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And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
您现在收听的是VOA慢速英语词汇掌故节目。
On today's show we talk about an expression that likely came from wheat growers a long time ago.
在今天的节目中，我们谈论的是很久以前来自小麦种植者的一种表达。
Preparing harvested wheat involves an important step – separating the wheat from the chaff.
准备收获的小麦涉及一个重要的步骤--把糠从小麦里筛出来。
Chaff is the outer covering of grain, the husk and other matter around the grain.
糠是谷物的外层覆盖物，即谷壳和谷物周围的其他物质。
Grain must be separated from chaff before it can be used for food.
粮食必须从糠中分离出来才能食用。
In farming, separating the wheat from the chaff is called winnowing or threshing.
在农业中，将把糠从小麦里筛出来称为风选或脱粒。
In English, the expression "separating the wheat from the chaff" means to decide which people or things in a group are good or important and which ones are not.
在英语中，“把糠从小麦里筛出来”的意思是决定一个群体中的哪些人或事是好的或重要的，哪些不是。
Who or which things can you live without?
离开了某人或什么东西，你可以生活吗？
This idiom describes a kind of sorting process.
这个成语描述了一种排序的过程。
For example, if you are planning to go on a long hiking trip, you have to decide which things are necessary to carry with you and which things are not.
例如，如果你计划进行一次长途徒步旅行，你必须决定哪些东西是你必须携带的，哪些不是。
Food and water need to make the cut — they need to be included.
食物和水必须被列入--它们必须包括在内
A long, heavy novel to read might not be such a good idea.
读一本又长又重的小说可能不是个好主意。
If you do not separate the wheat from the chaff, your backpack will be too heavy.
如果你不做取舍，你的背包就会太重。
This idiom can also mean that you decide which things are valuable and which things have little worth.
这个成语还可以用来比喻你决定哪些东西有价值，哪些东西没什么价值。
For example, let's say you are organizing a large neighborhood yard sale to raise money for a local charity.
例如，假设你正在组织一次大型的社区庭院义卖，为当地的慈善机构筹集资金。
Many neighbors donate things they no longer need.
许多邻居捐赠了他们不再需要的东西。
Some are valuable and should get a high price.
有些是有价值的，应该卖个高价。
But other things are not worth much and should be low in cost.
但其他东西价值不高，成本应该很低。
In this case, taking your time to separate the wheat from the chaff is time well spent.
在这种情况下，花费时间区分不同价值的东西是值得的。
You do not want to see something valuable sold for too little money.
你不希望看到有价值的东西以太低的价格出售。
It is for charity, after all.
毕竟，这是为了慈善事业。
This idiom can also mean to separate people or things that are of high quality from those that are of low quality.
这个成语还可以用来比喻将高质量的人或事物与低质量的人或事物区分开来。
Let's say you are hiring someone for a top position in your company.
比方说，你正在招聘某人担任你公司的最高职位。
When you send the announcement out, you receive hundreds of applications.
当你发出公告时，你会收到数百份申请。
This is the first round of the process when you must separate the wheat from the chaff.
这是这个过程的第一轮，你必须把不同资质的人进行区分。
You must determine the most qualified applicants for the second round of the process that would include phone discussions and interviews.
你必须确定最有资格参加第二轮面试的申请者，其中包括电话讨论和面试。
For a last example, let's talk about learning English.
最后一个例子，让我们来谈谈学习英语。
Online, you can find many resources that teach English.
在网上，你可以找到很多教英语的资源。
But they are not all good.
但它们并不都是好的。
It is up to you to separate the wheat from the chaff.
要由你来区分资源的优劣。
Hopefully VOA Learning English makes the cut.
希望VOA慢速英语能够入围。
And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.
这就是我们本期的词汇掌故节目。
Until next time, I'm Anna Matteo.
下次再见，我是安娜·马特奥。
