《饥饿游戏》系列电影发人深省,探讨了民主和人性的话题,激发了观众对现实的反思。此外,影片中也有许多不容错过的英语表达,今天就让我们以《饥饿游戏:嘲笑鸟(上)》和《饥饿游戏:嘲笑鸟(下)》中的部分台词为材料,一起来学习其中的实用英语表达!
精彩片段1
Katniss被第13区的起义军救回,Plutarch推荐Katniss为“嘲笑鸟”,作为起义军的象征,然而总统Coin对她的能力表示质疑。
President Coin: Maybe you should have rescued the boy instead.
Plutarch: Oh, no, no. Listen to me. No one else can do this but her.
President Coin: This is not the girl you described.
Plutarch: Obviously, we need to make it personal1. Remind her who the real enemy is.
President Coin: She knows who the enemy is. That's not the issue.2
Plutarch: Unless she's forgotten. There's explaining and there's showing. Let her see what the Capitol did to 12.
President Coin: She can't handle it. The Games destroyed her.
Plutarch: This is the only choice you have. People don't always show up the way you want them to3, Madam President. But that anger, that anger-driven4 defiance (违抗), that's what we want. And we can redirect (使改变方向) it. We need to unite these people out there that have been doing nothing but killing each other in an arena (角斗场) for years. We have to have a lightning rod (避雷针). They'll follow her. She's the face of the revolution.5 Let her see it. Let her go home.
实用表达
1. make it personal Personal意为“个人的,私人的”,大家熟知的PC (个人电脑)的全称就是personal computer。Make it personal这个短语可以译为“把事情私人化”,也就是说,要把这件事情变成Katniss自己的事情,这样她才会恢复往日的斗志,愿意帮助起义军。如今make it personal的理念在礼品定制网站上十分常见,也就是根据顾客的要求和特点来提供服务。与personal相关的短语中,还有一个短语在口语中比较常用,即take it personally,该短语从字面意思上理解就是“认为是针对自己的”,因此don't take it personally表达的就是“别介意,别往心里去”的意思。比如朋友今天有件很开心的事情迫不及待想和你分享,但你太累,很不耐烦地回应了几句,朋友不禁一脸的失落。你发现后急忙解释道:“Don't take it personally, but I'm too tired right now. (别介意,我不是针对你的,我只是现在太累了而已。)”日常生活中,我们容易把其他人的一言一行take it personally,并因此生闷气或是不开心,其实很多时候都是我们想多了而已。
2. That's not the issue. Issue意为“问题”,这句话可译为“这不是问题所在”。Coin认为Katniss知道Snow才是真正的敌人,但她太过情绪化、容易冲动、我行我素,这样的性格不适合成为起义军的代表。我们可以把这句话中的the换成an,变成that's not an issue,其意思也就随之变成“这不是一个问题”,也就是说,这是一件可以解决的小事。如果把the换成my,那又是什么意思呢?相信你已经猜到了,意思就是“这不是我的问题”。如果有一个朋友总是向你抱怨生活,你一开始热心聆听,渐渐开始有些厌烦甚至招架不住,这时不妨甩他一句:“That's your issue, not mine! ”关心他人、真诚助人是好事,但一定要有底线和原则。况且,对于这种永远处于负能量状态的朋友,还是远离为妙。
3. People don't always show up the way you want them to ... 这句话意为:人们不会总按照你的意志行事…… Plutarch的这句话极有深意。他不只是在说Katniss,同时也是在针对Coin。也许他很早就看出Coin其实就是第二个Snow,因此,他在Katniss最终选择杀死Coin后对她说:“Katniss, maybe the country was shocked tonight by your arrow, but once again I was not. You're exactly what I believe you were.”Show up有“出现;露面”的意思,比如美国著名导演伍迪·艾伦曾说过一句话:Eighty percent of success is showing up. (成功的80%在于露面。)如果你都不愿意出现在人前开始去做你要做的事情,又何谈成功呢?有点“万事开头难”的意思。而在上面的台词中,show up是“表现”的意思。这句话是个省略句,补全后为:People don't always show up (in) the way (that) you want them to (show up).
4. –driven Driven是drive的过去分词,drive除了“驾驶”之外,还有“驱动”的意思。Be driven by是一个常用词组,意为“由……驱动”,比如:The engines are driven by steam. (这些发动机是由蒸汽驱动的。)名词和driven用连字符相连就变成了形容词,可译为“……驱动的”,如steam-driven engines (蒸汽驱动的发动机)、market-driven economy (市场驱动的经济)、a goal-driven person (一个目标驱动的人,即行动的动力来自于目标)。
5. She's the face of the revolution. 这句话可直译为“她是革命的脸面”,也就是“她是革命的代言人”。这一用法在各大媒体的文章中十分常见,如:Putin is the face of Russia. (普京是俄罗斯的代言人。) Face在这里就是“脸面”的意思,要表达“丢脸”,可以用lose face。
精彩片段2
Katniss来到第8区看望医院里的伤员,伤员们表示愿意追随Katniss,和Snow政府对抗到底。Snow知道后立即派出轰炸机把医院炸成废墟,Katniss愤慨不已,发表了以下的即兴演说。
Katniss: I want the Rebels to know that I'm alive. That I'm in District 8 where the Capitol just bombed a hospital filled with unarmed (手无寸铁的) men, women and children. And there will be no survivors. If you think for one second1 that the Capitol will ever treat us fairly you are lying to yourselves. Because we know who they are and what they do. This is what they do! And we must fight back. I have a message for President Snow. You can torture us and bomb us and burn our districts to the ground2. But do you see that? Fire is catching.3 And if we burn, you burn with us!
实用表达
1. think for one second Second在这里并不是“第二”的意思,而是“秒”的意思。Think for one second意为“曾经想过……,哪怕只是短暂的一秒”,其中for one second起强调作用。我们再来看看与think有关的一些表达。Think twice/again意为“再三考虑;再三斟酌”,如:Think twice before you act. (三思而后行。)而not think twice就是“想都没想,不假思索”的意思,如:I didn't think twice—I accepted the job straight away. (我想都没想,就立刻接受了这份工作。) Think outside the box意为“创造性思考;想到解决问题的新方法”,如:Employees are encouraged to think outside the box and develop creative solutions. (公司鼓励员工们创造性思考,想出有创意的解决方案。)
2. burn sth. to the ground 该短语意为“化为灰烬;夷为平地”。类似的表达还有burn down (烧毁;焚毁),如:There was a fire, and the old factory was burned down. (发生了一场大火,那个旧工厂被烧毁了。)关于burn还有一个很有意思的习语,即burn a hole in sb.'s pocket。试想一下,如果一个人的口袋里被烧了个洞,是不是就会把钱都漏光?这个习语就是“某人钱存不住;一有钱就想花”的意思,注意使用时主语是钱,如:I had a fifty dollar bill that was burning a hole in my pocket. (我口袋里有50美元特别想花出去。)
3. Fire is catching. Catch作为及物动词,与fire连用,表示“着火了”,如:The building caught fire at seven. (建筑物是7点着火的。)不过catch用作不及物动词比较少见,在台词中fire作了主语,fire is catching可译为“星星之火已成燎原之势”。另外关于fire的表达还有start a fire (放火)、light a fire (点火)、fight/tackle/put out a fire (灭火)、be playing with fire (玩火自焚)等。
精彩片段3
上面仅仅选了三段台词就有这么多可以学习的实用表达,可见这部英文电影真的是很好的英语学习材料。同学们不仅要像上面讲解的这样积累有用表达,更要及时将其用到自己的口语表达或写作中去,这样才能更好地掌握所学知识。祝大家学习进步!
起义军已包围凯匹特都城,胜利就在眼前,空中突然落下许多伪装成降落伞的炸弹,火光四起,被聚集到总统府前的孩子们全部葬身火海,Katniss的妹妹也在其中。后来命不久矣的Snow向Katniss道出了这场爆炸的真相。(英文台词请参见本期P21~22 Snow与Katniss的对话。)
实用表达
1. by that point Point有很多含义,可以表示各种各样的“点”,如观点、论点、要点、地点、时间点、小数点等。By that point是时间短语,意为“在那之前”,台词中的原句“Anyone could see the game was over by that point.”意为:任谁都能看出来游戏在那之前就结束了。Point表示时间的短语还有at that point (在那个时候)、on the point of (正要……之际),如:She looked on the point of tears. (她看起来就要哭了。)
2. was just about to Be about to do sth.意为“即将做某事”,常与when连用,如:I was about to do my homework when my father came in. (正当我要开始做作业的时候,父亲进来了。)台词中的原句“I was just about to issue an official surrender when they released those parachutes.”意为:我正要正式宣布投降呢,他们投放了那些降落伞炸弹。
3. hold back 该短语所在的台词原句为:I was bombing our own helpless children to hold back the Rebels. Hold back有很多含义,在这里是“阻止”的意思。原句意为:我炸死己方那些无助儿童是为了阻止叛军。此外,hold back还有“抑制(眼泪)”和“隐瞒”的含义,如:① I held my tears back when I heard the bad news. (听到噩耗的时候,我忍住了眼泪。) ② She held back vital information. (她隐瞒了重要信息。)
4. turn ... against Against作为介词,有“对抗”的意思,所以turn ... against就是“使……对抗”,即“反对;背叛”的含义。该短语所在台词原句“It turned the last of my guards against me.”意为:这件事使我最后的自卫队背叛了我。这里的turn也可以用作不及物动词,即turn against sb.,如:He turned against me after being told that I'd been insulting him. (当得知我一直在污蔑他的时候,他与我反目成仇了。)
5. make no mistake 这是一句习语,意为“毫无疑问,千万别搞错”,如:Make no mistake, if you are not home by 11, you'll be grounded for a week! (千万记住了,如果你11点前不回家,就得禁足一周!)在影片中,Snow说:“Oh, make no mistake, she intends to take my place now. (哦,千万别搞错,她现在正打算取代我的位置。)”他并非在好心提醒Katniss看清Coin是个什么样的人,而是借此讽刺Katniss对他的反叛只不过是帮助制造了另一个Snow而已。
6. be played for fools Fool是“傻瓜,白痴”的意思,所以play sb. for fools意为“把某人当成白痴一样玩弄”。Snow在嘲讽Katniss的同时也在自嘲:I'm afraid we have both been played for fools. (恐怕我们两个都被Coin当白痴耍了。)类似的短语还有make a fool of sb. (让某人出丑;愚弄)、make a fool of oneself (出丑;让别人看笑话)。
作者简介:
朱辰蕾,北京新东方学校优能中学酷学酷玩夏/冬令营词汇魔鬼速记营教师,擅长运用联想法和溯源法,帮助学生科学记忆单词。