《英語聽力練習》(3)
「眾裡尋他千百度，驀然回首，那人卻在燈火闌珊處」是南宋詞人辛棄疾《青玉案》的名句。辛棄疾，幼年即長期聽祖父述說抗金故事，令年紀輕輕的他對金國無好感。「眾里尋他千百度」，「他」可以指涉某心儀對象。到處尋覓都找不到，一個漫不經心的回頭，那人卻在暗角出現了，寓意緣份毋須刻意經營、苦苦追求，時候一至，你的王子公主就會和你碰個正著，那人以前或許是你的同學、朋友、同事、旅伴……但現在他 / 她就成為你生命中的唯一。「他」也可以指涉有意義的人生。為求過一個有意義的人生，有人專注於事功，有人修養自己的品德，有人琢磨天賦才華。然而，耗盡半生力氣、時間，家人相繼離世，愛侶跟他人成婚，不再等那一句「我愛你」，忽然明白知足常樂、珍惜眼前人非常可貴，這也是另一種「那人卻在燈火闌珊處」的覺悟。網上有這麼一段話：「真正值得我們追求與珍惜的往往並非閃爍耀眼的那一瓢水，常常反而是身邊或者背後暗影裡痴痴守候的身影……只是人們經常關注的是在水一方的亮麗伊人，往往忽略身邊最美最好的守護者。這是人們的盲點，也是許多可哀可嘆的故事的源頭。」https://reurl.cc/eOzmYW
對於這麼美的詞，實在不該譯成白話，以免破壞美感甚至剝奪人們的想像空間，既然如此，那麼索性把它翻成英文吧。
having searched for him hundreds and thousands of times in the crowd, suddenly you turn back, and he is there by the dim light.
Looking for him in the crowd, suddenly looking back, the man is in the lamp languishing place.
I search and search for countless times ...
Suddenly --
Turning my head,
She's there instead
Where the lights glow dimly.
Suddenly --
Turning my head,
She's there instead
Where the lights glow dimly.
In the crowd once and again, I look for her in vain.
When all at once I turn my head, I find her there where lantern light is dimly shed.
Walking and running, looking and seeking, straight forward, but in the occasional turn around, see him under the shadow of the lamp.
Thousands of times I have been looking for her over the crowd
And all of a sudden when I turn my head around
I see her just there where the lights are dim.
So this is idioms explained.
Today, we're going to look at the idiom "It's raining cats and dogs." Raining cats and dogs? No one ever thought this is actually possible, not even a long time ago, like, in the 17th century. But in that time, people threw their waste on the streets, just like that, so the big cities were...a mess. Between all that waste, there were animals living and—don't get scared—they died there as well.
Unfortunately, there was no one to clean up all the waste, so when it started to rain—no, no, like, rain a lot— everything would wash away, including those dead animals. That's why when people saw heavy rain, they would say, "It's raining cats and dogs."
今天我們要來思索 "It's raining cats and dogs." 這個慣用語。沒人會認為 "Raining cats and dogs? " 這句話居然是真實可能存在地，即便不是很久以前，比如 17 世紀。在那段時間裡，人們把他們的垃圾扔在街上，就像這樣，所以大城市是……一團混亂。在所有那些糟蹋物中，有動物生活著 - 別嚇到了 - 牠們也死在那裡。
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《英文字彙 - English vocabulary》
【confident】
confident [ˈkɑːnfɪdənt]：adj.自信的
It means "having confidence"。
（指 "有信心"）【例句 - (1)】
Be a bit more confident in yourself!
(對自己多一點自信！)【例句 - (2)】
She was in a relaxed, confident mood.
(她的心情輕鬆而自信。)【例句 - (3)】
It was a confident performance.
(這是一場充滿自信的表演。)《英文字彙 - English vocabulary》
【fluently】
fluently [ˈfluəntlɪ]：adv.流利地
It means "speak easily, well, and quickly"。
（指 "輕鬆、良好、快速地說話"）【例句 - (1)】
I'd like to speak English fluently.
(我想說一口流利的英語。)【例句 - (2)】
(學生被期待能流利地用英語閱讀。)
【例句 - (3)】
She not only speaks English fluently, but also writes it well.
(她不僅英語說得很流利，而且寫得也很好。)《英文字彙 - English vocabulary》
【hesitation】
hesitation [ˌhezɪˈteɪʃn]：n.猶豫
It means "the act of pausing before doing something, especially because you are nervous or not certain"。
【例句 - (1)】
There was a hesitation in his speech.
(他的演講中有些猶豫。)【例句 - (2)】
After some hesitation we decided to ascend the mountain.
(經過一番猶豫後，我們決定登上這座山。)【例句 - (3)】
After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.
(經過長時間的猶豫，他終於說出了真相。)【聽力練習】
Learning to think in English will make you more confident speaking English, because you'll speak more naturally and fluently with less hesitation.
(學會用英語思考會讓你說英語更自信，因為你會更自然、更流利地脫口而出，而毫不猶豫。)
I can already hear you saying "But Emma, I need to
think in my native language to translate! It's too hard, I don't know enough
vocabulary to do it!"
(我已經可以聽到你說：“但是艾瑪，我需要用我的母語思考來翻譯啊！這太難了，我沒有足夠的詞彙來做這件事！)
