第二站 “迷醉”德國

德國，歐洲大陸的心臟，工業大國，經歷過分裂與統一；深沉、內斂、嚴謹、硬朗的德意志民族，出過黑格爾、歌德、貝多芬、希特勒和舒馬赫……還是這些么？已經OUT啦！紅發女郎、帥小伙、啤酒盛宴，那才是現在德國非親歷其境而不能言語的感受。

James: Next we have Sue and Jack， ①who taught 1)ESL at a university in Germany for a one-year stint. Welcome back， Sue and Jack!

Sue and Jack: Thanks， James!

James: How was your stay in Germany?

Jack: We had a great time teaching in Germany and in our spare time we visited many wonderful tourist spots in the country.

Sue: We found the German students very keen on learning English. Many already spoke two or three other languages. Quite amazing!

James: What about the culture in Germany?

Jack: Our first meal was quite delightful. The German people have great differences in appearance.

Sue: Oh， ②you’ve got that right. Many young German guys are so cute. I bet girls go crazy for them.

Jack: Ah， what’s more， ③German women tend to have red hair and are quite hot， too. But that rule did not apply for all. The waitresses in the restaurant that we often went to were kind of 2)chunky while the men there had large beer bellies.

Sue: Jack， ④you’ve just said a mouthful! I didn’t like the food at first but after a couple of beers， the meal tasted like a 3)gourmet 4)delicacy.

Jack: Yeah. I really like German beer. ⑤On more than one occasion I got hammered and suffered from a hangover the next day.

James: Did you have any difficulty in the language when you were in Germany?

Jack: I took some German courses in college a few years ago but ⑥the local dialect had thrown me for a loop. Now I am really learning German as I teach English to the students.

James: How about your travels in Germany? Tell us more—⑦shoot away!

Sue: Once， a few weeks after we arrived in Germany， we decided to take a train trip to Berlin. But we actually took the wrong train and traveled in the wrong direction.

James: Oh dear! What happened then?

Jack: Well， it was getting dark as we found out we were on the wrong train. ⑧So we decided to play it by ear. We ended up at a little town and stayed overnight there. It was quite an adventure.

Sue: Yeah. We had a lovely time in a strange place. ⑨Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise.

James: Well， that’s a fantastic experience. Thank you for being here， Jack and Sue.

Jack and Sue: Thank you for having us.

詹姆斯：下面我們有請蘇和杰克，他們在德國一所大學里教了一年的英語。蘇和杰克，歡迎你們回來。

蘇和杰克：謝謝，詹姆斯！

詹姆斯：你們在德國的日子怎

么樣？

杰克：在德國教書的日子我們過得非常開心，課余時間我們還游覽了德國的許多名勝古跡。

蘇：我們發現德國學生非常熱衷于學英語。許多學生已經能講兩到三門外語了。真了不起！

詹姆斯：德國的文化怎么樣？

杰克：我們的第一頓飯吃得非常愉快。德國人外表看起來都很不一樣。

蘇：噢，你可說對了。德國的小伙子長得很可愛。我相信女孩子都會為他們瘋狂的。

杰克：啊，還有，德國女人喜歡染紅頭發，也很火辣。但也不是每個人都這樣。我們常去那家餐館的女服務員就又矮又胖，而那里的男士都有大大的啤酒肚。

蘇：杰克，你說到點子上了！起初我并不喜歡那里的食物，但幾杯啤酒下肚以后，這頓飯嘗起來簡直就是珍饈美味。

杰克：對。我真的喜歡德國啤酒。我已經有好幾次喝得東歪西倒，第二天還得承受宿醉帶來的后遺癥。

詹姆斯：你在德國時，存在語言上的障礙嗎？

杰克：幾年前我在大學修過德語課程，可是地方方言卻讓我陷入困境?，F在，在教學生英語的同時，我才真正地在學

德語。

詹姆斯：在德國的旅程怎么樣？跟我們多說點——快

說吧！

蘇：有一次，在剛到德國幾周后，我們決定坐火車去柏林。但是，實際上我們坐錯了車，去錯了方向。

詹姆斯：噢，天哪！然后發生什么事了？

杰克：噢，當我們發現坐錯車時，天已經越來越黑了。于是，我們決定到時隨機應變。最后我們到了一個小鎮，在那兒呆了一晚上。那真是一次不同尋常的冒險。

蘇：沒錯。在那個陌生的地方我們過得很愉快。塞翁失馬，焉知非福呢。

詹姆斯：喔，那真是奇妙的經歷。謝謝你們能來，杰克

和蘇。

杰克和蘇：謝謝你的邀請。

Smart Sentences

① ...who taught ESL at a university in Germany for a one-year stint. ……他們在德國一所大學里教了一年的英語。

a stint: a period of time which sb. spends doing sth.（約定的期限）。例如：

My two-year stint in the army ended last month.

我兩年的兵役在上個月結束了。

② You’ve got that right. 你可說對了。

you’ve got that right: showing agreement with the other（你可說對了）。例如：

—The Olympic Opening Ceremony was splendid， but CCTV’s live broadcast was quite disappointing.

奧運會的開幕式很棒，但央視的直播太差勁了。

—You’ve got that right.

這你可說對了。

③ German women tend to have red hair and are quite hot. 德國女人喜歡染紅頭發，也很火辣。

quite hot: very sexy（很性感，火辣）。例如：

The models on the show last night were quite hot.

昨晚表演的模特兒都挺性感的。

④ You’ve just said a mouthful! 你說到點子上了！

say a mouthful: a very correct or meaningful remark（說到點子上，說得很對）。例如：

—I think Liu Xiang should fix his injury before thinking about going back to the field.

我覺得劉翔應該先把傷治好，再想回到田徑場上的事。

—You’ve said a mouthful.

你說得很對。

⑤ On more than one occasion I got hammered and suffered from a hangover the next day. 我已經有好幾次喝得東歪西倒，第二天還得承受宿醉帶來的后遺癥。

more than one occasion: several times（好幾次）。例如：

I spotted a mouse going around in the office on more than one occasion.

我有好幾次在辦公室里看到老鼠。

get hammered: very drunk（喝得很醉）。例如：

John got hammered after the game last night.

約翰在昨晚的比賽后喝得酩酊大醉。

⑥ The local dialect had thrown me for a loop. 可是地方方言卻讓我陷入困境。

throw sb. for a loop: put sb. in an unpleasant situation（身處困境）。例如：

The financial crisis has thrown a lot of businesses for

a loop.

金融危機讓許多企業身處困境。

⑦ Shoot away! 快說吧！

shoot away: go ahead and say it（有話快說）。例如：

—Do you want to know what happened last night?

你想知道昨晚發生了什么嗎？

—Of course， shoot away.

當然，快說吧。

⑧ So we decided to play it by ear. 于是，我們決定到時隨機應變。

play it by ear: do things or make decisions by responding to events rather than by planning（臨時應付，隨遇而安）。例如：

Well， we’ll first watch the movie and then play it by ear.

嗯，我們先去看電影，然后走一步看一步吧。

⑨ Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise. 塞翁失馬，焉知非福呢。

Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise: sth. that appears to be unpleasant may have a very different truth（塞翁失馬，安知非福）。