AET第四集

Hey, guys!

Welcome to Archimedes English Teatime! In thisepisode, in addition to hearing an interesting story, you are going to takehome some useful tips to improve your English skills. Here we go!

A new friend

At the exhibition held by Mr. Lou, I came across a younglady. Upon my request, she explained to me why the buildings in one of the landscapepaintings seemed to be tilting.

At that moment, I was amazed at her talent of makingthe essence of Impressionism clear to such a layperson like me in a simplelanguage. So I politely asked her to interpret a portrait named Shyness next tothe landscape painting. She kindly agreed. “You may find that the lady in thepainting was sitting in a conservative posture, showing her coyness. However,if you look more closely, you may notice that her long hair was fluttering inthe air. It is not hard to imagine that she was vehemently swinging her head.The sharp contrast between her explicit conservation and her implicit vitalityin the same framework reveals a tension and dynamics, which helps render thepainting more intriguing.”

To be honest, it was an ah-ha moment for me. Her wordswas like a ray of sunlight in the darkness that I have always been experiencingwhen looking at a piece of art. Meanwhile, I had a sudden feeling of “deja-vous.”When we exchanged personal information, not surprisingly, she turned out to bemy daughter’s alumna.

After that, we started talking about almost everything.A story that she told impressed me the most. “A young man lives next door to anold couple who keep a pet dog. They adore the dog so much that it is literallya family member. One day, the young man was walking near his home. Suddenly,his neighbors’ dog ran across the street and was crushed by a passing truck.Obviously, the old couple had no idea that their beloved dog was gone forever.They were searching hysterically for their dog everywhere. The young man wastrapped in a dilemma: to tell or not to tell the truth. He was unsure whichchoice would hurt the old couple less. He was so troubled by the question thathe found it increasingly harder to fall into sleep or concentrate on his job.Then he decided to ask for a wise man for help. Hearing the young man’s worries,the wise man said: ‘As long as you have taken their circumstances into fullconsideration, whatever you do is reasonable and kind.’ The young man feltrelieved and did what he intuitively wanted to do.”

I used to be troubled by similar questions. Now I feelrelieved that I cannot be blamed for following my intuition as long as I havefully considered the circumstances involved. I am immeasurably happy that I madesuch a genius friend at Mr. Lou’s exhibition.

嘿,小伙伴们好！

欢迎来到阿基米德英语下午茶！在这一集，除了听到有趣的故事，你还要带回家一些有用的建议，帮助提高你的英语技能。开始啦！

新朋友

在楼先生举办的展览上，我遇到了一位年轻女士。应我的请求，她向我解释了为什么其中一幅山水画中的建筑物似乎在倾斜。

那一刻，我很惊讶她用简单的语言向像我这样的外行阐明印象主义的精髓。所以我礼貌地请她解读山水画旁边一幅名为《羞涩》的肖像画。她友好地同意了。"你可能会发现，画中的女士保持一个保守的坐姿，显示她的羞怯。然而，如果你仔细观察，你可能会注意到她的长发在空中飘动。不难想象，她当时在连续地甩动头发。她外在的保守姿态和内在的活力同时出现在同一幅画的框架中，这种鲜明对比揭示了一种张力和动态，从而使这幅画更耐人寻味。

实话实说，对我来说，这是个灵光乍现的时刻。她的话像在我每次欣赏艺术品所处的黑暗中洒下一缕阳光。同时，我突然产生一种似曾相识的感觉。之后我们交换个人信息时发现她竟然是我女儿的校友，对此我却并不感到惊讶。

在那之后，我们开始谈论几乎所有的事情。她讲的一个故事给我留下深刻的印象。"一个年轻人住在一对养宠物狗的老夫妇的隔壁。他们非常宠爱这只狗，以至于它简直就是一个家庭成员。一天，那个年轻人正他家附近散步。突然，邻居的狗在穿越马路时被一辆路过的卡车压死。显然，那对老夫妇不知道他们心爱的狗永远消失了。他们几乎疯狂地四处寻找他们的狗。这个年轻人陷入了两难境地：要不要告诉他们真话。他不确定哪个选择对老夫妇的伤害会小一些。他被这个问题困扰，以至于他发现越来越难入睡或集中精力工作。然后，他决定向一位智者寻求帮助。听到年轻人的忧虑，智者说："只要你已经充分考虑了他们的境遇，无论你做什么都是合理和善良的。年轻人松了一口气，根据他的直觉做出了选择。

我曾经被类似的问题所困扰。现在，我也感到释然了：只要我充分考虑了所涉及的境况，就不能因为我凭直觉行动而受到责备。我非常高兴在楼先生的画展上结识了这样一位天才朋友。

Now let’s havesome English practice.

首先训练一些俗语的翻译。If youwant to say四两拨千斤 in English, what can you do?

It is a veryfamiliar idiom in Chinese. How about this? Maybe you can come up with a betterversion and welcome to share. Anyway, I came up with this one: A small stepmakes a big difference. 这句话是美国宇航员Neil Armstrong登月后的感言：That’s one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind.千万不要字对字地翻，四两怎么说，千斤怎么说。俗语的翻译要先提炼原文中的核心信息，也就是关键意思，再找到与之对应的目标语外壳装进去。所以平时要收集英语中的常用表达，才能跳出字对字的局限。

举个例子：你想说“我们经历了风风雨雨”。你不至于说We have experienced rains and winds. 大家应该能感觉出来不合适。那么风风雨雨的核心信息在中文中还有其他表达方式，也许和英语更容易匹配，比如“坎坎坷坷、起起伏伏”。We have experienced ups and downs. 类似的短语还有thick and thin，但stick withyou through thick and thin意思不同，是同甘共苦。

此外，在词汇层面，替换是提升表达的常用方法。比如你在和招生官套磁，想说Your feedback has been very helpful. 这里的very是个小学词汇，如果你替换为tremendously,extremely瞬间提升为六级词汇，你还可以说Your feedback has been immeasurably helpful就是托福词汇。顺便学习词汇的词性转换，动词measure转为形容词measurable, 否定形式是immeasurable，副词是immeasurably。

最后，在句子结构层面改换句型可以画龙点睛。比如你想说“要成功就必须站在巨人的肩膀上”。大家都习惯于说“In order to succeed或者To succeed, you should stand upon the giant’s shoulders.” 这个可以但过于平常。如果换一个句式大家听听怎么样？No success can be made without standing upon the giant’s shoulders. 而且这个双重否定的结构用处非常广，比如你想逗导师开心，可以说：No progress can be made without your insightful guidance.

今天分享了俗语翻译不能字对字，词汇通过替换提升档次，还有句子结构改换增加表现力。

下周日下午3点不见不散~