(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories. This program explores the history and usage of common expressions in American English.
Today we talk about a time when half the world is waking from the dark, cold winter months. Spring! We often describe spring as a time of rebirth, renewal and awakening. Many trees are blossoming and early flowers are pushing through the earth.
Things are coming to life!
When the weather turns warm, many people suffer from spring fever. Common "symptoms" of spring fever include not being able to focus on school or work, taking long walks, or falling in love.
So, are you actually sick when you have spring fever?
Originally, yes. Spring fever used to refer to an actual illness. When the weather turned warm, some people developed sore throats, headaches, or stuffy noses.
The definition of "spring fever" slowly changed in the early 1800s.
People came to use the term to mean a sudden increase of romantic feelings.
Elvis Presley describes this feeling in the song "Spring Fever."
"Spring fever, comes to everyone. Spring fever, it's time for fun. There's no doubt now, love is everywhere. Get up, get out, spring is everywhere".
These days, we use "spring fever" to describe a restless feeling after the long, cold days of winter.
But the word "spring" is not just a season. It is also a verb that means something happening or appearing quickly.
When you put "spring" and "life" together, you get spring to life. This expression means something suddenly becomes very active or perhaps seems more alive! You may spring to life after hearing that a distant friend will be visiting you. Or maybe your favorite soccer team finally sprang to life in the second half, played well, and won the match.
But this is just the beginning. There are so many more "spring" expressions that mean to happen suddenly.
Imagine that you are resting on the couch when suddenly you see a mouse run across the floor. You spring into action! You jump from the couch and run after the mouse! But you miss. So, that night you leave some cheese in a small device that will snap quickly: you want to spring a trap. And it works! But when you tell your roommate that you caught a mouse in a trap, tears spring from her eyes. You feel badly, but she really should have told you about her pet mouse Charlie!
After all, your apartment doesn't allow pets. And you don't want to get in trouble with your landlord. See, your neighborhood is finally turning into a really nice place to live. There are more places to eat and shop. In fact, stores, restaurants and cafés seem to have sprung up overnight! They moved in quickly.
As you can see, American English has so many phrases that use "spring" to mean "something happens quickly". The ones we have heard are just the ones that sprang to mind. In other words, they were the first ones I thought of, without spending much time thinking about it.
But perhaps those examples are confusing. Maybe I should have prepared you instead of just springing them on you. And, I did it again. If you spring something on other people, you have surprised them, usually not in a good way.
Let's go back to the roommate story. Let's say one day your roommate, the one with the pet mouse, says to you, "Oh, by the way, I'm still really upset about Charlie. So, I'm moving out tomorrow. You'll have to find someone else to share the rent."
You say to her, "You can't just spring that on me! I'll need time to find another roommate!"
But then you think about. Maybe it's for the best. Every time you see her you feel guilty about Charlie, her pet mouse.
And anyway, she does something that really annoys you. She always expects you to buy her things: she wants you to spring for lunch, spring for movie tickets, and sometimes even spring for groceries.
When you spring for something, you pay for someone else.
This expression can also be an informal invitation. At work you can say to a colleague, "I have spring fever. Let's leave early and go to an outdoor café. I'll spring for coffee."
Now, besides being a season and a verb, the noun "spring" refers to a metal coil that is wound tightly. When the coil unwinds, it often jumps. So, we often say a person has a spring in his step if he is lively and active. He might even appear to jump, or bounce, a little when he walks.
There is another way we use "spring" as a description.
In the case of a spring chicken, "spring" means young. Also called a "springer", these young chickens have very tender meat. However, "spring chicken" is also an informal, humorous way to refer to someone who isn't young at all. So, we use this expression in the negative form, as in "no spring chicken."
For example, let's say you know an 85-year old man who decides to run a marathon, even though he has never exercised before. You could say, "That's amazing! After all, he's no spring chicken."
But be careful when using this expression. It could be a little disrespectful. Let's say your boss shows you a picture of his wife, and you say, "Wow, she's no spring chicken." That response would be disrespectful and a bad career move.
We end this Words and Their Stories back on the season spring.
Here is a short poem by Oliver Herford titled "I Heard a Bird Sing." It tells how a simple bird song brings a longing for spring during the month of December.
I Heard a Bird Sing
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.
"We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,"
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
1.spring for 支付;请客
He is a nice man, he will spring for our dinner.
他是一个好人，他要请我们吃饭。
2.spring chicken 童子鸡;年轻人;春天的鸡;少女
Even though John is no spring chicken, he still plays tennies twice a week.
虽然约翰不再年轻，但仍然每周打两次网球。
3.spring on 突然向……提出；扑向；突然告知
You can't just spring this on me now!
你现在不能这样对我！
参考译文
现在是VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目时间。本节目探讨美式英语常用表达的来源和用法。
今天我们来聊聊一半世界从黑暗而寒冷的冬月里走出来的时候。那就是春天！我们经常将春天描述为新生（rebirth），复苏（renewal）和觉醒（awakening）的时候。很多树木进入花期，早春的花儿们也正破土而出。
万物将焕发生机（come to life）！
天气转暖的时候，许多人会患上春倦症（spring fever）。春倦症的常见“症状”包括不能专心学习或者工作、散长步或者坠入爱河。
那么，当你春倦的时候，你实际上是生病了吗？
最初是这样的。春倦症过去指的是真实的疾病。当天气变暖的时候，一些人会喉咙发炎（sore throats）、头痛或鼻塞（stuffy noses）。
“春倦症”的含义在19世纪早期开始慢慢发生了变化。
人们开始用这个术语来形容突然涌起的浪漫情感。
埃尔维斯•普雷斯利曾在歌曲《Spring Fever》里描述了这种情感。
“春热来到了每个人身边。春热，开心地玩乐吧。现在无疑，爱遍满大地。起来吧，出去吧，到处都是春天”。
如今，我们用“spring fever”形容经历了漫长寒冷的冬天后的躁动不安。
但是单词“spring”不仅仅是一个季节。它也是一个动词，表示突然发生或者迅速出现的事物。
当你将“spring”和“life”放在一起的时候，就能得到“spring to life”。这个表达的意思是某事物突然变得很活跃或者也许似乎更有活力！当你听见你一个远方的朋友要来看你，你也许会一跃而起。或者也许你最喜欢的足球队最终在下半场满血复活，踢得很棒并赢了比赛。
但这只是开始。还有很多表示“突然发生”含义的“spring”表达。
假设你正在沙发上休息，突然你看见一只老鼠在地板上跑来跑去。你立即采取行动（spring into action）！你从沙发上跳下来，追着老鼠打！但是你没打中。所以，那晚你在一个能迅速关闭的小设备上放了一些奶酪。你希望捕鼠器能被触动（spring a trap）。这起作用了！但当你告诉你的室友你用捕鼠夹抓到了一只老鼠，她突然流泪了。你感觉很糟糕，但她真该告诉你她有一只叫查理的宠物鼠！
毕竟，你的公寓不允许养宠物。你不想和你的房东产生纠纷。看，你的社区最终变成了一个非常不错的居住地。有越来越多吃饭和购物的地方。实际上，商店、餐厅和咖啡店似乎是一夜之间涌出来的！他们很快就搬进来了。
如你所见，美式英语有如此之多表示“突然发生”意义的“spring”短语。刚刚收听到的这些仅仅只是突然想到（spring to mind）的。也就是说，这些短语是我最开始想到的，没有怎么想就冒出来的。
但也许这些短语让人觉得很混乱。也许我应该让你做好准备而不是突然告知（spring on）你们这些。好吧，我再一次这样做了。如果你突然告知某人某事，你会让他们觉得很意外，通常不是好的那种意外。
让我们继续说室友的故事。假设有一天，你那养宠物鼠的室友对你说：“哦，顺便说下，我真得还在为查理的事情感到很恼火。所以，我明天要搬出去了。你得找其他人来和你分摊房租了。”
你对她说：“你不能这样突然告知我！我需要时间去找另一个室友！”
但然后你想了想。也许这样是最好的结果。每次你见到她都会因为她的宠物鼠查理而觉得很愧疚。
不管怎样，她做的有些事情让你真得很火大。她总是希望你给她买东西：她想让你请吃午饭（spring for lunch），付电影票钱，有时候甚至替她支付食品的费用。
当你为某物买单（spring for），你替别人支付费用。
这个表达也可以是一种非正式的邀请。工作的时候你可以对你的同事说：“我春困了。让我们早些离开去外面的咖啡店吧。咖啡我买单。”
现在，除了表示季节和作动词使，名词的“spring”指的是一种紧密缠绕的金属线圈。当线圈解开时，它往往会弹跳起来。因此，当一个有活力且很活泼，我们说这个人脚步轻快。甚至也许他走路的时候会有点一蹦一跳的。
“spring”作为描述性名词还有另外一种用法。
在例子“a spring chicken（年轻人）”中的“spring”的意思是年轻。也被称作“springer（小鸡）”，这些小鸡的肉很嫩。但“spring chicken”也是一种非正式的、幽默的方式表达某人不再年轻。因此，我们用否定的形式使用这个表达，比如“no spring chicken（不再年轻）”。
例如，假如你认识一位85岁的老人，虽然他从未锻炼过，但是他决定要去跑马拉松。你可以说：“这太令人惊讶了！毕竟，他不年轻了。”
但是使用这个表达要当心。这可能会有点无礼。假设你的老板给你展示一幅他老婆画的画，你说：“哇，她不年轻了。”那个回应会无礼，且是一个错误的职场行为。
我们将回到作为季节的“spring（春天）”来结束我们本期的《词汇掌故》节目。
下面是一首来自奥利弗•黑尔福德的短诗，题为《I Heard a Bird Sing（我听见有只鸟儿在歌唱）》。这首诗表达了在十二月里一支简单的鸟鸣如何引起人们对春天的渴望。
我听见有只鸟儿在歌唱
我听见有只鸟儿在歌唱
在阴暗的十二月里
那奇妙的感觉
想起就很甜蜜
比起已逝去的九月
我们离春天更近了
我听见有只鸟儿在歌唱
在阴暗的十二月里
我是安娜·马特奥。
