The english we speak(BBC教學)第88期:To bend over backwards 竭盡全力

Neil: Hello. I'm Neil.

尼爾：大家好，我是尼爾。

Helen: I'm Helen. And Neil is speaking in that rather strange voice because he's in a strange position.

海倫：我是海倫。尼爾用那種非常奇怪的聲音說話，原因是他現在的姿勢非常奇怪。

Neil: That's right. I'm bending over backwards–or trying to.

尼爾：沒錯。我正在向後彎腰，或者是試圖向後率。

Helen: Bending over backwards. The problem is that you're not very flexible are you?

海倫：向後彎腰。問題是你不是很靈活，不是嗎？

Neil: No. Even if I bend forwards I can hardly touch my knees, and certainly not my toes.

尼爾：對。即使我向前彎腰，我也很難碰到膝蓋，當然更碰不到腳趾了。

Helen: Well, look at me!

海倫：嗯，看看我！

Neil: Wow! Helen! I had no idea you could do that! You can bend over backwards all the way to the floor!

尼爾：哇！海倫！我都不知道你能做到！你竟然能向後彎腰，並手掌觸地！

Helen: Yes. Anyway, maybe we should explain why we're bending over backwards.

海倫：對，不管怎樣，可能我們要解釋一下我們爲什麼要向後彎腰。

Neil: Oh, yes, of course. That's because today's phrase is:

尼爾：哦，對，當然了。那是因爲我們今天要學習的短語就是：

Helen & Neil: To bend over backwards!

海倫&尼爾：To bend over backwards!！

Helen: Listen to these examples and see if you can guess what it means.

海倫：來聽幾個例子，看看大家能否猜出這個短語的意思。

I would bend over backwards for you–just let me know how I can help.

我會竭盡全力幫你，只要告訴我我怎麼能幫到你。

Julia bent over backwards to make sure everything was right for their visit.

朱莉亞竭盡全力確保他們訪問期間一切順利。

Neil: Did you guess the meaning of 'to bend over backwards'?

尼爾：你猜到這個短語的意思了嗎？

Helen: It means to go to great lengths or to put in a lot of effort for someone or something.

海倫：意思就是爲某人或者某事想盡辦法或是付出大量努力。

Neil: Like, "I would bend over backwards to make you happy", Helen.

尼爾：比如“我會竭盡全力讓你幸福”，海倫。

Helen: Ahhhh. Thank you Neil. Let's hear some more examples:

海倫：啊，謝謝你，尼爾。我們再來看幾個例子：

I bent over backwards to get Jim what he wanted, but he never thanked me.

我想盡辦法讓吉姆得到他想要的東西，但是他從來沒有謝過我。

I'll help you a bit, but don't expect me to bend over backwards.

我會幫你一點，但是別指望我會不遺餘力地幫你。

Neil: Oh, ooof!

尼爾：哦，天哪！

Helen: Are you okay?

海倫：你還好吧？

Neil: I need to sit down, I think I've hurt my back!

尼爾：我要坐下來，我想我弄傷了我的後背！

Helen: Ah, Neil, you must be careful not to bend over backwards too often!

海倫：尼爾，你要小心，向後彎腰不要做過太頻繁！

Neil: Yes.

尼爾：沒錯。

Helen: Or you should just bend over backwards figuratively, but not literally! That's all for now. Bye!

海倫：或者你應該象徵性地做一下，而不是按字面意思做！我說完了。再見！

Neil: Bye!

尼爾：再見！

重點講解：
1. bend over backwards
竭盡全力；
eg. People are bending over backwards to please customers.
人們正使出渾身解數取悅顧客。
eg. Sue will bend over backwards to help her friends.
蘇會盡全力幫助朋友。
2. go to great lengths
不遺餘力；竭盡全力；千方百計；
eg. Greta Garbo went to great lengths to hide from reporters and photographers.
葛麗泰·嘉寶想方設法躲開記者和攝影師。
eg. He'll go to great lengths to get the job done.
他將不遺餘力去完成這項工作。
3. put in
花費，投入（時間或精力）；
eg. They've put in time and effort to keep the strike going.
他們花費了很多時間和精力以使罷工持續下去。
eg. If we don't put money in we will lose our investment.
如果我們不再投入資金，我們會失掉本金。
4. expect sb. to do sth.
要求；認爲應當得到；指望某人做某事；
eg. I wasn't expecting you to help.
我沒指望你幫忙。
eg. It is unrealistic to expect them to be able to solve the problem immediately.
指望他們能夠立即解決問題是不現實的。