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And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
您现在收听的是VOA词汇掌故节目。
Today, we talk about making things.
今天，我们谈论制作东西。
When you make things using a mold, the material takes the shape of the mold, and everything comes out the same.
当你使用模具制造东西时，材料会变成模具的形状，一模一样。
So, if you have a mold of a duck and put clay inside it, you will have a lot of ducks made out of clay with the same shape.
因此，如果你有一个鸭子模具并将粘土放入其中，你就会有很多形状相同的粘土鸭子。
They will look exactly like each other.
他们看起来会一模一样。
Now, if you break the mold, you have to shape the clay by hand to make one duck at a time.
现在，如果你打破模具，你必须手工塑造粘土，一次制作一只鸭子。
As a result, all of the hand-made ducks will look different.
结果，所有手工制作的鸭子看起来都会有所不同。
Each one is special and unique.
每一个都是特别和独特的。
That is where we get the expression to break the mold.
这就是我们今天学习的表打： to break the mold（打破常规）。
The dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster says to break the mold mean “you do something in a completely new way.”
词典出版商韦氏词典中写道， to break the mold 意味着“你以一种全新的方式做某事。
Those who break the mold usually try to find new ways to deal with a problem.
那些打破常规的人通常会尝试寻找新的方法来处理问题。
They do things differently from what has been done before.
他们所做的事情与以前所做的不同。
They try new methods and do not follow what is usually done.
他们尝试新的方法，而不走老路。
We also call these new ways and methods fresh, one-of-a-kind, or novel.
我们也称这些新方式和方法为新鲜的、独一无二的或新颖的。
For example, after a toy company lost money for three straight years, the owner tried something completely different.
例如，在一家玩具公司连续三年亏损后，老板尝试了完全不同的东西。
She asked young children to develop new toys for the company.
她请求年幼的孩子为公司开发新玩具。
And it worked.
而且成功了。
The new toys sold very well.
这些新玩具卖得很好。
So, we say she broke the mold of toy development by asking children instead of experts to design new toys for the company.
因此，我们说她打破了玩具开发的模式，让儿童而不是专家为公司设计新玩具。
We also use this expression to break the mold to “describe a very unusual or admired person.”
我们也用这个短语“to break the mold”，“描述一个非常不寻常或受人钦佩的人。
Let’s look at the story of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States.
让我们来看看美国第44任总统巴拉克·奥巴马的故事。
His father was a black man from Kenya; his mother was a white American from the Midwestern state of Kansas.
他的父亲是来自肯尼亚的黑人，母亲是来自中西部堪萨斯州的美国白人。
By 2009, only five Black Americans had ever served in the U.S. Senate.
到2009年，只有5名美国黑人曾在美国参议院任职。
Yet, Obama defeated all other well-known candidates to become the first Black American president in the country’s history.
然而，奥巴马击败了所有其他知名候选人，成为美国历史上第一位黑人总统。
Even those who did not vote for Obama agreed that he broke the mold.
即使是那些没有投票给奥巴马的人也同意他打破常规。
The expression is usually used to praise someone.
这个短语通常用来表扬某人。
But people sometimes use it to describe someone a bit unusual as well.
但人们有时也会用它来形容有些不同寻常的人。
Used this way, we might say, “Well, they certainly broke the mold when they made her!
用这种方式，我们可能会说，“好吧，他们在制作她的时候确实打破了常规！"
And that’s the end of this Words and Their Stories.
这就是本期的词汇掌故节目。
