第七课 Grassroots Campaign

引用:

J: Hello and welcome to American Cafe! My name is Jody!

Y: 大家好，我是杨晨。Eh, Jody... 你拿了一堆什么东西啊?

J: Oh, this stuff? Let's see, I have political posters .... what else do I have flyers, you know, information sheets... Wow, I really have a lot of work to do!

Y: 一大堆工作你还这么高兴啊，为什么？

J: Well, I'm excited because the work is for a political grassroots campaign. See, I volunteered to hang posters and hand out flyers to people at subway stops.

Y: 噢，原来你是热衷于这种基层群众活动。

J: It's the best way for everyday citizens to get involved and make a difference! But hey, some of the people I met a grassroots campaign meeting can explain that it much better than I. Let's hear from them. Here's Rudy who organized the meeting that I went to.

Y: 下面我们就来听听Rudy是怎么说的：

实录1 Rudy: My name is Rudy. I've lived in DC for a little under a year. And grassroots campaigning to me is a movement of people coming toward for a common cause, be it political or social, or whatever, banding together, working together to come to a common goal and hopefully be victorious in its outcome. The hierarchy is loose so everybody's voice counts. And in the end hopefully everyone is happy with the outcome.

Y: Rudy总结的很好。他说基层活动就是为了共同的目的， 大家聚集在一起，共同努力，最后获得成功。 Jody, 你给大家解释一下hierarchy的意思好吗？

J: Okay! The hierarchy means the chain of command. And in a grassroots campaign the structure of the hierarchy is very loose. That means there's really no specific leader or boss.

Y: 对，这个hierarchy就是指挥系统，或者说体系。当然了，既然是基层群众运动，那么它的结构一定是比较松散。

J: Right. And in a grassroots campaign everybody comes together for, as Rudy said, a common goal and contributes what they can.

Y: 那多好啊。每个人都是平等的，没有什么上下级之分。

J: Right, like a true democracy.

Y: 你说的一点没错。这一类的自发性群众活动正是美国民主的基础。

J: Here's another definition of grassroots campaigning that I liked a lot from Michael.

Y: 好，我们再听听Michael的观点。

实录2 Michael Briggs: If I had to define grassroots campaigning, I would think that it's people working with each trying to really bring democracy to life, share ideas, get people involved behind their candidate, trying to change minds, and raise awareness about an issue or a politician.

Y: 哎，Jody，我突然想到，grassroots campaign这个说法是怎么来的呢？

J: Oh, you know, I was curious about the origin, or the roots, haha, get it? Grassroots...anyway. I was curious about that myself. So let's have Michael help us out again.

实录3 Michael Briggs: My understanding of it is that grass has roots that are very broad, and they're not very deep but they broad. The way grass grows is it sends its roots out and then sprouts and those sprouts send more and more roots out. So it's about a chain reaction or a growing web of people that over time come to life.

Y: 中文里的“grassroots”就是草根的意思。草的生命力很旺盛，它的根部蔓延得很快，用这个词来形容这种基层群众活动非常形象。另外，Michael说的chain reaction就是连锁反应的意思。

J: The more people you reach out to, the more people they reach out to, and so on, and so on and so on. I'd say that joining a grassroots campaign is the best to empower yourself.

Y:你说得没错。这种亲身参与确实有一种鼓舞人心的力量。

J: That's why a woman named Catayune joined a grassroots campaign to elect a political candidate.

实录4 Catayune: My name is Catayune and I live in Washington DC. I grew up in Ohio. Grassroots campaign helps me because it means that ideas and emphasis and energy comes up from the grassroots, from everyday citizens. So it helps empower everyday citizens to really have a voice in national politics.

Y: 你觉不觉得今天我们采访的这几个人他们都强调群众参与，每个公民都应该发出自己的声音这样一种概念，这也正是群众运动的意义所在。

J: Well, what do you think, Yang Chen. Joining a big group of people and fighting for the same common goal doesn't it sound exciting?

Y: 嗯，太让人激动了。

J: You don't sound very 激动了. Come on let's go join everyone and take part in the grassroots campaign.

Y: 那就走吧，还等什么呢？

J: Thanks for joining us on American Cafe. We gotta go! See ya!

第八课 Powerball Lottery

引用:

Y:大家好, 我是杨晨! 欢迎您到美语咖啡屋!

J: Hello and welcome to American Cafe! I'm Jody. Here, Yang Chen. I bought you something. An instant Lottery Ticket. See, you scratch off the surface to see if you have won. Let me do mine first. (scratch, scratch) Come on Lady Luck! Make me a winner! (scratch, scratch) Damn! Nothing.

Y: Hmm, 好象幸运女神不太喜欢你。

J: I guess not. Well, you try yours and see how you do.

Y: 好，我来试试我的运气。(scratch, scratch) 哇! 我赢了五块钱!

J: What! Let me see that. You won five bucks! I think I gave you the wrong ticket. I think I gave you mine. Can I have it back?

Y: No way!

J: Now, what would really be exciting is if you won the BIG Lottery.

Y: 你说的好多州一起办的那个超级乐透奖,对不对？

J: Yes. That's right! The POWERBALL!

(Enter sharp lightning crack)

Y: 这个声音好恐怖啊！

J: What our listeners may not know but a well-timed lightning bolt sound is meant to signify the mysterious, the awesome, like the POWERBALL!!!

(Enter sharp lightning crack)

Y:好了，好了，我现在已经感受到超级乐透的威力了。现在你这个音响效果可不可以停止了呢？

J: Okay. No more lightning bolts. For a while.

Y: 可是，我们是不是先来解释lottery这个词，然后再发挥你的音响效果。

J: Let's do. The Lottery is gambling. It's a drawing of numbers. And you have to get all six numbers right AND pick the right number as the Powerball to win.

Y: 噢，对，Lottery是以买彩票或奖券的方式进行赌博。

J: The jackpot recently is really high: $210 million!

Y: 哇! 两亿一千万美元!! 啊，我要昏倒了。

J: That's right, Sister! You go ahead and faint. The night before the drawing, I stopped at my neighborhood store and there was a line of about 50 people waiting to buy their lottery tickets. Here's some on-site interviews of people actually buying their lottery tickets.

Here's Carl from Miami...

实录1 Carl: Lottery ticket is a gambling format for a winning of a ticket for $210 million.  

J: $ 250 million. What are the odds that you can win?  

Carl: one in 250 million, I think.  

J: So why are you here?  

Carl: Someone's gotta win, that's basically it. The chances are low, but someone does have to win.

Y: 他刚才提到一个词“odds”，我看我们需要先给大家解释一下。

J: Sure. O-D-D-S. You know, your chances of winning. What are your odds of winning? But for this lottery, the odds were 1 in 250 million.

Y: 那么这里就是说赢得机律是1比2亿5千万。

J: So the odds are very low. And this woman Susan had a very funny way of describing how she views her odds and why she still plays.

Y: 好，我们听听Susan的见解。

实录2 Susan: Your have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than you do of winning the lottery. However, people do get hit by lightning. So it does make sense to give it a try.

J: So, you're willing to risk a couple of dollars and see if you can win the jackpot.

Susan: Yes!

J: See! She mentioned the word "lightning!"

(Enter sharp lightning crack)

Y: 你知道吗，你听起来象个巫婆一样。

J: Okay. Now, get serious, Yang Chen. You know, after I started interviewing people they all started talking about the big "what if?" You know what if I win?

Y: 就是，我都替他们发愁。如果赢了，那么多钱怎么花呀？

J: Here's what Susan had to say.

Y: 好吧, 我们来听听Susan的宏伟计划。

实录3 Susan: Well, that's what everyone always thinks as they're waiting in line ... "What would they do if they won." And of course, the first thing you think is quit your job and buy all those things that are on your list, that you wanted to get...you know...

J: Another woman, Olivia from New Orleans, Louisiana, said that after she paid off her and her family's debt she would give some of her winnings to charities.

实录4 Olivia: I would definitely donate some to charity, because there are a lot of good courses. And pay off all my debts, my mother's debts, my sister's debts and travel.

Y: 每个人都那么说。如果赢了以后先把工作辞了，然后买下所有以前买不起的东西，还要捐一部份给慈善机构。

J: Well, that's what they say before they win. I don't know what they say after they win.

Y: 好，我们的时间到了。谢谢大家收听美语咖啡屋。

J: Yeah! Thanks for joining us today at American Cafe. I certainly enjoyed talking with you about the American tradition of the...

Y: Stop it, Jody! 如果你再让我听到...

J: ...POWERBALL!!

(Enter sharp lightning crack)

第九课 Brunch

引用:

Y: 大家好，我是杨晨。欢迎您光临美语咖啡屋。

J: Hello and welcome to American Cafe. My name's Jody! Hey Yang Chen I am having Brunch this weekend with some friends. Do you have time to come join us?

Y: 好啊。不过这次可不会象上次那样一吃就吃四个钟头吧。

J: Oh, but that's the whole point of Brunch. After a long workweek, a nice long Brunch is the perfect end to the weekend! And as a matter of fact the meal is so long and so relaxing that it is a combination of breakfast and lunch. It's spelled B-R-U-N-C-H.

Y: 你说的到是有道理。既然brunch是把早饭和午饭合并在一起，那么当然时间就应该长点了。不过说起来brunch这个词不好把它翻成中文呢。我看听众朋友喜欢怎么叫它就怎么叫它什么吧。或者干脆就用英文brunch。

J: Hey Yang Chen, remember we talked to Edina, the manager of the restaurant where we had Brunch last time.

Y: 没错，我们来听听Edina给brunch下的定义。

实录1 Edina：Brunch is a very special time in American life. It's a time where after a very busy workweek a family or friends have time to actually sit down and enjoy their meal.

Y: 下面我们就让讲一讲他们的顾客最喜欢点什么菜。

实录2 Edina：It's usually French toast, pancakes, omelets, lots of eggs.

Y: 你记不记得我那天就点了omelettes，煎蛋饼，非常好吃。French toast是一种炸面包片，也很受欢迎。哎，你会作吗？

J: Oh, I make a wonderful French toast.

Y:不过我很好奇，它为什么叫French toast，和法国有关吗？

J: I don't think so. We have French fries and French toast 跟法国没有什么关系。

Y: 你说人们是不是只有在周末才会吃brunch呢？

J: Most definitely! And it's usually on Sunday after, you know, you go out with your friends and party a little, have a couple drinks, listen to music.

Y:人们在周末都爱睡懒觉，早上一起来早饭的时间就已经过了，那么乾脆把两顿饭合在一起，尤其在星期天，很多人在星期六晚上已经狂欢了一整夜，星期天和朋友享受一顿美味的brunch，的确是很开心。

J: Remember we spoke with a group of people who were out having Brunch after a fun night together on the town together.

Y: 我们上次碰到的一个女孩Kristine，她是这么说的：

实录3 Kristine: Brunch tradition is usually, I feel, the nice end of weekend to start off the new week. Nice comforting feeling. Usually very relaxed and laidback, late in the afternoon and really just a nice cap to the whole weekend and it is a chance to catch up on, on the week, I think, too.

Y: Kristine 提到了几个很好的词，比如"relaxed," "laidback" ，都有休息，放松的意思。

J: And brunch is definitely a laidback and relaxed meal, because, you know, if you go out drinking the night before you may be a little bit tired the next day.

Y：那人们在吃brunch的时候会喝酒吗？

J: Not everyone. But many people do. In fact, restaurants on their menu, include two particular drinks. You can choose to have either a Mimosas, a mixture of orange juice and champagne or a Bloody Mary, which is a little bit of vodka and tomato juice with spices.

Y: 对，可是喝了酒是不是更觉得没精神呢？

J: No, not really. It's just a small amount of alcohol to take off the edge.

Y: 我曾经听过这么一个习惯用语，叫 "the hair of the dog that bit you."

J: Ha! I can't believe you know that! That is the perfect idiom. "The hair of the dog that bit you" is exactly right. Here's Edina to explain.

实录4 Edina: If you have a weekend to yourself most people go out. You go out Friday night or you go out Saturday night. You enjoy alcohol and you drink as much as you want. You wake up and still have the that sort of taste of the night before. So, something like a Mimosa will give you that sense back. That's what the hair of the dog, the dog is the night before, and the hair is the memories.

Y: 这个习惯用语很难解释。

J: "Hair of the dog that bit you" ... I'm having trouble to explain it too!

Y: 我想可不可以这么打个比方呢，就是说你星期六彻夜的狂欢，灌了一肚子烈性酒，就好像你被一只大狗咬了一口。到第二天早上还有点晕晕呼呼的，那么你呢就少喝一点点酒，好像这样能帮助你恢复正常。那么这一点点酒就好象你从狗身上拔的一根毛一样。

J: I think that's a good explanation. You just need a little hair though. Thanks for joining us on American Cafe!

Y: 好，我们今天的时间到了，欢迎您下次再到美语咖啡屋。再见!

第十课 Scuba Diving

引用:

Y: 各位听众好，我是杨晨，欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。

J: Hello I'm Jody and welcome to American Cafe. Hey, Yang Chen, guess what this sound is.

(Enter breathing sounds)

Y: 噢，听不大出来，好象是有人打电话恶作剧，是不是？

J: No, no, no! It's not an obscene phone call. It's is the sound of scuba diving.

Y: Scuba diving? 潜水，那一定很好玩吧。哎， Jody, 我一直想学潜水，但是我很怕水。

J: Well, if you want to study scuba diving you better get over that.

Y: 说到scuba diving，我就想到要全副武装，背着那个很重潜水设备。太难了吧。

J: Well, the next time the Scuba Tour comes around you should try it!

Y: Scuba Tour是什么呢？潜水不是要到那种热带或者是靠近海洋的旅游胜地吗？

J: Oh, that's the special thing about the Scuba Tour ... it comes to you! When I went to a Health and Fitness Exposition at the DC convention center. There, they had a Scuba Tour. But, let's hear from Scott Evans who was a member of the Scuba Tour to find out what it is.

实录1 Scott Evans: My name is Scott Evans. We're at the D.C. Convention Center doing the Scuba Tour, which is an experience for non-divers to discover Scuba, basically.

Y: Scuba Tour就是到不同的地方举办活动，教那些初学者体验潜水的乐趣。这到真是个好主意。

J: Oh, it's a brilliant especially if you're in the Scuba business. The Scuba Tour brings it to people who may not have the chance to try it! Here's another diver named John talking about why the Scuba Tour is important.

实录2 John: My name is John, I'm from the Dive Shop in Fairfax, Virginia. There's always people who have always wanted to try it and that's one of the nicest things about an event like this is that they have a chance to try it in a non-threatening environment.

Y: 嗯，太棒了。通过这样的活动能让大多数人不出远门就能学习潜水。

J: Exactly! And I think when John mentioned non-threatening that is really important. The Scuba Tour brought the pool, the equipment, but not the sharks.

Y: 没错。虽然Jody刚才提到有鲨鱼是有点吓唬人，不过第一次学潜水就到海里的确是很惊险，游泳池当然让人觉得安全多了。你那天去的时候人很多吗？

J: Oh, there were many people waiting in line to try out scuba diving.

Y: 哎，说了半天我们是不是先给大家解释Scuba这个词是怎么来的？

J: Well, first we should that Scuba is an acronym. S-C-U-B-A. And it stands for something. Here's John Harmon to give us an explanation.

实录3 John Harmon: Okay, my name is John Harmon and SCUBA stands for self-contained, underwater, breathing apparatus.

Y: Scuba这个词在中文里就是水肺，是一种帮助人在水下呼吸的设备。

J: The self-contained, underwater, breathing apparatus or scuba equipment, allows you to stay underwater, like a fish.

Y: 那我们来形容一下它的样子好吗？

J: Let's have John explain the specific equipment used for scuba diving.

实录4 John Harmon: And basically what that consists of is some equipment, which is a tank which contains air; a regulator, which actually is the apparatus that we breathe...to deliver air from the tank to our mouths and a vest which actually allows us to sink under water or float to the surface.

Y: 听他这么一说，这种潜水设备挺吓人的，又是氧气罐，又是呼吸器，还得穿上潜水背心。

J: Oh, exactly. Well think about it. You're going underwater. You need good equipment. There's the air tank, the regulator, that delivers the air from the tank, and the vest for floating or sinking and, Yang Chen, don't forget about the wetsuit. Trusting the equipment for breathing is the hardest thing for a scuba student to learn.

Y: 没错，我觉得对我来说，最难做到的大概就是对你的设备感到放心，特别是在深水里，万一出现意外情况该怎么办呢？

J: Exactly! Your life depends on it. So, let's hear what George had to stay.

实录5 George：You gotta learn to trust the equipment and that's probably the biggest thing for students is to trust the equipment. The equipment is high performance. This is life support equipment.

Y: 我完全同意George的话。

J: I know. Even though he says it's high-performance, life support equipment, I would still be nervous.

Y: 哎，等一等，你说你也会nervous。那说了半天，你自己也不敢下水啊？

J: Well, see the line was really long, Yang Chen. And I wanted to try it... but you know...

Y: 好了， 好了，你不用解释了，反正我知道你没敢下水就是了。

J: Possibly. Okay, thanks for joining us on American Cafe. That's all the time we have for today.

Y: 好， 谢谢大家收听，我们下次节目再见。

11. Valentine's Day

引用:

Y: 各位听众好，欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。

J: Hi I'm Jody and welcome to American Cafe!

Y: 我想我们的听众可能觉得很奇怪，听这声音好象不是在咖啡屋。您猜的没错，我们现在站在一个巧克力店门口。为什么呢？因为今天是情人节。

J: That's right, Yang Chen, it's Valentine's Day. So we left the cafe. We came out on the street to find out what people are buying for Valentine's Day!

Y: 巧克力！ 我现在口水要流出来了。

J: And Yang Chen, we've come to the perfect place, Chocolate Chocolate. And you, Yang Chen, I know something about the name Chocolate Chocolate. The chocolate is so good they have to say it twice

Y: 没错。巧克力！ 巧克力！！！今天是情人节。你第一个想到的是人们都送什么礼物呢？就是巧克力。确实是，你看里面人那么多，买巧克力的人好象大多数都是男的。

J: Of course, women love chocolate. Men like to send their sweethearts all kind of good stuff, diamonds and flowers and chocolate.

Y: 你说起钻石，等会儿我们还要去一个珠宝店，专门卖钻石，首饰的珠宝店。

J: That's a great idea. But first let's talk to..., oh, let's talk to this guy! Are these chocolates for you?

Man: No, actually one's for my fiancée and one's for my mom.

Yang Chen: That's so sweet!

Jody: So, we were just saying that Valentine's Day is not only to show your love for a special someone but also family and friends. Is that true?

Man: Yes it is. Women like chocolate anytime, next to diamonds.

Jody: You know, there's a diamond store right up the road.

Man: All right, I passed that one on the way. So...

J: What else for Valentine's Day are popular traditions when you guys plan to do?

Man: Probably dinner, roses, maybe some perfume.

J: Oh, look, there's another guy. I bet he's buying chocolate for his girlfriend.

Y: 你错了。你看这个人走进了[维多利亚的秘密]，是一个专门卖内衣的商店。

J: We are in front of Victoria's Secret store and the window is full of sexy red underwear just for Valentine's Day!

Y: 我可能不太会去买这种红色的内衣。That's not for me.

J: So, traditional gifts for Valentine's Day include chocolate, sexy underwear, and also flowers.

Y: 我们还是去那边看看玫瑰花吧。我们走吧。

Jody: First your name and why you chose to buy roses for your lovely wife on Valentine's Day.

实录1 David: Okay, my name is David Pollack and I like to buy the roses for my wife 'cause Valentine's Day it's a sentimental value for her to know that I love her and show some appreciation.

Y: 说起来Valentine's Day，中国翻成情人节。

J: Literally, "Lover's Day."

Y: 其实这个“情人节”不光是说情人之间送礼物。

J: Exactly. Valentine's Day is not just for lovers. Children show their love for their parents. Friends can show their love for each other. So, it's a time of the year to show your feelings, I guess.

Y: 就是你对家人，对朋友的爱。

J: You think the name should be changed to something like "Love Day."

Y: 爱心节！

J: 爱心节！Okay, so we've gone to the flower guy, we've gone to the sexy underwear store, we've gone to the chocolate store. What else is there for Valentine's Day?

Y: Diamonds! 钻石！

J: There's a diamond store?! Let's go!

(Enter sound of running)

Jody: We are here in a diamond store in Washington, D.C. What are your comments about Valentine's Day and its relationship to diamonds in general?

实录2 Mervis: Diamond symbolizes love because for many, many centuries it has always been a tradition of longevity and because demand is pretty much the hardest gem it has a stigma that it lasts forever, which it does. And men and women have always been attracted to its sparkle and brilliance and beauty.

Jody: Yeh, if you have sweetheart what do you plan to do this Valentine's Day.

实录3 Mervis: Well, I have more than just a sweetheart. I have a very beautiful wife and three kids. And believe me, my wife is going be spoiled rotten on this Valentine. I shouldn't be saying this in case she hears and I'll let the cat out of the bag. And I speak a large pair of diamond studs for her ears. And...yeh....

(laughter)

J: Diamonds are a girls' best friends.

Y: Jody, 你觉得今天过得怎么样？

J: Oh, today is so fun! I love hearing what people are doing for Valentine's Day! Thank you for you joining us outside in D.C. visiting all the places where people are buying traditional Valentine's Day gifts. That's all the time we have on American Cafe! See you next time.

Y: 谢谢大家，我们今天的时间到了。Jody，我有一个遗憾，就是在那个巧克力店，他们有让你试吃巧克力。

J: Free samples? Let's go back now! We're so silly.

(Enter "You're My Funny Valentine" by Tony Bennett)

12. Vince on Jim Hendrix

引用:

J: Hello and welcome to American Cafe. My name's Jody.

Y: 各位听众，欢迎大家到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。

J: Hey, Yang Chen, you know our friend down in the music library, Vince...he says "hello" by the way ...

Y: 真的？下次你告诉他我也向他问好。

J: Will do. Anyway, did you know he's a guitar player?

Y: 我知道。他上次还建议我应该多听听他的偶像Jimi Hendrix的音乐呢。

J: Oh, that's weird. That's exactly what we talked about. Wow, he really admires Jimi Hendrix. But who wouldn't. Jimi Hendrix is a music legend.

Y: 等一等，这个music legend我们应该给听众解释一下，就是音乐界的传奇人物。

J: Exactly. And Jimi is not only a music legend, he changed rock-n-roll, 摇滚音乐forever!

Y: 说起摇滚乐，我可以跟你聊一天一夜。

J: Me too! But let's make sure that Vince gets a word in.

实录1 Vince Bonner: My name is Vince Bonner. And I feel Jimi Hendrix is not the father of the modern guitar, but um, he changed the sound so drastically.

Y: Vince说，虽然Jimi Hendrix并不是现代吉他音乐之父，可是他在很大程度上改变了吉他音乐的声音。不过我不太明白他这儿说的是什么意思。

J: We'll let Vince explain that. But before we hear from Vince I want to mention something again. Sometimes when Vince speaks, he drops the "t" at the end of his words. For example, he will say "lef-handed" instead of "left-handed."

Y: Lift-handed中文就是左撇子。

J: Right. I mean, left. I mean that's correct!

Y: 好了，好了，我看你越说越糊涂。我们还是听听Vince的解释吧。

实录2 Vince: Number one he was a left-handed guitarist. So he played the instrument upside down which is even more incredible. Um Jimi was the first to use distortion and reverb, heh, without it sounding like a lot of noise. Everything he was doing he did wrong, technically, he was doing wrong.

Y: Vince刚才说的这段里有两个词比较难懂。Jody，你来解释一下吧。

J: Right. Distortion and reverb are two special terms for music and, especially, for Jimi Hendrix. Reverb is a music term that's short for reverberation or shaking and tremors in the music. But you know what, Yang Chen, we have so many examples from Jimi Hendrix himself ... let's just play that.

Y: 对，让听众从音乐中来体会。

J: Here's an example of distortion and reverb from Jimi Hendrix.

Y: 大家可要坐稳了。下面我们欣赏一段Jimi Hendrix演奏的音乐。

(Enter sample of Jimi Hendrix)

Y: Wow, 他的音乐太有震撼力了。

J: Isn't that amazing! Nobody thought that that could sound good. But Jimi Hendrix was such a great guitar player he made he sound great. And Vince felt the same way, too. In the next quote he talks about what makes the guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix so special. Yang Chen, he didn't just play the guitar. His concerts were the ultimate in showmanship.

Y: 是不是所有的音乐家我们都可以称他们为表演家呢？

J: No way! No, no, no, Jimi was special. He used crazy lights and crazy color shows. He even set his guitar on fire one time.

Y: 这就是他和其他音乐家的不同之处。

J: Right. And he just played the guitar so well. When he played it was true showmanship. Here us Vince.

实录3 Vince: For me, and this is what I think makes Jimi so special, is being different, is having your own individuality on the instrument. Everyone right now sounds like everyone else. Everyone else sounds like Jimi Hendrix.

J: I really like how Vince worded it. "Everyone right now sounds like everyone else. Everyone else sounds like Jimi Hendrix."

Y: 现在很多人都在模仿别人，而所有的人都在模仿Jimi Hendrix。

J: Not only was he incredibly individual, but when he played his concerts turned into a spiritual experience. Here is Vince.

实录4 Vince: Jimi once said that when he got on stage and when he started to play he can make the audience do anything. It was like a spiritual revival when he played.

Y: 我觉得音乐的力量的确是非常伟大。如果大家都来听Jimi Hendrix的音乐，这个世界一定会变得更加美好。

J: You are absolutely right. I couldn't agree with you more.

Y: 谢谢大家收听美语咖啡屋。我们下次节目再见。

J: Let the spirit of Jimi Hendrix fill the air!!

(Enter Jimi Hendrix music)

13. Stand-up Comedy

引用:

J: Hello everyone and welcome to American Cafe! My name's Jody.

Y: 欢迎大家到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。

J: Hey, Yang Chen, I have a joke. Do you have a minute?

Y: Uh huh.

J: Okay, did you hear the one about the mushroom who walked into the bar?

Y: 一只蘑菇走进一个酒吧，很好笑啊。

J: Well, a mushroom walked into a bar and the bartender said, "Hey, get out of here. We don't serve your kind."

Y: 为什么？

J: That's exactly what the mushroom asked. "What do mean you don't serve my kind...I'm a fun guy!" Fun-guy. You know, fungus ... See the mushroom's a fungus. Oh, never mind. It's kind of funny. Yang Chen, are you there? Don't you get it? Fungus...Fungi...

Y: Haha ... 是挺幽默的。我相信我们的听众在收音机前已经笑得直不起腰来了。

J: Oh, you know what, don't humor me, Yang Chen.

Y: 不错，你还是挺会讲笑话的。继续努力。

J: You know maybe I should take me friend's comedy class. You know, polish my act a little.

Y: A little？

J: Yeah, you know polish it up a little.

Y: 真的有这种专门教人讲笑话的课吗？

J: Oh sure. My friend Jason teaches a stand up comedy class so I went to check it out.

Y: 怎么样，有什么收获吗？

J: Actually the thing that surprised me the most was how serious the class was. Jason talked a lot about the pain and sorrow in comedy.

Y: 痛苦，悲伤？你确定他们上的是喜剧课？

J: I was surprised too. But let's here from Jason as he describes his philosophy of comedy.

实录1 Jason: Comedy is actually your pain turned into comedy; that is what it is. It's the things that affect you in your life. Unfortunately the things that most people will laugh at are your pain and your sorrow that actually is actually in their life as well in some sort of fashion, maybe a bad mother, a bad father, bad working conditions, something like that, but they can still identify.

Y: Jason讲的倒是挺有道理的。幽默就是把自己的痛苦经历当笑话讲给别人听。这样既可以引起他们的共鸣，又可以让他们哈哈一笑，忘记了生活中的不愉快。这的确是很深奥的道理。

J: I agree. We all laugh at things we can identify with. As a comic Jason is not afraid of sharing the most painful parts of his life. During our interview as we were driving from his stand-up class Jason talked about how he grew up with a heart condition, his open heart surgery and the connection to comedy.

实录2 Jason: Comedy has always been dear to my heart. Um, I grew up with a heart condition. I had open-heart surgery. Um, I found that comedy was the unique thing that would bring people together. And it was always something I could do to make them laugh and help them enjoy their life and actually take their pain and sorrow of their life, identify it with me ... and actually get some sort of ... maybe a closure or some sort of ending to their saga or their story.

Y: 其实我们每个人在生活中都有这样的经历。 你越是在困难的时候就越想看喜剧片或者听听笑话。

J: Oh, I think so too.

Y: 说到这里，我很好奇，Jason的学生都是些什么人呢？

J: Most of the students in the class were older women. There was only one man. Here's Jason again talking about one of his students.

实录3 Jason: One of my students had brain surgery and she wanted to use it as some sort of healing. Bring out her pain into the public and actually to resolve that and turn her pain into someone else's happiness. And, um, it's a way of putting closure on events.

Y: Jason刚才讲的这个学生做过脑部手术。她想借助喜剧来恢复健康。对这个学生来说，"putting closure on events" 就意味着要忘掉过去的痛苦，开始新的生活。说起来美国的这种 "stand-up comedy" 是一种很特殊的喜剧表演方式，有点类似中国的单口相声。

J: Stand-up comedy is one of the hardest types of performing. It literally means that you stand up in front of people and make them laugh.

Y: 我有个很严肃的问题：要是没有人笑该怎么办？

J: You know that's a good question. You feel vulnerable. You feel exposed. You feel embarrassed. You feel naked.

Y: 还是广播好，我们可以用音响效果来掩饰你的尴尬。

J: That's right!

Y: 对，要是没人笑，你按一下按钮用音响效果就可以了。

J: Let me tell my joke again and see if it's any better.

Y: 好阿，效果一定很好。

J: We'll finish with my joke. Thanks for joining us on American Cafe.

Y: 好，我们今天的时间到了。谢谢您到美语咖啡屋。我们下次节目再见。

J: So a mushroom walks into a bar ...

(laughter)

J: ... and the bartender says, "Hey get out of here! We don't serve your kind.

(laughter)