOA学习词汇频道

They slither. They are slimy. For most people, they are high on the list of animals nobody loves.

它们滑滑的、细细的，恐怕是最不受人类喜欢的动物种类了

They are worms and snakes. From ancient folk stories to modern animated² films, snakes and worms do not often play the hero. Fair or not, they are usually the characters that set bad examples.

他们就是虫子和蛇。不管是古代歌谣还是现在的动画电影。虫子和蛇都没一个好形象。与之相反，还出演反派角色

This is also true in American English. In our idioms and expressions worms and snakes are often the bad guys.

在英语里也是这样。和虫子以及蛇有关的词语都不是什么好词

First, let's talk about worms.

先来聊聊虫子把

If you don't like worms, one is bad enough. But a whole can of worms is really bad! A can of worms is a very difficult issue or set of problems. And to open a can of worms means to share those problems with other people who may not want to know about them.

如果你不喜欢虫子，仅仅只有一只也会让你抓狂。但是一整罐虫子简直无法形容。A can of worms指的就是很难解决的问题。open a can of worms表示向一些不想帮助你的人求助

Now, worms are good at slowly digging themselves into the ground. And when they are in the ground they are difficult to catch. This is the root of two common expressions.

现在虫子开始慢慢向土里爬进去。当他们钻到土里的时候，就很难拿出来了。这就是下面两个短语的来历

If you worm your way into something, you get something you want by slowly using tricks and lies. For example, “I can't believe he wormed his way back into her life! She won't ever learn!” And if you worm your way out of something, you are avoiding or escaping something by using again tricks or lies.

worm your way into something表示你想慢慢耍诈。比如“我简直无法相信她一直都在骗我，她根本不学习。” if you worm your way out of something，你是在试图利用同样的技巧逃避问题

But not all worm expressions are bad. A common expression, the early bird get the worm means the person who gets up early is in a better position or gets the worm. Good for the bird. Bad for the worm.

也不是所有和虫子有关的短语都是不好的。比如the early bird get the worm表示早期的鸟儿有虫吃。对鸟来说好消息，对虫子来说坏消息

Now, let's talk about snakes.

下面来说说蛇吧

When snakes move, they slither along the ground or in the grass. It seems as if they do not want to be seen. So, a snake in the grass is a sneaky person who cannot be trusted.

蛇动的时候，他们都是沿着地上和草地上爬行。感觉像是不要被人发现一样。所以snake in the grass比作那种不被人相信的人

Here's how you can use it in a sentence: “Be careful around her. She is just a snake in the grass.”

现在你可以造句了，Be careful around her. She is just a snake in the grass

Another reason many people fear snakes is because they bite. And who wants to get bit by a snake, right? So, snakebit means to be very unlucky. For example, if your favorite soccer team is snakebit, they are losing every game.

还有一些人怕蛇咬。没有人想背蛇咬。所以snakebit比作不吉利，比如if your favorite soccer team is snakebit, they are losing every game.

Even if many people do not like them, snakes are useful. Their beautiful skins are used for boots and bags. But have you ever used snake oil? It is probably better if you haven't.

尽管人们不喜欢蛇，但是蛇的价值很高。蛇皮可以用来做靴子和包。但是你用过蛇油吗？

In American English, snake oil is a method or treatment that does not work. It's a trick.

在美国英语中，蛇油指的是一种无用的方法的治疗手段。是种诈骗

Some word historians³ say this expression comes from Asian-American workers in the 1800s who brought real snake oil over with them. Some believed the oil from a certain type of snake could help joint⁴ and muscle pain. But then people started making fake⁵ snake oil that did not do anything. So, a snake oil salesman is a fake, an imposter, a charlatan⁶. They are not to be trusted.

一些词语学家表示这种表述来自与1800年来到美国的亚洲人常常带着真的蛇油。他们一些人相信蛇油可以缓解肌肉疼痛。但是人们涂了假蛇油的就没有作用。所以卖蛇油的人就是一些骗子、走私客。是不值得相信的

Maybe that's why the snake oil business has never really recovered.

这也许就是蛇油行业再也没有重新恢复的原因

Beside the creepy way they move, snakes and worms have something else in common. In American English, calling someone a snake or a worm means that person is not liked or respected.

除了蛇独特的爬行方式之外，蛇和虫子还有许多共同的地方。在美国英语中，把一个人叫蛇或者虫子都是对一个人的不尊重

And that's it for today's program.

上面就是今天节目的主要内容

I leave you with one more worm expression. There is an informal and rather dark way to refer to a dead body -- food for worms or simply worm food. In fact, there is even a dark children's nursery⁷ song about worms coming to eat a dead body buried in the ground.

还有最后一个和虫子有关的短语。不常用，常常和死尸有关——food for worms or simply worm food。和儿童歌曲有关，因为歌里有虫子出来吃死尸的内容

Like I said early in the program, snakes and worms are creepy.

正如我在节目一开始说的那样，虫子和蛇的确很恶心

Words in This Story

slither – v. to move by sliding your entire body back and forth⁸ : to move smoothly⁹, quietly, or secretly like a snake

slimy – adj. covered with slime : informal very dishonest, bad, or immoral¹⁰

creepy – adj. strange or scary : causing people to feel nervous and afraid

imposter – n. a person who deceives¹¹ others by pretending to be someone else

charlatan – n. a person who falsely pretends to know or be something in order to deceive people

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

3 historians   

n.历史学家，史学工作者( historian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Historians seem to have confused the chronology of these events. 历史学家好像把这些事件发生的年代顺序搞混了。
• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 fake   

vt.伪造，造假，假装；n.假货，赝品

参考例句：

• He can tell a fake from the original.他能分辨出赝品和真品。
• You can easily fake up an excuse to avoid going out with him.你可以很容易地编造一个借口而不与他一同外出。

6 charlatan   

n.骗子；江湖医生；假内行

参考例句：

• The charlatan boasted that he could charm off any disease.这个江湖骗子吹牛说他能用符咒治好各种疾病。
• He was sure that he was dealing with a charlatan.他真以为自己遇上了江湖骗子。

7 nursery   

n.托儿所；苗圃

参考例句：

• They have decided to start up a nursery in the factory.他们已决定要在工厂里开办一个托儿所。
• Her company ran its own workplace nursery.她的公司开办了内部的托儿所。

8 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

9 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

10 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

11 deceives   

v.欺骗，蒙骗( deceive的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I read the time wrong and say that it deceives me. 我把时间看错了，反说它欺骗了我。 来自互联网
• We read the world wrong and say that it deceives. 我们把世界看错了，反说它欺骗了我们。 来自互联网