(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.
On this program we explore the origins of common expressions in American English and, more importantly, how to use them.
We really want to do an excellent job teaching and entertaining our audience. So, we try to do this program as best we can every time.
But sometimes we make mistakes. We err.
Making a mistake is not pleasant, but it is natural. One well-known saying begins, "To err is human..." In other words, making mistakes is part of being a person.
But what about those who suffer because of someone else's mistake?
The saying answers this question, too. It says, "...to forgive (is) divine".
That means that excusing others for their faults makes us a little better than just being human. The act is god-like.
This popular saying is an old one. It comes from the 18th century English poet Alexander Pope. He wrote about forgiveness in an essay titled "An Essay on Criticism."
However, Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary says the original idea is older than that. In 1678 Thomas Jones wrote, "To err, is human; to recover, is Angelical; to persevere is Diabolical." But this saying wasn't as memorable and, therefore, it just didn't stick.
"Err" comes from the Latin word "errare," meaning "to stray or wander". Related words, such as errant and erroneous, have the same Latin origin.
But the noun form of "err", error, appears in many American English expressions.
For example, human error is often the reason police give for a preventable – but unplanned – accident. If a train crashes because the driver fell asleep, that crash was caused by human error.
But some errors or mistakes are nobody's fault directly.
Let's say a plane crashes. An investigation proves that the crash was caused by an undetectable engine problem. There was nothing the pilot could have done differently to prevent the crash. In this case, the cause of the crash was not pilot error.
But that is enough talk about crashes.
Let's say this pilot is on the runway preparing to take off. Suddenly, a bad storm begins. She could take off but decides to wait until the storm passes. We could say she wants to err on the side of caution. This simply means that of all the options available, you choose the safest one.
If you feel sick one day but feel fine the next, you may err on the side of caution and stay home from work.
You can err on the side of other things. For example, let's say your child's school asks for a money donation to build a new playground. You don't know how much other parents are giving. So, you err on the side of generosity and give more than you think is expected.
Here's another example. If a person has treated you badly in the past, you can err on the side of being polite to them.
Acting politely is the right thing to do. And it's good for another reason, as well. When you are nice to people who have treated you badly in the past, they may re-think their bad behavior. They may see the error of their ways.
We often use this phrase when we want to say that a person has realized the things they have done wrong. But be warned – we don't use this phrase lightly. The "error" in this expression is usually a serious problem with a person's character or behavior that may cause trouble.
This expression also means the person became aware and then fixed the problem.
Let's go back to the pilot.
Imagine she had a bad habit of working too hard. She would lie about her long flight assignments so that she could fly even more routes. However, one day she realized that she was putting the passengers in danger. She saw the error of her ways and stopped.
If her supervisor had caught her and forced her to change her work habits, you would not use this expression. And you would not say the supervisor saw the error in her ways. It is always a self-discovery.
Now, talking about self-discovery brings us to scientific discoveries.
Scientists are very careful people, but scientific research is full of errors. Scientists know this. So, they sometimes say that their findings have a margin of error. That margin, or amount, shows how accurate they think their answer really is.
You can also add prepositions to this expression. For example, if something is unlikely to happen based on information you have collected about it, it is outside the margin of error. If it is likely to happen, it is within the margin of error.
Another scientific term that we use in any part of our lives is trial and error. Trial and error means you find the best way to do something by trying many ways and getting rid of the ways that failed.
Sometimes here at VOA, creating new programs for our listeners involves some trial and error. Sure, it is helpful to know which programs in the past were popular. But times change and so do audiences. We need to be willing to try new things -- that's the trial part -- and fail, or make an error.
If we do fail, I hope you will err on the side of forgiveness and give us another chance.
And that's the end of Words and Their Stories.
I'm Jonathan Evans ...
and I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
1.the reason sb give for 某人给出的理由
The reason many women will give for their desire to separate is a research for self.
很多女性这时提出渴望分居的原因是她们想更了解下自己。
2.a margin of error 误差幅度
The poll did not include a margin of error.
该调查没有计算误差幅度。
3.trial and error 反复试验
Many drugs were found by trial and error.
很多药物都是通过反复试验才发现的。
参考译文
现在是VOA学英语《词汇掌故》时间。
我们的节目旨在探讨美语里常用表达的来源，而且更重要的是它们的使用方法。
我们真得很想将教学和娱乐我们的听众这件事情做得出色。所以，每次我们都努力做好我们的节目。
但是，有时候，我们会犯错。我们会出差错（err）。
犯错（make a mistake）不是件令人愉快的事情，但是也是正常的事情。常言道，“人非圣贤，孰能无过（to err is human）”，换句话说，犯错乃人之常情。
但是那些因为别人的错误而自己受牵连的人怎么办呢？
有个谚语也回答了这个问题，是这么说的，“宽恕是神圣的（...to forgive (is) divine）”。
这是说宽恕别人的错误能让我们比仅仅生而为人好些。这种行为像上帝一样。
这是一句古老的常用谚语。它出自18世纪英国诗人亚历山大·蒲柏。他在一篇题为《论批评》的诗文中提到了宽恕。
但是，韦氏在线词典显示，这句谚语的最初的理念比这个更悠久。1678年托马斯·琼斯写道，“犯错乃人之常情，知错就改的是天使，执迷不悟的则是恶魔”。但是这个说法没有那么令人印象深刻，因此，它没有流传下来。
“Err”出自拉丁语单词“errare”，意思是“游荡”。相关的单词，如“errant”和“erroneous”，都有着相同的拉丁语起源。
但是名词形式的“err”、“error”出现在许多美语表达里。
例如，“人为过失（human error）”多指警察给出的造成本可以预防、却意外发生了的事故的原因。如果说因为司机睡着而导致了火车的相撞，那么这次相撞事故的发生就可以说是人为过失（human error）导致。
但是有些错误不是人为直接导致的。
比方说发生了一场空难。调查证明这场空难是由未检测到的引擎故障造成的。飞行员无论怎么做也阻止不了这场空难发生。在这个例子中，飞机失事不是飞行员的错。
事故说得够多的了。
假设飞机在跑道上，飞行员正准备架机起飞。突然，一场暴风雨来了。她本可以让飞机起飞，但是她决定等暴风雨过去。我们可以说她宁可慎之又慎（err on the side of caution）。这单纯表示在许多可选的选择中，你选了最安全的一个。
如果有天你生病了，但是第二天感觉又好了，你也许会慎之又慎，不去上班，在家里再休息一天。
你可以宁可选择（err on the side of）其他事情。例如，假设你孩子上学的学校要求捐款建一个新操场。你不知道其他家长捐多少。所以，你宁可慷慨一些，你比预期捐的还多捐。
接下来是另一个例子。如果有个人过去对你非常不好，你可以选择以礼待之（err on the side of being polite to them）。
礼貌待人是正确的做法。这样做还有另一个好的理由。但你善待过去对你不好的人，他们也许会反省自己的恶劣行径。他们也许会意识到自己的错误。
当我们想说一个人意识到自己做错事的时候，我们经常会用到这个短语。但请注意——我们不会轻易使用这个短语。这个表达里的“错误（error）”通常指的是一个人的性格或者行为上的严重问题引起的麻烦。
这个表达也指一个人开始意识到问题，然后解决了问题。
让我们继续说飞行员。
假设她有过分勤劳的坏习惯。关于她的长途飞行的任务，她也许会撒谎，这样她就能飞更多的航线，但有天，她意识到自己这样做是将乘客置于危险之境。她意识到了自己的错误并且停止了这种行为。
如果她的上司逮到了她撒谎，强行让她改变自己的工作习惯，你就不能使用这个短语了。你不会说她的上司意识到她行为的错误。这总是一种自省行为。
现在，说到自省就让人想到科学发现。
科学家是非常谨慎的人，但是科学研究充满了错误。科学家们知道这一点。所以，他们有时候说他们的发现有一定幅度的误差（a margin of error）。这个误差的幅度或者多少表明了他们认为的真实答案的准确性。
也可以将介词添加到此表达式中。例如，如果某事物基于你收集的信息来看，不太可能发生，那这件事就超出了误差范围。如果它可能发生，那它就在误差范围之内。
我们生活中用到的另一个科学术语就是“反复试验（trial and error）”。“trial and error”意思是你通过试验很多种方法并排除掉错误的法子以发现最好的方法。
有时候在VOA为我们的听众朋友们创建新节目也涉及到一些反复试验。当然，这有助于了解过去的哪些节目是受欢迎的。但是时代在变，观众也在变。我们需要去尝试新事物，也就是要试验的部分，失败或者犯错误。
如果我们真失败了，我希望你们能够选择原谅我们，再给我们一次机会。
这就是今天的《词汇掌故》内容了。
我是乔纳森·埃文斯。
我是安娜·马特奥。
