The english we speak(BBC教學)第192期:Food for thought 引人深思

(Feifei finds Finn in the company canteen)

（菲菲發現芬恩在公司餐廳）

Feifei: Hi Finn. What are you doing here sitting alone in the canteen? Can I sit with you?

菲菲：你好，芬恩。你怎麼一個人坐在餐廳裏？我可以和你一起坐嗎？

Finn: Sure. Take a seat, Feifei.

芬恩：當然可以了。菲菲，請坐。

Feifei: Mind if I take a chip? They look good.

菲菲：你介意給我個薯條吃嗎？它們看上去很好吃。

Finn: Oh yeah, go ahead! I'm just eating this quickly as I'm going out soon, you know? I'm going to take a look at a car. It's a sports car! I've always wanted one.

芬恩：哦，吃吧！我馬上要出去，所以我吃得很快。你知道嗎，我要去看車。那是一輛跑車！我一直想要一輛。

Feifei: A sports car? Sounds expensive. How can you afford a sports car?

菲菲：一輛跑車？聽起來很貴。你能負擔得起一輛跑車嗎？

Finn: Well, it's a second-hand car. The owner needs to sell it quickly so they're selling it really cheaply. What a great opportunity, huh?!

芬恩：嗯，那是輛二手車。車主想趕緊賣掉，所以他們打算廉價出售。這是一次好機會，不是嗎？！

Feifei: These sports cars burn a lot of fuel, you know, Finn. The car might come cheap but do you want to end up keeping it in a garage?

菲菲：芬恩，你知道，跑車很費油。也許你能以便宜的價錢買到那輛車，可是難道你想一直把它存在車庫裏嗎？

Finn: Well, I hadn't thought of that…

芬恩：嗯，那我倒沒想過……

Feifei: And there's also insurance. A car like that will attract thieves, so it'll cost a lot…

菲菲：還有保險問題。像那樣的車會引起小偷的注意，所以保險費會很貴……

Finn: That's right. You know… you've just given me some food for thought…

芬恩：沒錯。你知道……你剛剛說的話讓我覺得應該好好想想……

Feifei: Food? You want more food? I thought you wanted to finish eating quickly?

菲菲：食物？你還想要點吃的東西嗎？我以爲你會馬上吃完呢。

Finn: I'm not talking about real food. In English, when you say 'food for thought' you mean serious ideas or topics for us to think about.

芬恩：我不是在說真的事物。在英語中，food for thought這個短語的意思是讓我們去思考的嚴肅的想法或是話題。

Feifei: Nothing to do with chips, then?

菲菲：那和薯條沒什麼關係了？

Finn: No food involved. 'Food for thought' is today's expression in The English We Speak. Let's hear some examples of how it's used.

芬恩：與食物無關。Food for thought就是今天地道英語節目要講的表達方式。我們來聽些例句，看看這個短語如何應用。

Examples

例句

The football coach was really disappointed when his team lost 3-0 to an amateur side. But it gave him food for thought.

這場足球比賽太令人失望了，他的隊伍以0比3輸給了一支業餘隊。不過這卻引發了他的思考。

Mary's divorce gave her food for thought. She decided to go back to university, get a diploma, and change her life around.

瑪麗的離婚讓她思考了很多。她決定回到大學取得文憑，改變她的命運。

Feifei: So Finn, are you going to buy this sports car?

菲菲：所以，芬恩，你還打算買那輛跑車嗎？

Finn: I'm not so sure now. You have indeed given me food for thought.

芬恩：現在我也不確定了。你真的讓我覺得我要思考一下。

Feifei: (Chewing)… Mmmm… these are good…

菲菲：（咀嚼）……嗯……這些太好吃了……

Finn: My chips! Feifei, you've taken all my chips?!

芬恩：我的薯條！菲菲，你把我的薯條都吃了？！

Feifei: Sorry Finn. They looked so good and I thought you were in a rush.

菲菲：抱歉，芬恩。它們看起來太好吃了，我以爲你趕時間。

Finn: I was, until you gave me… food for thought!

芬恩：剛纔我的確是，直到你讓我覺得我要考慮一下！

Feifei: Ok – let me get another plate. Chips are much better than sports cars anyway. Let's just focus on the eating today.

菲菲：好吧，我們再點一份吧。不管怎麼樣說，薯條可比跑車好多了。我們今天就關注吃的東西吧。

Finn: Yeah, and let's do the thinking another day! Bye.

芬恩：好吧，我們改天再思考好了！再見。

Feifei: Bye.

菲菲：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. go ahead
繼續；
eg. The runway is clear — go ahead and land.
跑道暢通無阻，開始着陸吧。
eg. Go ahead and cry. Don't hold it in.
只管哭吧。別忍着。
2. take a look at
看一下；看一眼；
eg. Let me take a look at our booking list.
讓我查閱一下預訂登記。
eg. In case you think I was incautious, take a look at the map.
如果你認爲我不夠仔細，就自己看看地圖。
3. end up (in) sth./doing sth.
最終；結果；到頭來；
eg. Wasteful people usually end up in debt.
揮霍浪費者最後往往負債。
eg. Sooner or later most writers end up making books about the torments of being a writer.
或早或晚，大多數作家最終都會著書講述身爲作家的苦惱。
4. food for thought
引人深思；發人深省；
eg. Lord Fraser's speech offers much food for thought.
弗雷澤勳爵的講演發人深省。
eg. Developments in your career may give you food for thought.
事業上的發展可能會引發你很多的思考。
5. in a rush
急急忙忙地；倉促地；
eg. I always have to finish my coursework in a rush.
我不得不經常匆忙完成課程。
eg. She was always in a rush.
她總是很匆忙。