CNN互動英語學習報 - 七月三十日

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Weekly Headline News 一週頭條

Gossip 全球八卦

Sentence Patterns 基本句型

Weekly Test 每週小測驗

2003 年 7 月 30 日 (No.120)

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演員尼克諾特緩刑期間不檢行為法官不予追究（ 2003/7/22 ）
Actor Nick Nolte off the hook for probation violation

英國高球公開賽新人寇帝斯大爆冷門奪冠（ 2003/7/21 ）
Rookie Ben Curtis takes golf's British Open

蘋果電腦對手準備要分一杯羹（ 2003/7/21 ）
Rivals ready to take a bite out of Apple

阿諾史瓦辛格可能角逐加州州長（ 2003/7/18 ）
Schwarzenegger might run for California governorship

HBO 囊括109 項艾美獎提名（ 2003/7/21 ）
HBO racks up 109 Emmy nominations

研究︰西尼羅河病毒會造成持續癱瘓（ 2003/7/23 ）
Study: West Nile virus can cause lasting paralysis

off the hook 脫身；擺脫困擾；洗脫罪名

off the hook 本來是指「魚從魚鉤上逃脫，重獲自由」，引申為「脫離令人困擾的責任或罪名」。也可寫成 let off the hook 或 get off the hook。

After the manager admitted to stealing the money from the store, the clerk was off the hook.
在經理坦承偷竊店裡的錢之後，該店員才洗脫嫌疑。

rookie 新手；菜鳥

rookie 是名詞，指「新人；新手；初學者」。

The rookie cop succeeded in arresting a gang leader during his second day on the job.
該名新手警察到任第二天即成功逮捕黑幫首腦。

take a bite out of 分享利益；分一杯羹

bite 當名詞，是「咬一口的量；咬一口」，take a bite out of 字面上的意思是「咬一口……」，用於商業方面就是「與……分享利益」，類似中文的「和……分一杯羹」。頭條中為雙關語，take a bite out of Apple「咬一口蘋果（電腦）」，意指蘋果電腦的對手欲與其「分一杯羹」。

Asian car manufacturers continue to take a bite out of U.S. car maker's profits.
亞洲車商持續和美國車商分食汽車業大餅。

run for 角逐；競選；競爭

run for 是「為……而競爭」的意思，通常是指「政治上的地位、頭銜的競爭」，也就是「競選；角逐」。

It is well known that Al Gore will not run for president in 2004.
眾所周知高爾將不角逐二○○四年總統大選。

rack up 壓倒性的勝利；囊括

racks up 本來是「累積（分數等）；（數量等）持續增加」的意思，引申為「勝過……；遠超過……」。頭條中的用法是指 HBO 獲得109 項之多的提名，比起對手等於是壓倒性的數量。

The new Harry Potter novel racked up huge sales in one day.
最新的哈利波特小說在一天之內即獲得壓倒性的銷售佳績。

lasting 持續的

lasting 在此作形容詞，表示「持續的；耐久的；恆久不變的」的意思。

Price wars are expected to cause lasting damage to many PC manufacturers.
價格戰預期將對多數個人電腦製造商帶來持續的傷害。

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	Beyonce's High in Heels 人氣歌手碧昂絲「蹬」高熱舞
	With a new single leapfrogging other pop tunes to the top of the charts, Beyonce Knowles is riding on the crest of a wave that does not appear to be ending anytime soon.
	新單曲躍升熱門音樂排行榜榜首，碧昂絲．諾爾絲登上短時間內無可取代的頂峰。
	Better known for her role as front woman in the female pop trio Destiny's Child, the stunning singer is tasting success beyond the boundaries of the group.
	In a recent radio interview in England, Beyonce flatly refused to talk about her much-speculated love life, but spilled the beans about some of her dance techniques.
	她較為人所知的身分是前流行樂女子三人組「天命真女」的主唱，這位外型搶眼的歌手嚐到單飛後的成功滋味。在最近的一次英國電台訪談中，碧昂絲斷然拒絕談論她為人多所猜測的感情生活，倒是透露了一些她的舞技。

	Beyonce revealed how she dances in heels that would have lesser mortals stumbling around like newborn calves.
	So, what's the secret to Beyonce's high-heeled agility?
	According to the singer, the heels that we see in the videos, which are considered high by normal standards, are much lower than the heels in which she practices.
	"Ever since I was a kid, I've been dancing in the highest heels I could find," said Beyonce.
	"So doing one of those videos really is second nature to me since, relatively speaking, those heels are low."
	碧昂絲透露了她如何穿著高跟鞋跳舞，而那鞋跟高得讓一般人穿了都會像初生小牛一般步履踉蹌。穿了高跟鞋還如此靈活的祕訣是什麼？根據她本人的說法，我們在螢幕上看到就一般標準來說算是很高的鞋子，其實比她練習時穿的高跟鞋要低得多。碧昂絲表示，「我從小就都是穿著我所能找到最高的高跟鞋跳舞，所以在音樂錄影帶中作那樣的表演對我而言都是家常便飯，相對來說，那些高跟鞋都算低的了。」
	Regardless of the height of her heels, we're confident that Beyonce will continue to impress with her light-footed mastery of the stage.
	姑且不論她的鞋跟高度，我們相信碧昂絲將繼續在舞台上展現她那引人注目的輕盈舞步。

leapfrog 越過；躍進

leapfrog 當名詞時，是指「一人彎背而立，另一人從其背上一躍而過」，類似俗稱「跳馬背」的遊戲。在此則是當動詞，有「躍進；越過；跳過」的意思。

After winning the British Open golf championship, Ben Curtis's ranking leapfrogged from number 396 to number 35.
贏得英國高球公開賽冠軍之後，寇帝斯的排名從第 396 名躍升到第 35 名。

ride on the crest of a wave 穩居龍頭地位；居於頂峰位置

crest 當名詞，是「峰頂；浪頭」的意思。 ride the crest of a wave 字面上的意思是「乘在浪的頂端」，也就是「處於巔峰的位置；居盟主地位」。

Riding on the crest of a wave of victories, the runner won his tenth race in a row.
該跑者穩居勝利的地位，贏得了他連續第十次的比賽。

spill the beans 透露；洩漏

spill 當動詞時，原意是「溢出；流出；倒出」的意思，在這裡則是「洩漏；暴露」，意同於 reveal 、divulge。 spill the beans 字面上的意思是「倒出豆子來；把豆子倒出來」，引申為「洩漏（祕密等）；太早說出消息」。值得注意的是，spill the beans 後面接介系詞 about 再接某事∕物，表示「洩漏某事∕物」。

The scientist refused to spill the beans about his country's nuclear-weapons program.
該科學家拒絕透露關於祖國的核武計畫

lesser mortals 凡人；普通人

mortal 當形容詞時，有「難免一死的；必死的」的意思，當名詞時就是指「凡人；人類」，相反詞為 immortal 「不朽的；不死的；永生的」，也是指「神；神仙」。lesser mortals 字面上看來是「較少於一般人」，也就是「普通人中的普通人」，原來是用來對比於「神；神仙」，後來用在相對於指「很富有的人；權位很高的人」。

A two-month vacation to an isolated island in the Maldives is a vacation lesser mortals only dream about.
到與世隔絕的小島馬爾地夫渡假兩個月，對一般人來說只是個夢想而已。

second nature 第二天性；習以為常

nature 當名詞時，是「天性；本性」的意思，second nature 就是「第二天性」，可用來比喻「某人對某事物早已習以為常。」

Living in a foreign country is second nature to the young woman since her father used to be a diplomat.
因為她父親曾是外交官，居住在國外對這個年輕女子來說已經習以為常了。

<top>

get to the bottom of 找出（問題等的）關鍵；癥結；原因

bottom 當名詞，是「底部」的意思，get to the bottom of 從字面上看來是「到達……的底部」，也就是「了解（造成問題的）基本原因；找出（問題的）癥結」的意思。

It took the car mechanic six hours to get to the bottom of the problem.
汽車技工花了六小時才找出問題的癥結

Jerrie, a neurosurgeon, is having a leaking faucet repaired at her clinic. She is talking with the plumber, Hank.
神經外科醫生潔芮的診所裡有一個漏水的水龍頭正在修理。她在和水電工漢克交談。

Hank:	Well, it looks like I've got to the bottom of that one. You shouldn't have any more leaks now.	漢克：	嗯，看來我知道那個問題的癥結是什麼了。現在不會再漏水啦。
Jerrie:	Great! Those leaks were really starting to get to me. If you don't mind my asking, what exactly was the problem?	潔芮：	太棒了！漏水聲真的開始困擾我了。如果你不介意的話，可不可以告訴我問題究竟出在那裡？
Hank:	Oh, just a couple of old washers that needed to be replaced. They usually go after a couple of years--you know, wear and tear.	漢克：	喔，只是有幾個舊墊圈需要更換而已。它們通常幾年後就──你知道的，磨耗殆盡了。
Jerrie:	So, what's the damage?	潔芮：	那麼，要花多少錢？
Hank:	That'll be $250.	漢克：	要兩百五十元。
Jerrie:	What?! I don't even charge that for an initial consultation!	潔芮：	什麼？！就連初診病人我都沒收那麼高的費用！
Hank:	Neither did I when I was a doctor. That's why I decided to become a plumber!	漢克：	我還在當醫生的時候也沒收過那麼高的價錢啊。這也是為什麼我決定要改行作水電工的原因了！

get to 困擾；影響

get to 後面通常接人，表示「影響（常指負面的）；困擾（某人）」。類似的用法還有 get under someone's skin，這個用法的原意是指像蚊子之類的小昆蟲，不會造成大的傷害，卻會讓人的皮膚表層感覺搔癢，引申為「困擾；煩擾（某人）」。

The constant chatting at work is starting to get to me. I think I have to change seats.
工作中持續的閒聊聲已經開始困擾我了。我想我必須換座位。

wear and tear 損耗；磨損；折損

wear 是「磨損；用舊」的意思，而 tear 則是指「撕破；破縫」，因此 wear and tear 就是用來表示「損耗；磨損」的意思。

The pain in his leg was the result of wear and tear on his knee joint.
膝關節磨損是造成他的腿部疼痛的原因。

initial 最初的；一開始的

initial 當形容詞，表示「一開始的；最初的」的意思。文中的 initial consultation 是表示「首次諮商；初診」。

When I first met my boss, my initial impression was that he was very young.
初次見到我的老闆時，我的第一印象就是他很年輕。

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True or False
1.	If a man is "off the hook," he is innocent.
2.	An "initial" impression is similar in meaning to a first impression.
3.	If a woman wants to "run for" presidency, she plays sport with the president.
4.	If you "get to the bottom" of a problem, you can't solve the problem.
5.	If swimming is "second nature" to you, you think it is difficult.

Choose the best word or phrase to answer each question.

a. leapfrogged 　 b. came to　c. getting to me　d. wear and tear　e. riding on the crest of a wave
6.	Our meal at the restaurant __________ $37.
7.	The constant noise from trucks outside is really __________.
8.	The singer is __________ with the success of her new album.
9.	Manchester United ________ to the top of the league after winning the game.
10.	You have to expect a 10-year-old car to show signs of a little _________ .