20 Flamenco Dancer

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. Welcome to American Cafe.

Y: Jody， 你最近忙吗？

J: Pretty busy.

Y: 你在忙什么呢？

J: You know, work, spending time with my friends, oh don't forget about the tap dance.

Y: 没错。最近我忽然觉得业余时间应该学点什么，你觉得我学跳舞怎么样？

J: That's a great idea. What type of dance?

Y: Flamenco!

J: Flamenco!? Did you say Flamenco?!

Y: 没错。你干吗那么吃惊，是不是觉得我学不会？

J: I'm sure you can learn Flamenco. But Flamenco, F-l-a-m-e-n-c-o. Flamenco comes from the Gypsies, you know.

(Flamenco music)

Y: 吉普赛舞蹈。太好了。

J: Yes, yes. And Flamenco is fiery! Like the Gypsies! And Flamenco, Yang Chen, is full of passion and excitement!

Y: 等一等，你冷静一下，不要这么激动。 不过仔细想一想也许你说的对，我可能真的不适合跳这种舞。我看我还是放弃吧。

J: I have an idea. Listen to what my friend Marlene has to say about Flamenco. Marlene, take it away:

实录1 Marlene: I'm Marlene English and this DC Dance Collective. And I am a Flamenco Dancer. I take classes here at DC Dance. Flamenco is probably different from mostly anything that you ever see. It is very, first, it's very fast. It's very loud. It's very fiery. The clothes alone are wonderful. There are a lot of ruffles and colors and it's very exciting.

Y: 热情、浪漫、自由、奔放。我就向往这样的生活！ 哎，这个Marlene学跳舞有多长时间了呢？

J: About six years now. And she began studying Flamenco as an adult. She started out in ballet as a child but was deeply drawn to Flamenco when she saw it perform at the age 14.

Y: 她为什么不在小时候就开始学呢？

J: Let's hear Marlene explain it.

实录2 Marlene: In this country, unfortunately, when I was younger it wasn't available. We did not see much of it. It wasn't very popular and it wasn't well known. I saw it one time when I was 14. And I loved it. But at that time I was in ballet as most American girls are. And I just always wanted to do it. But I wasn't able to ever really find where to do it or how to come to it until I actually was an adult.

Y: 噢，原来她小时候Flamenco并不流行，所以她一开始学的是芭蕾，长大以后才有机会学习Flamenco。

J: Let's listen to Marlene talk more about studying Flamenco:

实录3 Marlene: I have been dancing my entire life. I came to Flamenco about 6 years ago. And I have to tell it's one of the hardest things I've ever done. It's a very difficult dance form. It's physically strenuous. What hardest to learn, however, are the complicated rhythms.

Y: 听她这么一说，我倒真有点担心。Marlene都练了这么多年了，还说很难，她还说这种舞蹈的节奏很难掌握。这是什么意思呢？

J: Maybe the best way to explain is to play some Flamenco music.

(Enter Flamenco music)

Y: 现在我明白了这种音乐的节奏确实比别的音乐要快得多。我觉得我光听这个音乐我的膝盖都要软了。

J: Well nothing worthwhile is easy. Here is Marlene:

实录4 Marlene: The challenge is hard but the rewards are wonderful. It is something that is a complete release of passion. You are so consumed by it that's it worth all of that. It's a wonderful reward for all the hard work.

Y: Marlene说的没错。迎接挑战才能享受成功的快乐。这个大道理我是懂，不过如果要吃太多的苦我可要重新考虑考虑。

J: Wait, Yang Chen. Before you say another word, listen to the advice Marlene gives you about Flamenco:

实录5 Marlene: If you are interested in trying out Flamenco and doing it, it's great fun. There are great challenges but it is so fun and so rewarding. Don't let it scare you, even if you're older and you haven't danced. Do it anyway. Let your soul be free!

Y: Marlene说得太好了。Flamenco。

J: No, Yang Chen, say it louder!

Y: Flamenco?

J: Flamenco! Repeat after me.

J & Y: Flamenco!!!

Y: 请你给我的灵魂装上翅膀，让我自由地飞翔吧！

J: Way to go, my Gypsy Soul Sister!

Y: 哎， Jody, 我怎么受了你的影响，也变得疯疯颠颠了。

J: No more talking, it's time to dance. Thank you for joining us on American Cafe!

21 Campaign Manager

引用:

Y: 各位听众好，欢迎到美语咖啡屋，我是杨晨。

J: Hello. Welcome to American Cafe. I'm Jody. So, Yang Chen, this is a big political year in the United States. The race for the White House is not going to be an easy one.

Y: 你说的没错。今年的竞争非常激烈。现在你只要一打开电视，就能看到竞选广告里民主党和共和党在相互攻击。

J: But Yang Chen, don't forget; it's not only the White House. There are also Congressional races going on in the States that are very important. In fact, our guest today is Richard Martin, the campaign manager for Christopher Turman's congressional challenge in West Virginia.

实录1 Richard Martin: My name is Richard Martin. I'm managing Christopher Turman's Congressional challenge in West Virginia 2.

Y: Oh, Richard是一个竞选活动负责人。他刚才说的West Virginia 2是什么意思?

J: West Virginia 2 means the Second Congressional District in West Virginia. All States are divided into districts and those districts each has their own congressional representation.

Y: 这种选区的划分还挺复杂的。

J: So complicated! That's why I'm not in politics. So, I asked Richard why he is drawn to politics. Here's what he had to say.

Y: 我看我们还是听听Richard来解释他为什么热衷于政治吧。

实录2 Richard Martin: I've been a political professional for about 5 years. I'm drawn to it mostly because I...I...I believe that all too often the government's used as a tool for certain people to get what they want done and it sort of ignores what would be better for most people.

Y: Richard投身政治是要促使政府为大众，而不是为少数人服务。嗯，我觉得他这个理念很崇高啊。

J: Oh, absolutely. Many people believe that government is a tool that is used by huge companies and big business and not everyday people, you know, 老百姓。

Y: 对，我们选国会议员就是要让他们为老百姓服务。

J: Exactly. And Richard believes that the better representatives we elect, the better everyone's lives will be. Now, let's hear from Richard.

实录3 Richard Martin: I think the better representatives we elect the better everyone's lives are gonna be. And we need our government to work for the people and not the huge companies.

Y: 他说得没错。政府就是应该代表人民的利益，所以大家都应该参与政治。那候选Turman先生有没有在集会上讲话呢？

J: Of course, here's the candidate, Christopher Turman, explaining why he is running for office in West Virginia. He also slams, oh, “slams”... Yang Chen, 用汉语怎么讲？

Y:就是猛烈抨击的意思。

J: He slams his opponent, a Republican woman named Shelly Moore Capito by saying that she was only elected on the coattails of President Bush.

Y: 你刚才用coattail这个词，就是上衣或燕尾服的下摆。这让我想起中文里的“裙带关系”，是不是这个意思呢？

J: 就是了！Exactly! Let's first hear Turman use the phrase "to ride on someone's coattails."

实录4 Turman: And this event is my first event and this is the first time I'm going to say publicly why I am running. In 2000 George Bush won the White House by winning West Virginia. And in 2004 he is going to lose the White House by losing West Virginia. And Shelly Moore Capito who came in on his coattails is going to go home with him.

J: Riding someone's coattails to the top is common in politics. Coattail is spelled C-O-A-T-T-A-I-L.

Y: 你是在什么地方采访了Richard？周围好象很吵。

J: Oh, we spoke at a fundraiser for the candidate.

Y: 其实关于竞选筹款也有很多法律条文，不过那些法律条文实在太枯燥，今天我们就不谈了。

J: Well, we won't talk about it today. But, Yang Chen, if you want to pursue your dream of running for office someday, you'll have to know about fundraising. You could run to be the mayor of ... Happyville!

Y: 如果我成为Happyville的市长，我会让所有的街道都干净整洁，Happyville永远鸟语花香，坐taxi不用花钱，买东西不用排队......

J: Yang Chen! Yang Chen, wake up and smell the coffee. You're not running for mayor of Happyville. You're the host of American Cafe. Now, will you say goodbye to everyone.

Y: 噢，对不起，我们下次再见。

J: Vote for Yang Chen!

22. Garrett the Stylist

引用:

Y: 各位听众好，欢迎您到美语咖啡屋，我是杨晨。

J: Hello. Welcome to American Cafe. My name is Jody.

Y: Jody, 我发现你今天头发很漂亮。

J: Oh, thanks so much! But, Yang Chen don't get me started on my hair.

Y: 为什么？

J: I was butchered a couple of years ago by people who just didn't understand how to cut curly hair. Look! I have a picture of what one of them did to my hair.

Y: Oh, oh...

J: I know! It's bad!

Y: 其实也不是很丑了，不过看上去是有点奇怪。

J: I know. Give me that back.

(Enter sound of picture being snatched away)

J: I know it was strange looking. But finally, finally, I found someone who can cut my hair. Garret Johnson at Fiddleheads!

Y: 我倒是很好奇这个Garret是个什么样的人。

J: Well, Garret had a few rocky starts as a young man. He dropped out of college four times and then got kicked out of his parent's house.

Y: 他四次从大学退学，还被他父母赶了出来。这个人一定非常叛逆。

J: Those rocky starts led him to a very successful career. He is known all over Washington, D.C. for his ability to cut curly hair. And now...the famous...Mr. Garrett Johnson!!

(Enter drum roll under)

实录1 Garret Johnson: Why I got into the hairdressing? Briefly, partially was because of dropping out of college four times and not knowing what to do with my life. And I got kicked out of my parent's house and while I was kicked out I met hairdresser. And I saw that he did really bad hair and the women were giving him a lot of money. And I said, "I can do that and I can do it better. "

Y: 有的人没上过大学也可以有成功的事业。Garrett就是一个很好的例子。

J: Absolutely! Especially for artistic people who don't know what they want to do college can be a terribly boring place.

Y: 你是在告诉我们的听众上学不重要吗？

J: No, no, of course not. Getting an education is very important, of course. But some people find other ways.

Y: 没错。我只是跟你开玩笑。上大学并不一定适合每个人。

J: And I can tell, in high school I wasn't a very good student. But I managed to go to China and study Chinese. So, don't give up! If you are a young person who's in high school or college and you don't like it that much, don't give up! You'll find something that you like. Okay, maybe we should go back to our show.

Y: 他父母为什么要把他赶出来呢？

J: Yang Chen, I don't know! That's none of our business!

Y: Uh oh. 对不起。我不该探听别人的隐私，可是我真的很想知道啊！

J: I know, I asked but he wouldn't tell me.

Y: You are terrible. 说起“terrible”这个词来，你知道上次我的头发就被剪坏了!

J: I remember! Your hair was terrible. I remember that terrible haircut, Yang Chen. ... Well, it was bad.

Y: 有那么回事吗？

J: Oh, you're telling me? You are telling me about a terrible haircut!? You, Yang Chen, are tell... Look at this picture!! Look at this picture!! That is a terrible haircut. And you know what? You know a good hairdresser when you meet them. I asked Garrett "What is the hardest thing about being a hairdresser?" and this is what he had to say.

实录2 Garret Johnson: In my opinion one of the most difficult things is that if we make mistakes or if something doesn't work out, there's really not much we can do. Whereas in a regular job, for example, if you're typing and you make a mistake you put white out on it and it's gone. If you mess up someone's hair it's there for the rest of ... until it grows out.

Y: 说了半天他的意思是说你的头发剪坏了，他也没法儿补救。

J: But you don't have to worry (be)'cause Garrett very rarely makes mistakes. But everyone makes mistakes. On the other hand, I bet it feels really to make someone feel happy about how they look. Let's hear from Garrett.

实录3 Garret Johnson: Having someone tell you "You're a genius!" that's really nice! But really talking to people and meeting new people is what I like about it the most.

Y: 看来Garrett真的很喜欢他的工作。下次我也应该试试让他给我剪头发。

J: Oh, good idea. Summer's here and you get a short haircut.

Y: 我头发还不够短啊？

J: A really short haircut.

(Enter buzz sound of razor)

J: Thanks for joining us on American Cafe.

Y: 谢谢您到美语咖啡屋。我们下次节目再见。不过到那时候我的头发就非常非常短了。

23 DC Politics & Culture

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. Welcome to American Cafe! Yang Chen, that is a great outfit! You certainly have an eye for fashion. Hey, speaking of fashion have you ever thought about how fashion is connected to politics and society.

Y: 时装和政治的关系？我从来没想过。

J: I never thought about it until I spoke to a woman named Tina. She's lived in Washington, D.C. for many years and she studied fashion.

Y: Tina在华盛顿住了多少年？

J: Let's hear Tina as she answers the question, "How long have you lived in Washington, D.C.?"

Tina: Seven administrations.

Y: Interesting! 她没有说她在华盛顿住了多少年，而是说Seven administrations就是七届政府的意思。哇，她可真是个见过世面的人啊。

J: Oh, I bet she has. And with her background in fashion, Tina has a really interesting view of D.C. that involves the connection between politics, society and fashion.

Y: 说起fashion来，这当然是我最喜欢谈论的题目之一。不过政治和时装真的有那么大关系吗？

J: Oh, let's hear from Tina as she compares the Democrats and the Clinton administration who she feels are more hip, more liberal, with the more conservative Republican Party.

Y: Jody, 你刚才说的hip， 你能给听众解释一下这个好吗？

J: Oh, sure. Hip is spelled H-I-P. If a person if "hip" they are in sync or in step with fashion.

Y: 就是很时髦的意思。

J: 对了！Exactly! Here's Tina.

实录1 Tina: I'd say, since the Clinton administration it has become much more hip because the Clinton's brought in a much younger, hipper, much more liberal crowd which is much open and less conservative clothing.

Y: 如果我没理解错的话， 她的意思是说，不同政党的政府能够影响人们的行为举止和穿着打扮， 是吗？

J: You got it. The pulse P-U-L-S-E of the city changes overnight.

Y: Pulse在这里是节奏的意思。

J: Talking about the former President Clinton, another difference is that he often had free concerts on the Mall where he brought in bands from all over the world.

Y: 没错，在克林顿执政的时候，在白宫附近的大草坪上经常有免费音乐会，而且那些乐队来自世界各地。

J: Again, here's Tina.

实录2 Tina: You can feel the pulse It just changes overnight. Down to the inauguration Bill Clinton brought in bands from all over the world like Los Lobos and Santana. And these were free concerts on The Mall. Whereas, during the Reagan Administration they banned the Beach Boys. I mean, it's this complete flip flop in culture.

Y: 你得解释一下Flip Flop这个说法。

J: Flip flop is spelled F-L-I-P, F-L-O-P. And flip flop means to change from one thing quickly to the exact opposite.

Y: Flip flop就是突然转变或截然不同的意思。

J: There's also a flip flop in what restaurants are popular. Tina explains that Democrats usually prefer fun and trendy restaurants which is a flip flop from the more expensive, what she calls the "expense account" restaurants that Republicans prefer.

实录3 Tina: The restaurants that people go to are more fun. They are less like the expense account restaurants. That's more of a Republican thing to do. Whereas the Democrats tend to bring in people who are working on human rights and the environment. You're not going to take them to a steak house if you're working with PETA. So, there's a direct reflection on not only the clothes but on restaurants and business.

Y: Tina 这个人好玩儿 。不过你得先解释一下PETA是什么意思，要不别人以为你不带他们去吃牛排是因为你小气呢。

J: I'm not cheap. I just don't eat meat very often. But PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Y: 噢，是个动物保护组织。

J: Exactly. So, I don't think they eat a lot of steak. I'm sure of that. But you know Bush is from Texas and Texas produces a huge amount of beef.

Y: 对，这下我知道今年大选我要投谁的票了，我最不喜欢吃牛肉，所以...

J: Hey, what a minute! You're not supposed to say that on the air! You know better than that.

Y: 那好吧，那我等会儿悄悄告诉你好了。各位听众，我们下次节目再见。

J: Thanks for joining us on American Cafe!

Sean & Natasha

引用:

Y: 各位听众好，欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。

J: Hello and welcome to American Cafe! I'm Jody. This week, Yang Chen and I go back to the dance hall!

Y: 没错，不过这次我们要学的是交际舞。

J: Today we are going to talk to Sean and Natasha. They are dance partners who compete in a style of ballroom dancing called Latin dancing.

Y: 我告诉你一句悄悄话。

J: What's that?

Y: 其实我不太喜欢交际舞。

J: Why don't you like ballroom dancing, Yang Chen?

Y: 其实也没有什么特别的原因。就是一说起来交际舞我就想到那些跳舞的人，他们的姿势特别强硬，有时候脸上的表情有点奇怪。

J: Well, I think I know what you are talking about. But, Sean and Natasha don't do that kind of dancing. The style of dancing that Sean and Natasha do is Latin style. And it is hot and passionate and dramatic and most of all sexy.

Y: Sexy?

J: Very sexy. When I was watching Sean and Natasha and the way their bodies moved together, 我的脸红了。 They have great chemistry.

Y: 你也会脸红。你刚才说的great chemistry，这里是不是说他们两人搭配得天衣无缝。

J: Exactly. Kind of like the great chemistry between us, Yang Chen!

Y: 现在轮到我脸红了。

J: First, let's hear from Sean.

实录1 Sean: I'm Sean Murphy and we're standing in the Chevy Chase Ballroom, which is on Wisconsin Avenue. And I'm here with Natasha, my partner. We both compete in international style Latin dancing which is a form of ballroom dance.

Y: 他们两人是不是一块儿跳舞有很长时间了？

J: It seemed like they had been dancing forever so I asked. And Natasha's answer surprised me. Here's Natasha.

实录2 Natasha: Together we've dancing since November of 2003. But separately of course we had different partners previously and danced separately, of course. But then we got together in November and decided to dance together.

Y: 其实他们两在一块儿的时间不是太长。

J: Not long at all. Yang Chen, Some people just click. C-L-I-C-K, which means they instantly, have great chemistry together.

Y: 没错，就好象我们两一样。一见如故。

J: 一见如故。

Y: Yeah.

J: We clicked.

Y: Natasha是从那个国家来的，听她讲话好象有点口音。

J: Natasha is from Russia but her accent is very slight. I think she's been in the States for many, many years.

Y: Jody, 我想学跳舞并不难，但是要达到参加比赛的水平可就不容易了。

J: Most definitely. And according to Sean, if you are going to compete in a dance competition, a good partnership is everything.

Y: 好，我们听听 Sean 是怎么说的：

实录3 Sean: Oh, my gosh, partners ... A partnership is pretty much everything, because when...like right now we're probably slacking a little bit and we're practicing maybe three times a week, maybe six to nine hours a week. And to be really competitive, the top couples do it almost full-time, like 40 hours a week.

Y: 他和Natasha两个人每星期要练习6到9个小时，而且他还说练习这么长时间都不够。

J: And now back to Natasha, that "special something" for her is the fact that Sean is such a good lead on the dance floor.

实录4 Natasha: Sometimes there's just one person, two persons, it's very rarely you can find a person that you can have actually good connection with, very easily you can understand that person's lead.

Y: "Lead" 就是领舞的意思。

J: Right. In dancing, the man is the lead. So, let's hear from Sean.

实录5 Sean: A lead isn't really telling the woman what to do but it's more suggesting "it would be nice if you did this now."

Y: 看来他们真的很有默契。 我相信他们会在比赛中取得好成绩。

J: Oh, I bet they're going to do really well at their next competition. To help them win their competitions, Yang Chen, they work with a coach who gives them choreography, 舞蹈动作的设计。

实录6 Sean: When we compete we have choreography. So, we have these routines that our coach choreographs for us so that each step is kind of predetermined. But, there's still a lot of how we ... how my body moves, how her body moves and how are bodies together. And that's... it's not just choreography, but its how we are, I guess, physically connected.

Y: 看来跳舞真的不光是技巧问题，两个人配合默契更加重要。

J: Exactly. We're back to having great chemistry.

Y: 没错! 你现在说服我了，我也开始喜欢交际舞了。

J: Listen to that music, Yang Chen. It's passionate, sexy! It's hot! Thanks for joining us on American Cafe.

Y: 谢谢大家收听美语咖啡屋。我们下次节目再见。

John's Carpentry


Y: 各位听众好，我是杨晨。欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。

J: Welcome to American Cafe and today we're going to meet John who's a carpenter.

Y: 真的？那太好了。我从小就向往当一个木匠。每天都可以闻到木头的清香，可以听到锯子，锤子这些工具悦耳的声音。

(Enter tool sounds)

J: Wow, Yang Chen, I had not idea that you love carpentry so much. I guess we'll have to add that to list of your dream jobs. Let's see. What do we have so far? Fighter pilot, politician and now carpenter.

Y: 开战斗机，作政治家都不错，不过我今天对木匠最感兴趣。你赶快介绍我认识一个木匠吧。

J: Sounds good. Let's get started. Hey, you guys! Turn those tools off back there! We're trying to talk! Yeah, yeah... All right, John is co-owner of a construction company and he and his partner Tony have worked together for about ten years. Here's John.

John: Yeah, we do custom carpentry.

Jody: John, how long have been doing carpentry?

实录1 John: Probably about 15 years. Yeah, about 15 year doing carpentry. Ten years with Tony about five years just, you know, learning from the older guys. You show an interest and they show you the secrets they want to teach you and I learned. My dad was a carpenter too.

Y: 我想啊，John 的父亲也是个木匠，那么对他来说作木匠应该是最好的选择吧。

J: It's a natural choice. But I have a feeling, Yang Chen, it's not an easy job. John said there's long, hard hours with very low compensation。

Y: 你说的low compensation是什么意思啊？

J: You know, compensation. Money! Moulah! Ka-ching!

Y: 我们还是听听John是怎么说的吧。

实录2 John: We wish the money was better. We put in long hard hours and it just doesn't seem like we're being compensated the way we need to be compensated.

J: You heard it from John - long, hard hours and low pay. You know, that just doesn't sound like a Yang Chen type of job.

Y: 你这是什么意思。你是说我就喜欢那种工资高又轻松的工作吗？

J: No, no, no, no. There are personal rewards with work as well. Again, here's a personal reward John gets from building a friend's deck.

实录4 John: Right now, here we are right now sitting in here looking out. It's raining. Just put done a finished product and it looks great. I guess that's the satisfaction. And to know there's gonna (going to) be a lot of parties on this deck. Alright. Good people here. Good friends. And, ah, that's basically what it's about.

Y: 他怎么好象在给啤酒作广告啊。

J: He would approve of that comment. Especially since of us, uh, you know, drank a couple of beers after they worked on the deck that day.

Y: 你也喜欢喝啤酒？

J: Like beer? Yang Chen, you are looking at the 1993 Beer Girl of Kaifeng's best brewery. 汴京啤酒好喝！

Y: 我不知道你曾经有过这么辉煌的成就，居然给河南开封市的啤酒作电视广告。那你当时一定也是个名人吧。

J: 不敢当。Now, I wouldn't go that far. But anyway, back to John. John uses many casual expressions when he talks like "all right" "that's what it's about."

Y: 他说的"that's what it's about." 意思是“这就是重点。”

J: That's what important, right. That's what it's all about. Good friends. Good people. couple of parties, you know.

Y: 看来他不但是个好木匠，而且很关心他的顾客。

J: Yeah, John really wants to do a good job. According to him when you work in someone's home you can't run away from the work that you do. It has to be good, right?

Y: 没错。

J: That can be stressful, I bet.

实录4 John: We have great relationships with all of our customers. They're there everyday looking at what you do. So, we try to do the best we can. And, you know, I do the same kind of work I would do in my own house in someone else's house.

Y:他说的没错，在别人家干活， 主人天天监督着你，是挺不好受的。

J: So what do are saying, Yang Chen. Do you still dream of being a carpenter and work in people's homes?

Y:算了吧。我还是放弃我当木匠的梦想吧。

J: I thought so.

Y: 我的又一个梦想破灭了。

J: I'm sure that everyone will learn very soon another dream job that Ms. Yang Chen has. So, stay tuned.

Y: 还是你了解我， Jody。好，各位听众，我们下次节目再见。

John, A Scuba Diver


Y: 各位听众好，欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。

J: And I'm Jody! Welcome to American Cafe! Thanks for dropping in. Summer is just around the corner.

Y: 没错，夏天要来了，我想夏天水上运动应该是最受欢迎的吧。

J: Oh yea! Water sports! I love it! Swimming, rafting, boating...

Y: ...嘿，别忘了潜水。

J: Oh, that's right. I thought you would forget about it, since last time when the topic of scuba diving came up, you sounded kind of ify about it.

Y: Ify? 我才不ify呢！ 哎， "ify" 到底是什么意思啊。

J: "Ify" means you're not sure about something. You're full of ifs, "if this happens..." or "if that happens..."

Y: Oh. 就是不太确定的意思。没错，我 是有点ify，因为我怕水。

J: Well, whether or not I'm afraid of the ocean, this year I'm going to try it! I've had a strong feeling lately of wanting to leave the Earth. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Y: 我看你又有点异想天开， 想离开地球可不好办。你又不能去太空，那剩下的选择就只有到水底下了。

J: You got it! So, I thought I should meet some people who scuba dive. Today we're going to meet John.

实录1 John : My name is John. I'm from the Dive Shop in Fairfax, Virginia. Well, I started scuba diving in 1957 so I've been diving longer than most people I know have been alive. I have almost 10,000 scuba dives in my life and this is what I do for a career.

Y: Wow, 他从57年就开始潜水了，那时候我还没出生呢。

J: Me either.

Y: 那你说John 为什么热衷于潜水呢？

J: Let's have John answer the question "Why do you love scuba diving?"

实录2 John: Well, most everyone that you know doesn't dive, so that separates you from most people. What I find is it's an opportunity to go ahead and appreciate a portion of the Earth that most people will never get a chance to see. An opportunity to go out into a relatively pristine and wild environment is quite fascinating.

Y: 他刚才说的pristine这个词很好听，是什么意思呢，Jody.

J: Pristine. Pristine is spelled P-R-I-S-T-I-N-E and it means that something is pure and untouched. Usually, pristine is used to describe a natural environment or landscape.

Y:就是原始，或者说没有被污染的意思。

J: But you know, Yang Chen, simply going underwater is not the end goal of scuba diving. There's much more to it than that.

Y: 那么潜水的真正目的是什么呢？

J: Well, John says that scuba diving is not the end activity. It's all about underwater recreation, you know fun activities. Again, here's John.

实录3 John: Scuba diving itself is not the end activity here; it's underwater recreation whether or not it's exploration, whether or not it's photography, whether or not it's examination of sunken ships, or whether or not it's just simply a walk in the woods.

Y: 听他这么一说，水下还真的有那么多有意思的活动呢。不过对我来说，幻想一下还可以，真要到水底探险，那我还真的先克服怕水的心理。

J: Okay, we're going to try something here. Yang Chen, I want you to join me in a little exercise to get over your fear of water. Okay, close your eyes.

Y: 在这儿？

J: No, really close 'em. Just close your eyes. In fact, everybody out there close your eyes with us.

Y: 哎，你怎么没闭上眼睛啊？

J: Hey, just listen. Okay, just close your eyes, Yang Chen. Trust me.

Y: Okay.

J: First, we're stepping into the cold ocean water.

Y: 我们现在走进了冰冷的海水。

J: We're slowly sinking down, down, down

Y: 沉下去，一直往下沉。

J: You're breathing is relaxed.

Y: 在宁静的大海里你仿佛能听到自己的呼吸声。

J: You hope.

Y: Jody, 不要开玩笑，我们现在可是在水底下呢。

J: Sorry, sorry. Okay, let's go back. Let's go back. Let's go back. Suddenly, a dark image obscured behind a school of fish and seaweed becomes clearer.

Y: 突然之间，你看一个巨大的黑色怪物，越来越清晰地出现在你面前。

J: It's a ship long sunken and long forgotten.

Y: 原来是一艘沉睡了好几百年的船。

J: Forgotten treasures awaits you!

Y: 哇，船上有那么多金银珠宝，我们发财了！！！

J: No, no, no. We have to go back!

Y: 这时候，你还念什么诗啊 。快点帮我拿个大口袋来！