(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English.
Our bodies give us so many expressions. And today we talk about the facial feature that sticks out the most...your nose!
Well, unless you are wearing a mask, which covers the mouth and nose. But most of the time our noses are noticeable. You can see them clearly.
And that fact gives us this expression: "as plain as the nose on your face."
This describes something that is very clear, easy to see or understand. It is obvious.
Here is one way to use it.
My friend Marina liked my other friend, Christopher, a lot. She never told me, but I could tell.
Every time he entered the room she acted differently. She talked faster and fixed her hair a lot.
And she laughed at every joke he made, even the ones that were not funny. So, to me she obviously liked him.
When I asked her about it, she said, "How did you know?"
"Marina, I said, "it's as plain as the nose on your face. Which means...he probably knows too!"
Her face turned deep red from embarrassment.
Imagine we all have to wear masks all the time for years and years.
If that happens, this expression might change. But for now we still use it.
Here is our next expression. It's an easy one: on the nose.
This expression has two very common meanings.
If something is "on the nose," it is exactly right. It is accurate.
For example, his guess about the new company succeeding was right on the nose. After only a year, it is making a lot of money.
"On the nose" also means something happens at the exact set time.
For example, Marjorie's work day starts at 10am. And she arrives to the office every day at 10am on the nose.
But being "on the nose" and on time doesn't mean you have to do it every day. It just means you agreed to be somewhere at a certain time and you are there.
Some word experts say this usage of "on the nose" comes from radio.
When recording a radio show, the voice performers are in a recording room.
They are separated from the producers and sound experts by glass.
Oftentimes, the recording could not be interrupted.
So, if a show was running on time, the producer would put a finger on his or her nose to let the performers know.
Here is our last expression.
One thing noses do is smell things. The nose can help us find food.
Sometimes it can help us detect danger, like smelling smoke. This is a valuable ability.
So, if you have a special ability for something, we can say you "have a nose" for it.
For example, a good detective has a nose for solving crimes. They can sniff out hidden clues. To sniff is to breathe in quickly, like this: (sniff sniff).
If you have a nose for news, you are good at finding news stories. It's like you can sniff out an interesting story.
Many of our listeners definitely have a nose for learning English.
And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories! Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
1.stick out 突出
They wrote the notice in big red letters so that it would stick out.
他们用红色大字写出通知，这样会显眼一些。
2.as plain as the nose on your face 显而易见
Surely you can see what's wrong; it's as plain as the nose on your face.
当然你能知道出了什么差错，这显而易见。
3.on the nose 正好，恰恰
The budget should hit the $136 billion target on the nose.
预算应该正好达到1360亿元的目标。
关注微信公众号【可可双语精读】，获取更多详细优质讲解内容。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。
我们可以用很多肢体动作来表达各种意思，今天我们来谈谈最突出的面部特征……鼻子！
嗯，除非你戴着口罩，遮住了嘴和鼻子，否则我们的鼻子大多数时候都是显而易见的，可以清楚地看到。
基于此，我们有了这样一个表达：“as plain as the nose on your face。”
这个短语的意思是“非常清晰、容易看到或容易理解的东西”，即显而易见的。
下面是一种它的使用方式。
我的朋友玛丽娜很喜欢我的另一个朋友克里斯托弗。她从没告诉过我，但我能看出来。
每次他走进房间，她的举止都不一样。她说话更快了，还经常整理头发。
他讲的每一个笑话她都笑，即便是那些并不好笑的笑话。对我来说，很显然她喜欢他。
等到我问她时，她说：“你怎么知道的？”
“玛丽娜，”我说，“显而易见啊，这说明…… 他可能也看出来了！”
她窘得满脸通红。
想象一下如果我们要永远戴口罩，年复一年。
如果是这样，那么这个表达可能会改变，不过现在我们还是可以使用它。
下面讲我们的另一个表达。这个比较简单：on the nose。
这个表达有两个非常常见的意思。
如果说某件事是“on the nose”，那么就是在说这件事是完全正确的，正确无误。
比如说，他猜测这家新公司会成功，他的猜测非常准确，仅仅一年之后，这家公司就赚了很多钱。
“On the nose”也指在特定的时间发生特定的事。
例如，玛乔丽的工作日从上午10点开始，她每天早上10点准时到办公室。
不过“On the nose”并不是说每天都必须这么做，只是说你愿意在某个时间去某个地方，然后你就到了。
一些词汇专家说“on the nose”的用法来自于收音机。
在录制广播节目时，配音演员在录音室里。
他们和制作人以及声音专家用玻璃隔开。
通常录音是不能被打断的。
所以，如果一个节目准时上演，制作人就会把手指放在鼻子上，让表演者知道。
下面讲我们今天的最后一个表达。
鼻子能做的一件事就是闻东西。鼻子可以帮助我们找到食物。
有时它可以帮助我们察觉危险，比如闻到烟味。这是一种很有价值的能力。
所以，如果你对某事有特殊的能力，我们可以说你“have a nose for it”。
例如，一个好的侦探有破案的嗅觉。他们能嗅出隐藏的线索。“嗅”是快速地吸气，像这样：(嗅嗅嗅)。
如果说你“have a nose for news”，就是说你很擅长发现新闻故事，就好像你能嗅出一个有趣的故事一样。
我们的许多听众确实对学习英语很感兴趣。
以上就是本期词汇掌故节目的全部内容。下次见…… 我是安娜·马特奥。
