(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Hello! This is the VOA Learning English program, Words and Their Stories.
On this weekly program, we explore the origin and usage of common expressions in American English.
For example, sometimes when Americans do not understand something they say, 'It's all Greek to me."
This saying does not make sense, of course, if you actually speak Greek. But today, we are going to talk about a Greek word and what it means in American English.
"Eureka!" is Greek for "I have found it!" It is something we say when we have figured out a solution to a complex problem.
"Eureka" is a kind of interjection. Interjections are the quick, short words or sounds we cry out when we are feeling intense emotion. They can express pain, surprise, anger or joy. These kinds of words also are called exclamations.
Someone cries "Eureka" to express excitement when that person makes a discovery. When you finally find the answer to something you have been working on for a long time, nobody would blame for yelling "eureka!" from the rooftops.
The story behind "Eureka," however, is somewhat of a guess.
Some say it goes all the way back to the time of ancient Greece and an inventor named Archimedes (c. 287-212 B.C.E.). The king of Syracuse, Heiro II, gave Archimedes a difficult problem to solve. The king wanted to know if goldsmiths had used pure gold to make his crown.
This problem troubled Archimedes. How could he learn if the crown was pure gold?
One day, he stepped into the water of a bathtub. He saw that the water flowed over the top of the tub. The water that overflowed was displaced by his body.
When Archimedes climbed in and out of the bath, he carefully studied the displaced water. He noticed that the more his body sank into the water, the more water was displaced. This meant that the displaced water measured his volume exactly.
Suddenly, Archimedes realized how he could test the gold in the king's crown. He knew that gold is heavier than silver. So, he reasoned that a crown mixed with silver would have to be bulkier than one made only of gold if both weighed the same. Therefore, it would displace more water than a crown of pure gold.
Archimedes, allegedly, became so excited by this discovery that he jumped out of the bath and ran naked through the city streets, shouting: "Eureka! Eureka!" meaning, "I have found it! I have found it!"
In another version of the story, the king gives a different puzzle to Archimedes to solve. Archimedes must figure out how to build a massive ship that won't sink. Again, he supposedly makes his discovery in a public bath.
Both are great stories, but most likely, Archimedes never said "Eureka!" And who knows if he really ran through the streets naked.
What we do know is that Archimedes discovered the law or buoyancy, or what engineers still call today, the Archimedes principle.
But let's go back to "eureka" as an expression.
"Eureka!" has another historic connection to gold.
This time it happened during more modern times in the United States. During the California gold rush, prospectors looking for gold in the Californian hills were said to yell "Eureka! I found it!" when they struck gold. To this day, California's state motto is Eureka!
The word "Eureka!" also lives on in scientific communities. The American Association for the Advancement of Science calls its breaking scientific news site EurekAlert.
However, these days, saying "Eureka!" as a way of expressing an amazing discovery is out of style.
One interjection that has replaced "eureka" is "a-ha!" But both "eureka moments" and "a-ha moments" are used to describe the times we are experiencing a breakthrough discovery.
Albert Einstein arriving at his theory of relativity and Isaak Newton getting hit on the head with an apple are both examples of eureka moments.
Here is how to use it in everyday conversation.
If your classmate or work colleague seems to be about to discover something big and important, others might warn you to stay away. "Don't bother her. She's having a Eureka moment."
Sometimes we just say, lightbulb!
When a character in comics or in an animated film has a really great idea, sometimes a lightbulb appears above their head. So, saying "lightbulb" is a funny way of saying, "I just had a brilliant idea!"
And that brings us to the end of another Words and Their Stories. Hey, I know ... lightbulb! If you have a eureka moment, you can share it in the Comments Section!
I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
1.figure out 解决；算出；想出；理解；断定
But we figured out the reason afterwards.
但我们在后来却找到了原因。
2.to this day 直到今天;时至今日
I haven't told him the whole story to this day.
我迄今仍未给他讲完整个故事。
3.out of style 不时髦的，不时新的
Although they're expensive, they last forever and never go out of style.
尽管价格昂贵，但它们经久耐用，永不过时。
4.a breakthrough discovery 突破性的发现
n those days the seeds of growth in the small expansion of the body like, can not wait for germination, but could not find a breakthrough discovery.
那些日子成长的种子在弱小的身体里膨胀似的，迫不及待的发芽，却找不到出土的突破口。
参考译文
大家好！这里是VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目。
我们每周探索美语常用表达的起源与用法。
例如，有时当美国人不懂某事，他们会说，“我一窍不通（It's all Greek to me）。”。
如果你说希腊语，那这个短语自然就毫无意义了。但今天，我们要聊一个希腊词以及它在美语里的意思。
“Eureka!（找到了！）”是希腊语“我找到了”的意思。当我们想出了一个复杂问题的解决办法时，我们会说“Eureka!”。
“Eureka”是一种感叹词。感叹词是当我们处于强烈情绪时，我们喊出的快，短的词或者声音。他们能表达疼痛，惊讶，气愤或者喜悦。这些种类的词也被称为惊叹词。
当一个人发现了什么，这个人会喊“Eureka”来表达自己的兴奋。当你终于找到了你研究很长时间的一个事物的答案时，没有人会因为你爬上屋顶大喊“Eureka!”而责怪你。
然而，“Eureka”背后的故事多少有点猜测。
一些人说它的由来得追溯到古希腊和一个叫阿基米德（公元前287 - 212）的发明家。锡拉丘兹的国王希罗二世让阿基米德解决一个难题。国王想知道金匠是否是用纯金制造的他的王冠。
这个问题难倒了阿基米德。他怎么能知道王冠是否是纯金的呢？
一天，他踏进了有水的浴缸中，他看见水溢出了浴缸口，他的身体取代了溢出的水。
当阿基米德在浴缸爬进爬出，他仔细研究了排出的水。他注意到他的身体浸入浴缸越多，溢出的水也就越多。这意味着流出的水精确地测出了他的容积。
突然，阿基米德明白了他怎样才能测出王冠里的含金量。他知道金子比银子重。所以，他推断在相同质量的前提下，一个掺银的王冠一定比纯金的王冠体积大。因此，它排出的水会比纯金的王冠多。
据说阿基米德因为这个发现太兴奋，以至于他跳出了浴缸，光着身子在街道上边跑边喊：“Eureka! Eureka!”，意思是“我找到了！找到了！”
在另一个故事版本里，国王给了阿基米德一个不同的难题。阿基米德必须研究出怎样建造一艘不会沉没的巨轮。还是那样，据说他是在公共浴室中发现的。
这两个都是伟大的故事，但极有可能，阿基米德从没有说过“Eureka!”，而且谁知道他是不是真得光着身子在街上跑。
我们所知道的是阿基米德发现了浮力定律，或者现在工程师们依然如此称呼它的——阿基米德原理。
让我们回到“eureka”这个表达。
“eureka”还有另一个和金子相关的历史。
这次的故事发生在美国现代史上。在加州淘金热时期，据说当淘金者在加州的山里找到金子的时候，都会大喊“找到了！发现了！”直到现在，加州的座右铭是“找到了！”
单词“Eureka!”也应用于科学界。美国科学促进协会（American Association for the Advancement of Science）称其最新的科学新闻网站为EurekAlert。
然而，如今，“Eureka!”作为一种表达惊奇发现时的用法已经过时了。
其中一个取代“Eureka”的感叹词是“啊哈！(a-ha!)”。但“eureka时刻”和“a-ha时刻”都是被用来形容我们正经历突破性发现的时段。
爱因斯坦发现相对论原理和伊萨克·牛顿被苹果砸头都是eureka时刻的例子。
下面是日常交谈中如何使用它的例子。
如果你的同学或者同事似乎快要发现什么重大的事物时，其他人也许会警告你待远点。“不要打扰她。她就要进入发现时刻了。”
有时，我们只是说“lightbulb!（有了！）”
当漫画或者一个动画电影里的人物有了一个真得很棒的主意的时候，有时一个灯泡（lightbulb）就会出现在他们的头上。所以，“lightbulb”的说法是以一种有趣的方式表达“我刚想到了一个好主意”。
又到了《词汇掌故》节目的尾声了。嘿，我知道了······有了！如果你有发现时刻，你可以在评论区分享给我们！
我是安娜·马特奥。
