聊聊一個關(guān)于花卉和園藝的短語

今天的這段對話，在討論短語，

聊聊一個關(guān)于花卉和園藝的短語
 
來聽今天的講解:
 
A: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Helen.
 
大家好，歡迎收看《我們說英語》。我是海倫。
 
B: Hi, I'm William. Today Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is opening.
 
嗨，我是威廉。今天漢普頓宮花展開幕。
 
Music, birdsong
 
音樂，鳥鳴
 
A: Oh, Hampton Court Palace Flower Show – the world's largest flower show! I've seen it on the news before. If only I had a garden!
 
哦，漢普頓宮花展——世界上最大的花展！我以前在新聞上看到過。如果我有一個花園就好了！
 
B: Ah yes, you live in an apartment, don't you Helen?
 
啊，是的，你住在公寓里，是不是海倫？
 
A: Yeah. So William, let me guess, today we are going to do a phrase relating to flowers and gardening?
 
是的。那么威廉，讓我猜一猜，今天我們要做一個關(guān)于花卉和園藝的短語？
 
B: Exactly.
 
完全正確。
 
A: So...? What's the phrase?
 
所以短語是什么？
 
B: Er... Well, how about... how about... er. No, it's gone. It's no good. I can't think of a phrase right now.
 
呃…嗯，怎么樣…怎么樣…呃。不，它不見了。這不好。我現(xiàn)在想不出一個短語了。
 
A: Oh well. Let's just have a chat instead. I'm tired of learning new phrases anyway.
 
哦，好吧。我們還是聊聊吧。反正我已經(jīng)厭倦了學習新短語了。
 
B: OK. Well, how are you Helen? How are the kids?
 
好的。海倫，你好嗎？孩子們好嗎？
 
A: Oh they are both really well. My little boy eats too much chocolate though!
 
哦，他們倆都很好。不過我的小男孩吃巧克力太多了！
 
B: Oh really? Well, you want to nip that in the bud.
 
哦，真的嗎？好吧，你想把它扼殺在萌芽狀態(tài)。
 
A: Eh? Nip it in the bud?
 
呃？把它扼殺在萌芽狀態(tài)？
 
B: Nip it in the bud. If you nip something in the bud, you stop it before it becomes a problem. Listen to this example from a business context:
 
防患于未然。如果你把某件事防患于萌芽，你就會在它成為問題之前停止它。從商業(yè)環(huán)境中聽這個例子：
 
Man: The last few deliveries we've had from this company have all had broken parts in them.
 
我們從這家公司收到的最后幾批貨都有壞零件。
 
Woman: Well, we need to nip that in the bud. Tell them that unless their service improves, we're going to look for another supplier.
 
好吧，我們需要把它扼殺在萌芽狀態(tài)。告訴他們，除非他們的服務(wù)有所改善，否則我們將尋找另一家供應(yīng)商。
 
A: So in that example, the man was complaining about poor service from a supplier. The woman wanted to nip it in the bud.
 
所以在那個例子中，那個男人抱怨供應(yīng)商的服務(wù)不好。那個女人想把它扼殺在萌芽狀態(tài)。
 
B: That's right. She wanted to take steps to improve the service before it got even worse.
 
沒錯。她想在情況變得更糟之前采取措施改善服務(wù)。
 
A: So where does this phrase come from William – to nip something in the bud?
 
那么，這句話是從哪里來的呢——把一些事情扼殺在萌芽狀態(tài)？
 
Birdsong and music
 
鳥鳴與音樂
 
 
B: Well, it comes from gardening, actually. A bud is the part of a plant that becomes a flower, a leaf or stem. If you nip something in the bud, you cut the bud off the plant before it has time to grow.
 
事實上，它來自園藝。芽是植物變成花朵、葉子或莖的部分。如果你把一些東西夾在芽中，你會在植物生長之前把芽剪掉。
 
A: Oh. That's not very nice.
 
哦，那不太好。
 
B: Well, gardening is a tough game, Helen. You have to nip things in the bud sometimes. You also have to kill slugs and snails.
 
嗯，園藝是一項艱巨的任務(wù)，海倫。有時你必須防患于未然。你還必須殺死蛞蝓和蝸牛。
 
A: Eugh! I'm glad I don't have a garden.
 
??！我很高興我沒有花園。
 
B: Bye!
 
再見！
 
A: Bye!
 
再見！