The english we speak(BBC教學)第298期:To pull something out of the hat 突施妙計

Feifei has a nice surprise for Rob — tickets to see their favourite singer. It's an unexpected surprise but where did she get them from? Rob uses an expression which leads to some confusion. Maybe this programme will pull an explanation out of the hat?!

菲菲給羅布準備了個驚喜——他們最喜愛的歌手的演唱會門票。這是一個意想不到的驚喜，可是她是從哪兒弄來的票？羅布使用的表達方式引發了困惑。也許本期節目會從變出個解釋來？！

Feifei: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Feifei and I'm waiting for Rob... I have some good news for him!

菲菲：大家好，歡迎收聽地道英語節目。我是菲菲，我正在等羅布……我有個好消息要告訴他！

Rob: Oh hi Feifei. You're looking very pleased with yourself.

羅布：哦，嗨，菲菲。你看起來很高興。

Feifei: Yes, I am. You know that new singer we really really like and wanted to go and see?

菲菲：沒錯。你知道那名我們非常喜歡、想去看他演唱會的新歌星吧？

Rob: You mean Justin Timberriver?

羅布：你說的是賈斯汀·汀布瑞維嗎？

Feifei: Yes him. And you know that his world tour is a sell-out — there are no tickets left?

菲菲：就是他。你知道他世界巡演的票已經售罄了，已經沒有票了嗎？

Rob: Yes, sadly.

羅布：是啊，太可惜了。

Feifei: Well, look at these!

菲菲：看看這個！

Rob: Wow! Two tickets to see Justin Timberriver in London tomorrow! That's amazing, how did you manage to pull those out of the hat?

羅布：哇！兩張明天賈斯汀·汀布瑞維全球巡演倫敦站的門票！這太不可思議了，你是怎麼變出這些票來的？

Feifei: Err Rob — I didn't pull them out of anyone's hat — I used my own money to buy them from a friend.

菲菲：額，羅布，我不是從別人的帽子裏拿出來的，我是用我自己的錢從一個朋友手裏買的。

Rob: No Feifei — if you 'pull something out of a hat' it means you produce something unexpectedly — by surprise — and solves a problem.

羅布：菲菲，我不是這個意思，pull something out of a hat的意思是你出乎意料地做到了某件事、解決了一個問題。

Feifei: OK, I see! So these tickets are an unexpected surprise?

菲菲：好，我明白了！所以你是說這兩張票是意想不到的驚喜？

Rob: Yes — I thought we would never get any. Let's hear some more examples while I calm down!

羅布：嗯，我想我們拿不到票了呢。我要平靜一下，這期間我們來聽幾個例句吧！

Examples

例句

We thought we'd never complete the project on time but somehow, Javeed managed to pull it out of the hat.

我們本以爲我們不能準時完成這個項目了，可是賈韋德出乎意料地搞定了項目。

Our team has had a bad season but they still managed to pull a cup victory out of the hat by the end of it.

我們隊這賽季成績不好，不過他們仍出乎意料地在賽季末獲得了盃賽冠軍。

Feifei: So, if you pull something out of a hat, you do something that is not expected and it makes a bad situation better. You can also say 'to pull something out of thin air'. So it's like magic?

菲菲：pull something out of a hat，意思是你做了一件出乎意料的事，而且扭轉了糟糕的情況。你還可以說pull something out of thin air。像魔術一樣嗎？

Rob: Yes. It's just like how a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat — I don't suppose you could do that could you?

羅布：對，就像是魔術師從帽子裏變出一隻兔子一樣，我認爲你做不到，你能嗎？

Feifei: No Rob. But maybe you could pull something out of the hat for me?

菲菲：不能，羅布。不過也許你可以從你的帽子裏變出些什麼給我？

Rob: Oh, what's that?

羅布：哦，那是什麼呢？

Feifei: The tickets cost £100 each — could I have the money now please?

菲菲：門票一張100英鎊，你現在能給我錢嗎？

Rob: £100? Where am I going to find that?

羅布：100英鎊？我要去哪裏弄錢給你？

Feifei: Look inside that silly hat you're wearing.

菲菲：看看你戴的那頂可笑的帽子裏有沒有。

Rob: It's not silly.

羅布：這並不可笑。

Feifei: Bye!

菲菲：再見！

Rob: Bye!

羅布：再見！

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重點講解：
1. pull sth. out of the hat （常指沒落時）出乎意料地獲取（勝利、成功）；
例句：Southampton had somehow managed to pull another Cup victory out of the hat.
南安普敦隊最終還是出乎意料地又一次獲得了足總盃賽的勝利。
2. by surprise 突然；出其不意；
例句：Her sudden resignation took us all by surprise.
她突然辭職，我們都爲之愕然。
3. calm down (使)平靜下來；(使)鎮定下來；
例句：He made himself calm down first before he took out the cell phone and punched in the number.
他平靜了一下，然後拿出手機撥出電話號碼。
4. on time 及時；不遲；
例句：He said he would turn up on time.
他說他會準時出席。