The english we speak(BBC教學)第217期:A wild card 未知數

Rob: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Rob and joining me today is Feifei.

羅布：大家好，歡迎收聽地道英語節目。我是羅布，今天和我一起主持節目的是菲菲。

Feifei: Hello everyone. Hey, what about that new guy who's started in the office?

菲菲：大家好。嘿，剛來辦公室的那個新人怎麼樣？

Rob: Brian?

羅布：布萊恩嗎？

Feifei: Yes, he's very funny — always telling jokes — and yesterday he started juggling with three oranges — he was very good.

菲菲：對，他非常有意思，一直在講笑話，他昨天還表演了拋接三個桔子呢，他人非常好。

Rob: Hmm, he might be funny but I haven't seen him do much work — I think he's a bit of a wild card.

羅布：嗯，他可能很有趣，不過我並沒有看到他做太多工作，我想他可能是個未知數。

Feifei: A wild card? You mean he's like a playing card — a heart, a spade or maybe a diamond?

菲菲：瘋狂的紙牌？你是說他像撲克牌一樣嗎，可能是紅心，黑桃或者是方片？

Rob: No, no, although the expression does come from playing cards — here, it means he is unpredictable: he's someone we don't know much about so we're not sure how he's going to behave in the future.

羅布：不是，不是，雖然這個表達方式的確起源於紙牌，不過它的意思是說一個人不可預測：我們不太瞭解一個人，所以我們不太確定他未來的表現會如何。

Feifei: Oh do you think so? Well yes Rob, Brian is unpredictable!

菲菲：哦，你是這麼認爲的嗎？好吧，羅布，布萊恩無法預測！

Rob: Let's hear some more examples of this phrase…

羅布：我們來聽些這個短語的例句……

Examples

例句

We're taking a gamble, she's a wild card, but let's hope she delivers what she promises.

我們是在冒險，她是一個未知數，希望她能遵守承諾吧。

Jack is too much of a wild card to get a place on our team.

傑克是個未知數，他不太可能在我們隊中獲得一席之地。

The wild card in this competition is Chelsea: nobody really knows which way the score will go.

這場比賽中的變數是切爾西：沒有人能預測最後比分。

Rob: Right, have you got that? A wild card can describe someone who is unpredictable or they behave in an unexpected way. But although Brian is a wild card, I wish he'd settle down and do some work instead of joking around all the time.

羅布：好，你明白了嗎？這個短語是用來形容某人不可預測，或者說他們經常做出令人意想不到的舉動來。不過雖然布萊恩是個變數，不過我希望他能安定下來努力工作，而不是到處開玩笑。

Feifei: Oh do you wish you were a bit like him?

菲菲：你也希望像他那樣吧？

Rob: Not at all — anyway what kind of card would you call me?

羅布：完全不，不過你會稱呼我是什麼卡？

Feifei: You're my favourite card — you're an ace!

菲菲：你是我最愛的那張——紙牌A。

Rob: Ace! Gosh thanks Feifei, you're such a card!

羅布：紙牌A！天哪，謝謝你，菲菲，你真是個有趣的人！

Feifei: See you next time.

菲菲：下次再見。

Rob: Bye Bye!

羅布：再見！

Feifei: Bye!

菲菲：再見！

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重點講解：
1. what about
……怎麼樣；
eg. They are very splendid. What about the price?
這些非常不錯。價格怎麼樣呢?
eg. What about that gorgeous blonde over there?
你認爲那位美麗的白膚金髮碧眼女郎怎麼樣?
2. wild card
未知數；未知因素；
eg. The wild card in the picture is Eastern Europe.
整個局勢中的變數是東歐。
eg. The advertisement is still a wild card.
這個廣告的成功與否還是個未知數。
3. settle down
安頓下來；
eg. He looks like a smart lad. He'll settle down.
看來他是個機靈的小夥子。他會安定下來的。
eg. He is of an age when he ought to settle down.
他已到了應該安頓下來的年齡。
4. instead of
代替…；而不是…；
eg. He trifled with his food instead of eating it.
他只是心不在焉地撥弄他的食物，一口也沒吃。
eg. The shopkeeper gave us short weight: we got 7.5 kilos instead of 10 kilos.
店主給我們的分量不足: 應該10公斤我們只得到7.5公斤。