评论
打印
Words and Idioms:Black Hole
各位听众，现在播送<美国习惯用语>第 940讲。我是杨琳。<美国习惯用语>
我是 Douglas Johnson.
在打电话时，我们经常会遇到自动语音系统，比如打电话到银行问个问题，总会先是机器来“接待你”，让你针对自己需要的服务按某个按键，有时候你做了好多 “选择题”，按了好多键，电话那头却总不是真正的客服人员在说话。作为消费者的你，这时候不免头大，这可以用一个习惯用语来形容，那就是：
A black hole. Black is spelled b-l-a-c-k, and hole; h-o-l-e. A-black-hole.
天文学上有个black hole--黑洞。任何物质都能被黑洞吸进去，哪怕是光。在习惯用语中，a black hole也指深渊，让人迷惑的空洞。在刚才这个打电话的情景中，消费者被自动电话系统指使得团团转，They feel they're lost in a black hole. 他们会觉得莫名其妙，如坠云雾。
在下面这段话中，“黑洞”跑到家里来了，我们来听听是怎么回事：
"I don't ever expect to get the book back that I lent to my son. He says it's somewhere in his bedroom. That means it's among the countless piles of stuff scattered across his desk, furniture and floor. Whatever goes in there disappears. The place is nothing but A BLACK HOLE."
这段话是说：[在我把书借给儿子看，就不用想着还能拿回来了。他跟我说书就在他卧室里。这就意味着，我的书被埋在了他书桌、家具和地板上到处散落的一堆堆乱七八糟的东西下面。任何东西进了这个屋子都会不知去向。他的屋子简直就是个黑洞。]
这个情景我似曾相识。大学时我有个好朋友，看上去白白净净的一个女孩儿，就是不爱收拾屋子。借给她的东西她永远不还，都说找不到了。I'm afraid they all vanished in that black hole of hers. 恐怕这些东西都消失在她那如同黑洞一样的屋子里了。好了，我们再来听听刚才那段话：
"I don't ever expect to get the book back that I lent to my son. He says it's somewhere in his bedroom. That means it's among the countless piles of stuff scattered across his desk, furniture and floor. Whatever goes in there disappears. The place is nothing but A BLACK HOLE."
刚才我们说到的例句都是因为人不爱收拾整理，导致屋子凌乱不堪，东西才容易丢。另外还有一种情况，也容易让人找不到东西，觉得晕，那就是地方太大。下面这个例句就证明了这一点，我们来听一听：
"This year's conference took place at a brand new facility. There must have been at least 8,000 people there. That was far too big for me. I don't like such A BLACK HOLE. You meet people that you never see again because it's so huge. I prefer a much smaller site. There are greater chances for running into people that I recognize."
这段话是说：[今年的会议在一个崭新的会场召开。 来开会的人至少有8000个。我觉得这个会场太大了。我不喜欢这么大得让人犯晕的地方。地方这么大，人这么多，很多人你见过一次就永远不会再见了。我希望能在小一点的地方开会，那样更有可能遇见熟人。]
别说会场了，出门背个大一些的包包，东西就往往很难找到，我老公经常笑话我说，我找个钥匙也要把头伸进包里搜索一番。He said my purse was a portable black hole. 他说我的包就是个能移动的大黑洞。好，我们再来听听刚才那段话：
M:"This year's conference took place at a brand new facility. There must have been 8,000 there. That was far too big for me. I don't like such A BLACK HOLE. You meet people that you never see again because it's so huge. I prefer a much smaller site. There are greater chances for running into people that I recognize."
各位听众，今天我们学习的习惯用语是a black hole，意思是“让人犯晕的黑洞”。
A:有时候，真感觉在社会上打拼就如同entering a black hole，周围人才济济，自己的小聪明，小本事，根本显不出来!更别说得到领导的赏识了。
B:So, you want your talent and hard work to be noticed by your supervisors, eh? You know, there’s a shortcut to do that─拍领导的马屁。
A:啊？我还以为你有什么高招呢。
B:Trust me. It works every time.
A:听起来您是个行家啊！看来那天我问你“拍马屁”用美语怎么说，真是问对人了！
