The english we speak(BBC教學)第214期:To be on the ball 警覺

Why did Rob say that he was not really 'on the ball' this morning?

爲什麼羅布說他今天早上頭腦不太靈敏。

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

注：文本與音頻可能不完全對應。

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

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麗茲。

Li: Hi... everyone - err, Rob, my name is Li, not Liz.

莉：嗨，大家好。額……羅布，我的名字是莉，不是麗茲。

Rob: I'm sorry Li, I'm not really on the ball this morning.

羅布：抱歉，莉，今天早上我頭腦不是很靈敏。

Li: Nice phrase though. Why don't you go for a coffee and then you will be on the ball for The English We Speak?

莉：不錯的短語。你爲什麼不去喝杯咖啡呢？這樣你就能靈敏地主持地道英語節目了。

Rob: OK.

羅布：好。

(A little later)

（一會兒之後）

Rob: Right, lovely, OK, that's better. I've had a nice cup of coffee and I'm ready to explain the meaning for today's The English We Speak. So, here you go. When you are 'on the ball', it means you are alert and quick to react to things.

羅布：好，太好了，我現在好多了。我剛喝了杯好喝的咖啡，現在我準備好講解今天地道英語節目要學習的短語了。現在開始。當你說你on the ball的時候，意思是你處於警覺狀態，會很快對事情做出反應。

Li: It comes from sports, doesn't it?

莉：這個短語來自體育運動，對吧？

Rob: Yes. And there's another phrase: 'to keep your eye on the ball' which has a very similar meaning.

羅布：對，還有一個短語：keep your eye on the ball，這個短語擁有相似的意思。

Li: I guess we can use it for any situation which is changing quickly so you need to be focused and sharp.

莉：我想我們可以用這個短語來形容改變非常快的狀態，需要集中注意力、反應敏捷。

Rob: Indeed. Let's hear some examples:

羅布：完全正確。我們來聽些例句：

Examples

例句

The interviewer raised tough questions but Ma Yun was on the ball.

採訪者提出了尖刻的問題，不過馬雲都機敏地回答了。

Financial management is not a job that everyone can do. You have to keep your eye on the ball at all times.

財務管理不是誰都能做的工作。你必須要時刻集中注意力。

Li: And if you want to learn English well you can stay on the ball with .

莉：如果你想學好英語，那就要時刻關注網站。

Rob: Best of luck.

羅布：祝你們好運。

Li: Bye.

莉：再見。

Rob: Bye bye.

羅布：再見。

譯文屬僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載

重點講解：
1. on the ball
警覺；機警；留心；
eg. She really is on the ball; she's bought houses at auctions so she knows what she's doing.
她很精明幹練；她通過拍賣購過房，所以知道自己在做什麼。
eg. She was no chicken perhaps, but she was on the ball.
也許她並不是個膽怯的人，不過她一直是在保持着警惕。
2. be ready to do sth.
準備好的；勝任的；
eg. I'm ready to match my strength against yours.
我已經準備好與你較量力氣。
eg. He is not ready to step down yet.
他還不準備辭職。
3. be quick to do sth.
立刻的；馬上的；
eg. He was quick to take up the gauntlet thrown down by the opposition.
他立即接受了對方提出的挑戰。
eg. The papers were quick to condemn him for his mistake.
報紙及時地指摘他的錯誤。
4. react to
（作出）反應；迴應；
eg. They did not react to this provocation.
他們對這一挑釁未作反應。
eg. I am not sure how he will react to such a straightforward answer.
我吃不准他會對如此直率的回答作出什麼反應。