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Words and Idioms #957
现在播送<美国习惯用语>第 957讲。我是杨琳。
M: 我是 Douglas Johnson.
女: 昨天我去书店买书，看到浪漫小说那里多出了一大排，看起来是相同作者写的一系列丛书。我随便翻了两三本，发现内容大同小异，情节也没有什么特别吸引人的地方。这让我想到一句习惯用语，那就是：
M: Churn out. Churn is spelled c-h-u-r-n, and out; o-u-t. Churn out.
Churn 作为动词，本身有大量生产的意思。加上out，这个短语的意思就是ǒ不顾质量地粗糙生产；大量炮制ō。就像上面的例子中，这些浪漫小说内容相差不多，而且一本接着一本地上市。这让我觉得这些书质量不高，完全是为了赚钱而批量生产。下面这个例子里的旅行者可不一样，让我们来听听他是如何选择纪念品的:
M: "When I travel to a country I'm always looking for a souvenir to take back home with me. Many times, I try to find a local artisan who produces something unique. I don't want some factory-produced trinket. Why would I care for what's been CHURNED OUT by the millions?"
[这段话是说: 每次我去国外旅行的时候，我都会寻找特别的纪念品带回家。很多时候，我会找一名当地的匠人，让他制作一些特别的东西。我不想要那些工厂生产的小纪念品，那种成千上万一模一样的东西完全不吸引我。]
说起TRINKET，我的朋友经常带给我这种东西，像钥匙链，冰箱贴之类的。但其实我跟上面例子中的人观点一样，I would much prefer a good story than something churned out by the millions. 相比起那些批量生产的纪念品，我更想听一个好故事。好了，让我们再来听听刚才那段话:
M: "When I travel to a country I'm always looking for a souvenir to take back home with me. Many times, I try to find a local artisan who produces something unique. I don't want some factory-produced trinket. Why would I care for what's been CHURNED OUT by the millions?"
我的小侄女最近正在研究要申请哪所大学。选择非常多，她该选择一所有名气的大学，还是离家近的? 是在城市，还是在郊区?是私人大学，还是公立大学? 需要考虑的因素很多。下面例子里谈到了一所大学，让我们来听听看:
M: "It's true that Acme University is less expensive than many other schools. And it offers classes on-line and at several campuses throughout the country. But the instruction it provides isn't very high-quality. It seems more concerned with CHURNING OUT as many graduates as possible each year. "
[这段话是说: 与其他大学相比，Acme大学的学费确实不高。它还提供网上课程，而且全国各地有很多校区。但是这所大学的教学质量可不高，而是更在乎每年ǒ炮制ō出尽量多的毕业生。]
我绝对不相信这种快速教育能教出优秀的毕业生。这也让我想到我妹妹的婚礼策划师。我看过他的很多作品，可是看起来新人的装束，花束的选择，还有婚礼流程，全都一模一样! He seems to be churning out wedding ceremonies like a factory makes widgets. 他策划婚礼就像工厂生产零件一样，大量炮制。好的，我们再来听听刚才那段话:
M: "It's true that Acme University is less expensive than many other schools. And it offers classes on-line and at several campuses throughout the country. But the instruction it provides isn't very high-quality. It seems more concerned with CHURNING OUT as many graduates as possible each year. "
今天我们学习的习惯用语是CHURN OUT，意思是ǒ不顾质量地大量炮制ō。好的，这次[美国习惯用语]就到此结束，我是杨琳，我是 Douglas Johnson。谢谢各位的收听。
A: Kat, 我刚才提到的那个朋友可不是在文凭工厂混的学历，人家是到全美排名前5的名校读的！
B: Hmm, I'm not really obsessed with top schools. I think most rankings are skewed one way or anotherr.
A: I agree. Ranking is not as important as some people think it is. 不过我这个观点好多父母就不赞同，就拿我妈来说，从我刚上小学开始，她就一直跟我说，以后一定要考上名牌大学，还要当全班第一。
B: Sounds like you have a demanding mom——虎妈！
A: 可不是么！正好，今天咱们的美语怎么说就要教这个词儿!
