The english we speak(BBC教學)第142期:The special relationship 英美關係
William: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, I'm William Kremer.
威廉：大家好，歡迎收聽地道英語節目，我是威廉·克萊默。Yang Li: And I'm Yang Li.
楊莉：我是楊莉。William: Let me play you something, Li.
威廉：莉，我來給你放些音樂。
British national anthem.
英國國歌Yang Li: Oh, God Save the Queen; the British national anthem. Are you in a patriotic mood, William?
楊莉：哦，這是英國國歌《天佑女王》。威廉，你沉浸在愛國情緒裏了？William: Ah, but wait...
威廉：啊，等等……USA national anthem.
美國國歌Yang Li: Eh? The Star Spangled Banner-The American National Anthem. But this is the BBC, William!! British Broadcasting Corporation!
楊莉：啊？這是美國國歌《星條旗之歌》。可是這裏是英國廣播公司，威廉！是英國廣播公司！William: Yeah, I know, Li. But a very special visitor is coming to Britain today. Barack Obama is visiting the UK on a three-day state visit.
威廉：莉，我知道。不過今天有一位特別的訪客要來到英國。巴拉克·奧巴馬要來英國進行爲期三天的國事訪問。Yang Li: Ah, yhat's right. But tell me something, William, be honest. Do the Brits and Americans like each other?
楊莉：啊，對，沒錯。不過威廉，請你誠實地回答我的問題。英國人和美國人喜歡彼此嗎？William: Well, that's a very difficult question to answer in ninety seconds, Li. But it's fair to say that our two countries have a lot in common. Not only do we share the same language but economically and politically Britain and the USA have a close connection. And this connection is often called the special relationship.
威廉：嗯，莉，這是個很難在九十秒內回答的問題。不過應該說，英美兩國之間有很多共同點。不僅僅是使用相同的語言，而且英國和美國在經濟和政治上也聯繫緊密。這種聯繫通常稱爲英美關係。Yang Li: The special relationship.
楊莉：英美關係。William: Here are a few examples of this phrase being used, which I found on the BBC website:
威廉：這裏有一些應用這個短語的例子，是我在BBC網站上找到的：Examples
例子Britain's former Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, talks to Katty Kay about recent remarks in which he described the 'special relationship' between America and Britain as a fiction that should be dropped.
英國前外交大臣傑克·斯特勞和凱蒂·凱伊談及了他最近的言論，他稱“英美關係”是假想之物，應該停止。Isabel Hilton and guests discuss the past, present and future of what people on this side of the Atlantic like to call 'the special relationship' between Britain and America. But is it really that special?
伊莎貝爾·希爾頓和嘉賓談論了大西洋這一邊的人們稱爲“英美關係”的過去、現在和未來。不過真的有那麼特別嗎？Files newly released by the Wikileaks website highlight what is described as the UK's 'paranoia' about its so-called special relationship with the US.
維基解密網站近期公開的文件強調了英國對“英美關係”的懷疑。Yang Li: It sounds like people are starting to question how special the special relationship is!
楊莉：聽起來人們開始質疑英美關係到底有多特殊了！William: Well, that might be true, and you can see that this is an issue that is easier to talk about because there is a special phrase for it.
威廉：嗯，這可能是真的，你看這是一個說起來更容易的問題，因爲有一個特殊的短語。Yang Li: So does the UK have a special relationship with other countries too?
楊莉：那英國和其他國家也有特殊關係嗎？William: Yeah, of course. And occasionally you might read about 'a special relationship with Australia' or 'a special relationship with India', for example. But the phrase 'the special relationship' by itself usually refers to the USA and Britain.
威廉：當然有了。比如有時你會看到“和澳大利亞的特殊關係”或是“和印度的特殊關係”之類的。不過the special relationship這個詞組本身通常指英美關係。Yang Li: We have a special relationship, don't we William?
楊莉：我們有特殊關係，是吧，威廉？William: Yeah, of course we do, Yang Li! And do you think our special relationship is like the special relationship?
威廉：楊莉，我們當然有了！你覺得我們的特殊關係和英美關係像嗎？Yang Li: Well, that depends, who is who in this relationship? Am I the USA or am I the UK?!
楊莉：嗯，那要看情況而定，在這個關係裏我們各自代表哪方 ？我是代表美國還是代表英國？William: Hmm. Well, that's an interesting question but also quite a strange one! So let's end today's programme there. Bye bye!
威廉：嗯，這是個很有趣的問題，不過同樣也是個很奇怪的問題！我們結束今天的節目吧。再見！Yang Li: Can I be America? I can take you for a ride in my Cadillac!
楊莉：我能當美國嗎？我可以開着我的凱迪拉克帶你去兜風！重點講解：
1. it's fair to say
可以說；應該說；
eg. I think it's fair to say that it didn't sound quite right.
我想應該說那聽起來可不太對。
eg. It's fair to say you could be mistaken.
可以說，你可能是弄錯了。
2. in common
共同的，相同的；
eg. The oboe and the clarinet have got certain features in common.
雙簧管和單簧管有些相似之處。
eg. He had very little in common with his sister.
他和姐姐幾乎沒有什麼共同語言。
3. that depends
視情形而定；看情況；
eg. That depends. How much do you want?
那要看情況，你要多少？
eg. Whether we will attend the meeting, that depends.
我們是否出席會議要看情況而定。
