高级英语pub talk and the king's english中英笔记

L3. Pub Talk and the King’s English(酒吧闲谈与标准英语)

Henry Fairlie (亨利·费尔利)

1.Conversation is the most sociable of all human activities.And it is

an activity only of humans. However intricate the way in which animals communicate with each other, they do not indulge in anything

that deserves the name of conversation.

人类的一切活动中，闲谈是最具交际性的sociable（主题句），也是人类特有的。而动物之间的信息交流，无论其方式何等复杂intricate，也是称不上交际的。

1.And it is an activity only of humans. (para1) 并且它是人类特有的一种活动。

And conversation is an activity which is found only among human being．

Sociable [ˈsoʊʃəbl] adj.随和的，好交际的，友善的friendly or agreeable,eapecially in an easy,informal way(用书）

intricate (adj) : hard to follow or understand because full of puzzling parts，details，or relationships错综复杂的；难以理解的，难懂的

Indulge: 任凭自己沉溺于……；耽于to allow yourself to have or do sth that you like,eapecially sth that is considered bad for you ----indulge in sth, indulge yourself.

例：Women do not indulge in to the same extent as men.

deserve: 值得；应得

2.The charm of conversation is that it does not really start from

anywhere, and no one has any idea where it will go as it meander s or leap s and sparkle s or just glow s. The enemy of good conversation is the person who has “something to say.”Conversation is not for making a point. Argument may often be a part of it, but the purpose of the argument is not to convince. There is no winning in conversation.

In fact, the best conversationalist s are those who are prepared to lose.

Suddenly they see the moment for one of their best anecdote s, but in a flash the conversation has moved on and the opportunity is lost. They are ready to let it go.

2. 闲谈的引人入胜之处就在于它没有一个事先设定好的主题。它时而迂回meander前进，时而奔腾leap起伏，时而火花四射sparkle，时而热情洋溢glow，话题最终会扯到什么地方去谁也拿不准。感觉“有话想说”的人是一个“完美闲谈”的最大敌人。闲谈不是为了争论，尽管争论常常是闲聊的一部分，不过其目的并不是为了说服对方。闲谈之中是不存在什么输赢胜负（convince说服）的。事实上，真正的闲聊高手往往是随时准备让步（lose输掉）的。他们也许会偶然间觉得该把自己最得意的奇闻轶事anecdote选出一件插进来讲一讲，但一转眼in a flash大家已谈到别处去了，插话的机会随之丧失，他们也就听之任之了。meander: n. (比喻）proceed in an aimless way ; ramble漫谈，闲聊

例：The discussion meandered on for hours.讨论会漫无边际的进行了几个小时。

make a point: explain fully what one is proposing. 表明一种看法，证明一个论点例：All fight，you’ve made your point；now keep quiet and let the others say what they think．好啦，你已经把话说清楚了；那就别说了，让别人谈谈看法。Conversationalist: n. 健谈的人

Sparkle: v. be full of life and wit活力和才智换发。She always sparkles at parties.在聚会上，他总是神采奕奕。

Glow: glow with pride/joy/pleasure.

Anecdote: [ˈænɪkdoʊt] n.奇闻轶事(关于真人真事的短小有趣的事）

in a flash: suddenly，very quickly瞬间，非常突然。Without any delay

例：Just wait here．I’v be back in a flash．就在这儿等我，我马上就回来。

2.Conversation is not for making a point.(para2)交谈并不是为了表明一种看法。

Conversation is not for persuading others to accept our idea or point of view．（说服convincing, taking sb. over）

3.In fact, the best conversationalists are those who are prepared to lose.(para2) 实际上，最好的交谈者，是那些准备输的人。

In fact a person who really enjoys and is skilled at conversation will not argue to win or force others to accept his point of view．

meander (v.) : wander aimlessly or idly；ramble漫步；闲逛

conversationalist (n.) : a person who converses；esp．，one who enjoys and is skilled at conversation交谈者；(尤指)健谈者