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EPT 美語
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第十一部 第七課: clam up , to tank

  • Larry 和李華正在為他的朋友 Laura 擔心.他們兩人都覺得 Laura 好像有甚麼心事.今天李華會學到兩個常用語: clam upto tank
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  • Laura has been acting really strange lately, but every time I try to ask her what's bothering her, she just clams up.
  • 我也注意到了, Laura 最近是有點怪怪的.我也問過她怎麼回事,她就是不肯說 .... 對了, Larry,你剛才說 clam up,那是甚麼意思啊?
  • To clam up is to become silent and refuse to talk about something.
  • To clam up 就是閉緊了嘴巴,不肯把心裡的事告訴別人.疑?可是 Larry, clam 不是一種蛤蜊嗎?這跟說不說話有甚麼關係啊?
  • Yes, in fact, that's where the expression comes from. Clams can close their shells very tightly. If a person refuses to talk, his lips are closed just like a clam's shell.
  • 喔~,對哎.一個人嘴巴閉得緊緊的時候,就好像蛤蜊閉上殼,怎麼也不打開.這個說法太形象了!
  • The problem is that Laura has clammed up about whatever is bothering her, which means that we have no way of helping her out.
  • 那倒也是喔.她要不說,我們又怎麼能幫她呢.也許我們應該讓她一個人靜一靜,等她想說的時候啊,自然會告訴我們到底是怎麼回事兒。
  • That's probably the only thing we can do.
  • 其實啊我爸爸也是一樣呢.心裡如果有事啊,從來不肯說.有的時候把我媽急的一直生氣。
  • A lot of people clam up when something is bothering them. I tend to clam up when I'm really nervous.
  • 我也是哎!我只要一緊張啊,我就不說話了.每個人都不一樣,像我妹妹啊,她一生氣就可以幾天都不說話.別人也不知道她在生甚麼氣。
  • That's like my mother. She could clam up for days when she is angry with my father.
  • 你媽媽跟你爸爸生氣的時候幾天不說話啊.那,你爸爸怎麼辦呢?
  • Whenever my mother clams up, he clams up too.
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  • I found out what was bothering Laura. She was upset because the last play she wrote tanked. Everyone criticized it.
  • 大家都批評她最近寫的劇本.為甚麼啊?你說她寫的那個劇本 tanked,那是甚麼意思啊? Tank,不就是打仗用的坦克嗎?
  • No, this has nothing to do with the tank used in a war. This 「tank」 is a verb. When something 「tanks」 that means that it is a complete failure.
  • 哦~,這個 tank 和軍用坦克啊毫無關係.這裡說的 tank 是個動詞,意思就是完全失敗.所有的劇評家都批評 Laura 的舞台劇啊,那真是太慘了.可憐的 Laura!
  • Yeah, no wonder she clammed up. I wouldn't want to talk about it if one of my projects tanked, either.
  • 就是啊,自己的成果啊被別人這樣批評,心情一定不好受.對了, Larry,為甚麼大家不喜歡 Laura 的劇本呢?
  • I have no idea. I haven't seen or read her play, so I have no way of judging her work. Laura is a good playwright, I don't understand why her work tanked.
  • 嗯,沒有看過她的劇本啊我們是很難判斷.不過, Laura 確實是一個很好的劇作家.也許啊我們應該去看看她寫的舞台劇,說不定沒有這麼糟麼嘛。
  • Even if the play really is terrible, we could at least show our support by going to see it.
  • 你說的對,不管啊是好是壞,我們去看就代表我們對 Laura 的支持.好!我去問她在哪兒可以買票. Larry,那你甚麼時候有空去看呢?
  • Let's go this Friday. Originally, I had planned to see a movie this Friday, but the movie I wanted to see tanked, so I might as well go and see Laura's play.
  • 怎麼就這麼巧啊?你要看的電影也失敗啦.好,就這麼說定了.我去買票,星期五啊我們就去看 Laura 的舞台劇囉!
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  • 今天李華學到兩個常用語.第一個是: clam up,是指「一個人不肯把心裡的話告訴別人」.另一個常用語是: to tank,也就是「失敗」的意思。
EPT 美語
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