交际口语09:担心与忧虑

9.担心与忧虑

1.惯用口语句子:

I’m really in a flap about the interview.

一想到面试我就心慌。

flap n. 慌乱(状态)

I’m on tenterhooks.

= I’m on Dins and needles.

我感觉如坐针毡。

tenterhook n. 张布钩

on tenterhooks=on pins and needles“焦虑不安”

Worrying kept me awake.

我愁得睡不着觉。

awake a. 醒着的

I’m a bundle of nerves.

我心乱如麻。

a bundle of nerves“神经极度紧张的人”

I wonder what it could be.

我在想会是什么事。

I guess something came up.

我猜肯定发生什么事了。

I’m really anxious.

= I’m very worried.

我很担忧。

anxious a. 忧虑的,担心的

I can’t take it anymore.

= I can’t bear it anymore.

= I can’t deal with this anymore.

= l can’t take another problem.

我再也受不了了。

I’m anxious about what you did.

= What you did makes me anxious.

= I feel great anxiety about what you did.

你的所作所为让我很担心。

anxiety n. 忧虑,焦虑,担心(其形容词为anxious)

I can’t calm down.

我静不下心来。

I can’t control myself.

我控制不住自己。

I can’t relax.

我放松不下来,,

control v. 控制

I’m going nuts.

= I’m going crazy.

我快要疯了。

nuts a. 发狂的,发疯的

2.实用对话

Worry担忧

Rose: Has Alan shown up yet?

罗丝:艾伦露面了吗?

Jack: No, not yet. I guess something came up. He’ll call soon enough to let us know what’s going on. He’s good that way.

杰克:没有.还没露面。我猜肯定发生什么事了。他应该会打电话告诉我们的。要是那样就好了。

Rose: I wonder what it could be.

罗丝:我在想会是什么事。

Jack: I don’t know. I hope it’s nothing serious.

杰克:我也不知道。希望不是什么严重的事情。

Rose: Last week his sister was admitted to the hospital.

罗丝:上星期他姐姐住院了。

Jack: What happened?

杰克:怎么回事啊?

Rose: She was in a serious car accident. She was hurt pretty badly. They thought she was going to die.

罗丝:他姐姐出了车祸,伤得很严重。他们都觉得她快不行了。

Jack: How is she now?

杰克:那她现在怎么样?

Rose: She fell into a coma… The doctors aren’t too hopeful. But I hope they’re wrong.

罗丝:她已经昏迷了。医生觉得没有太大希望了。不过我希望他们的判断是错的。

Jack: Poor Alan. He’s going nuts. His sister is all he has left; his parents died last year.

杰克:可怜的艾伦。他都快要发疯了。他姐姐可是他惟一的亲人了,他父母去年刚去世。

Rose: Yes, he has been through a lot in the last year. I hope his luck changes soon. Maybe his sister will pull through.

罗丝:是啊,他去年经历得太多了。我希望他能时来运转。也许他姐姐能挺过来呢。

3.详细解说

1.“show up”的意思是“露面,出席”,例如:Uncle George didn’t show up for our wedding because he forgot.(乔治叔叔没有来参加我们的婚礼,因为他忘了。)

2.“come up”的意思是“发生”,例如:I’ll let him know if anything comes up.(如果发生什么事,我会告诉他的。)

3.“fall into a coma”意为“陷入昏迷状态”。

4.单词“poor”在对话中的意思是“可怜的”,例如:How’s your poor father?(你可怜的父亲怎么样了?)另外“poor”还可以表示“贫穷的”,例如:My family used to be poor.(我家过去很穷。)“pull through”的意思是“度过难关,恢复健康”。

4.文化洗礼

“worry”的由来

The dog is worrying the rat.

如果你看到这句英文,并尝试着将它翻译成中文:“那条狗正在烦那只老鼠”时,恐怕就要贻笑大方了。这句话正确的翻译应该是:那条狗正在撕咬那只老鼠。你可能会一头雾水,“worry一是烦扰的意思,怎么会和“撕咬”( tear up)联系起来了呢?

事实上,“worry”一词来源于古英语“wyrgan”,有“扼杀”之意,上面这句话中的“worry”即取此意,是指动物“撕咬”它的猎物。后来“wyrgan”又渐渐发展成中世纪英语的“worien”,意思也演变为“strangle(抑制,束缚)”。

随着历史的变迁,“worry”这个词“攻击性”的意味大大削弱了。在中世纪英语中的“worien”保留了其前身“wyrgan扼杀”的意思,并衍生出一个新意思“用牙齿咬住喉咙并且撕裂”或“咬住并来回甩动以杀死或伤害”。到16世纪,“worry”开始含有“以粗暴手段或袭击方式来骚扰”、“口头攻击”的意思。到了17世纪,这个词产生了“干扰、使焦虑和烦扰”的意思。19世纪时,这个词义又向前发展了一点,也就是我们现在经常见到的“使感到焦虑或痛苦”和“感到烦恼或不安”。

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