(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 common expressions in American English. And today we talk about something many people like to eat – candy!
Candy comes in many flavors and textures. Some taste like fruit. Some taste like flowers. Some are chewy, like taffy and gum.
Hard candies are, well, hard! So, they last a long time.
But, in spoken English, there are some types of candy that you cannot eat. For example, you can't eat eye candy.
Eye candy is a person – man or woman – who is very good-looking. So, looking at this person is a treat for the eye, just like candy is a treat for the taste buds.
Arm candy is also non-edible candy. It is another term for a good-looking person. In this case, the good-looking person is someone's date or romantic interest. The two might even link arms to show they are together. That is why we call it "arm candies."
So, all arm candies are also eye candies, because they must be good-looking. But not all eye candies are arm candies, because they can be alone.
And beware of someone calling you "arm candy." It suggests you are only being pursued because of your good looks.
There. I said it. I did not candy coat the truth.
What does candy-coating something mean? Well, some pills are covered with a coat of thin, sweet candy. The coating makes swallowing the pill easier, and it may hide a bad taste. So, candy coating a difficult truth or situation means you don't directly discuss its bad parts.
For example, let's say you work in a chocolate factory. You hear your boss accuse a co-worker of stealing some candy. You do not want to make the situation worse. So you tell your colleagues, "I think Louisa will be leaving the chocolate business very soon," instead of, "Oh Louisa? She is being fired right now."
Okay, after all this talk about candy you may crave something sugary. If you do, you can say you have a sweet tooth. People with a sweet tooth love to eat sweets -- not just candy, but also cakes, pies, cookies, ice cream... you name it! If it has sugar, they like to eat it!
Or maybe that is not you. After all, some people dislike things that are very sweet, especially adults. But even if you do not like candy or are no longer a child ... you can still be called a kid in a candy store.
This expression means a person is very excited and happy to do something or to simply be somewhere. Imagine a child going from one candy display to the next, not knowing which candy to choose!
This expression also suggests the person is acting in a somewhat childish and silly way. And he or she does not care!
Talking about children brings us to our last expression: as easy as taking candy from a baby.
Think about a small, helpless baby holding a piece of candy. Taking it would be very easy -- mean, but easy. So, use this expression when you are talking about something that may be simple to do, but probably not right.
On the other hand, if something is simple and your intentions are sweet, you can say easy as pie or easy as cake.
Now, we talked about those last two expressions in an earlier Words and Their Stories. I used them again because repetition is important when learning a language.
And I'm not going to candy-coat it: You need to practice too.
That brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories. Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
1.instead of 替代；取代
He put a plus instead of a minus.
他填了个加号而不是减号。
2.on the other hand 从另一方面来说；在另一方面
On the other hand, the idea appealed to him.
从另一方面来说，这个想法又使他很感兴趣。
3.no longer 不再；再也不
Her parents no longer have any real influence over her.
她的父母对她不再有任何真正的影响力了。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》。
在这个节目中，我们将探讨美式英语中常见的表达方式。今天我们来谈谈很多人喜欢吃的东西——糖果！
糖果有多种口味和质地，有些味道像水果，有些像花，有些耐嚼，像太妃糖和口香糖。
硬糖是硬的！所以，可以吃很长时间。
但在英语口语中，有些糖果你不能吃。例如，你不能吃eye candy（养眼花瓶）。
Eye candy是指一个长得非常好看的男人或女人。所以，看着这个人是让眼睛享受的一件事，就像糖果是让味蕾享受一样。
Arm candy（靓伴）也是不能吃的糖果，这是对漂亮的人的另一个称呼。在这种情况下，好看的人是某人的约会或浪漫情感的对象。两人甚至可能会挽起手臂来表示他们在一起。这就是为什么我们称之为“arm candies。”
所以，所有的arm candies也是eye candies，因为他们必须长得好看。但并不是所有的eye candies都是arm candies，因为他们可以是独自一个人。
有人叫你为“arm candy”时，你要当心了，这说明你只是因为长得好看才被人追求。
我这么说了，我没有粉饰真相。
candy-coating是什么意思？嗯，有些药片上覆盖着一层薄薄的糖果，这种涂层使吞咽药丸更容易，还可以掩盖不好的味道。所以，给一个困难的真相或情况涂上糖衣，意味着你不会直接讨论其坏处。
例如，假设你在一家巧克力工厂工作。你听到老板指控一个同事偷了一些糖果。你不想让情况变得更糟。所以你告诉你的同事，“我想路易莎很快就要离开巧克力店了”，而不是“哦，路易莎？她现在被解雇了。”
好了，谈过这么多糖果之后，你可能会想吃甜食。如果你想吃甜食，可以说you have a sweet tooth。有甜牙齿的人喜欢吃甜食——不仅是糖果，还有蛋糕、果馅饼、饼干、冰淇淋等等！只要有糖，他们就喜欢吃！
或许你不是这样。毕竟，有些人不喜欢很甜的东西，尤其是成年人。但即使你不喜欢糖果或不再是孩子了，人们仍然可以称你为a kid in a candy store（非常兴奋）。
这个短语的意思是一个人高兴而又兴奋地去做某事或只是去某个地方。想象一下，一个孩子从一个展示糖果的地方去到另一处，不知道该选择哪种糖果的情境！
这个表达也暗示这个人的行为有点幼稚和愚蠢，他或她不太在乎！
说到孩子，我们想到了最后一种表达：as easy as taking candy from a baby（非常简单）。
想想无助的小婴儿拿着一块糖果，从他手中拿过这块糖会是非常容易的事——这么做不好，但却很容易。所以，当你谈论一些做起来很简单，但可能是不对的事情时，可以使用这个表达。
另一方面，如果事情很简单，你又是出于好意这么做，可以说像easy as pie或easy as cake（易如反掌）。
我们在以前的节目中讨论过最后两种表达，我又用了一遍是因为学习语言时，重复很重要。
我不打算隐瞒真相：你也需要练习。
本期节目就到这里了，下次见，我是安娜·马特奥。
