(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Susan Clark with the Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
Tom Smith is the best hitter on his company's baseball team. For weeks during the playing season, Tom hit a home run in every game the team played. But then suddenly he stopped hitting home runs. He could not hit the baseball at all.
One day he struck out three times in one game. He said, "I am afraid I am losing it."
Mary Jones bought a dress in a woman's clothing store. She felt very happy about buying the dress until she got home. Then she remembered she had left her credit card at the store when she used it to pay for the dress. It was the third time that month that Mary had forgotten something important.
Mary was angry with herself. She said, "Am I losing it?"
Emma Cleveland was teaching a class in mathematics at a college. She began to explain to the students how to solve a very difficult problem. She understood it very well. But somehow, at that moment, she could not explain it. Emma said, "I must be losing it."
Americans seem to have a lot of concern about losing it. At least that is what you would think from hearing them talk. They use the expression when they feel they are losing control. It can mean losing emotional control. Or losing the ability to do something. Or losing mental powers.
Word experts differ about how the expression started. Some believe it came from television programs popular in the nineteen eighties. Others believe it began with psychologists and psychiatrists who deal with how people think, feel and act.
One psychologist said, "We Americans have many concerns about controlling our lives. Perhaps we worry too much."
She continued, "In many situations, to say you are losing it eases the tension. It is healthy. And most people who say they are having a problem are not losing it."
People may feel more like they are losing it when they are "down in the dumps." People who are down in the dumps are sad. They are depressed.
Word expert Charles Funk says people have been feeling down in the dumps for more than four-hundred years. Sir Thomas More used the expression in fifteen thirty-four. He wrote, "Our poor family ... has fallen in such dumps."
Word experts do not agree what the word dumps means. One expert, John Ayto, says the word dumps probably comes from the Scandinavian countries. The languages of Denmark and Norway both have similar words. The words mean to fall suddenly.
Americans borrowed this saying. And, over the years, it has become a popular way of expressing sadness.
This WORDS AND THEIR STORIES program was written by Jeri Watson. I'm Susan Clark.
文本来自51voa，译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.psychiatrist n. 精神病学家，精神病医生
The psychiatrist must learn to maintain an unusual degree of objectivity.
精神科医生务必要学会保持超乎寻常的客观态度。
2.depressed adj. 沮丧的；萧条的；压低的；v. 使沮丧；使萧条（depress的过去式和过去分词形式）；压低
She's been very depressed and upset about this whole situation.
整个境况使她感到心烦意乱，意志消沉。
内容解析
1.People may feel more like they are losing it when they are "down in the dumps."
down in the dumps 垂头丧气；情绪低落
She's feeling a bit down in the dumps and needs cheering up.
她情绪有点低落，需要振奋起来。
He was down in the dumps after losing his job.
他失业后精神非常颓丧。
参考译文
苏珊·克拉克为你播报美国之音慢速英语词汇典故。
汤姆·史密斯是公司棒球队最佳击球手，在赛季期间的好几个星期里，汤姆汤姆在球队的每场比赛中都打出本垒打。但突然他打不出了，完全击不中球。
一天他一场比赛中三次三振出局。他说，“恐怕我不能继续打了。”
玛丽·琼斯在女装店买了件衣服，到家前她都非常开心。突然她想起结账时把信用卡忘在那家店了，这是这个月中玛丽第三次忘记非常重要的东西。
玛丽对自己很生气，她说，“我真的没用了吗？”
艾玛·克利夫兰在大学教数学，她向学生们解释如何解决一道难题，她理解得很透彻，但当时不知为什么她解不出来。艾玛说，“我一定是无法解出来这题了。”
美国人似乎对losing it很担忧，至少在听到他们这么说时你会这么想。他们在感到无法控制局面时会用到这个表述，它的意思是失去情绪控制，或者失去做某事的能力，或失去精神动力。
词汇专家对这个表达的起源有不同看法，有的人认为它来自20世纪80年代流行的电视节目，也有人认为它来自心理学家和精神病医生，这种人要经常与人们的思考、感觉和行为打交道。
一位心理学家说，“我们美国人对把握生活有很多担忧，可能我们担心得太多了。”
她说，“在很多情况下，说自己无能为力可以缓解紧张，这是有益健康的，大多数说自己遇到困难的人并非无能为力。”
很多人可能在情绪低落时会感到无能为力，处在down in the dumps状态下的人会感到悲伤和抑郁。
词汇学家查尔斯·芬克说人们使用down in the dumps这个表达已经有400多年，1534年，托马斯·莫尔爵士使用了这个表达。他写道，“贫困家庭的情绪陷入低谷。”
词汇专家对dumps一词的意思有不同看法，专家约翰·艾托说这个词可能来自斯堪的纳维亚国家，丹麦和挪威语都有类似的词语，这个词意思是突然陷入谷底。
美国人借用了这个说法，多年后，这个词就成为表达感伤的常用表达。
