专栏名称: 独霸上海的妖怪

分享我所收集的、得到的、所读的东西，还有爱。

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独霸上海的妖怪 · 公众号 · · 2024-06-28 19:58

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写在前面

新一期跟Vlogger学英语来啦！这一期想跟大家推荐一位华裔博主Jasmine Chan。

Jasmine Chan 是华裔美国人，爸爸妈妈都来自中国。几年前，她从art school 退学，在纽约开了一家自己的纹身店，现在是一名专业的纹身师。

这一次想分享给大家的是Jasmine讲述从大学退学后，修复与父母的关系的节目：
Healing My Relationship with My Parents After Dropping Out of College.

Jasmine 的父母和大多数中国父母一样，把进入一所好大学视作培养孩子的终极目标。

可想而知，当决定退学时，她面临着多大的压力，与父母的关系变得多么紧张。

这一期节目里，她就回溯了当时的经历。她的挣扎与受伤，她对父母复杂的感情，都让人很有共鸣。

视频中用到的很多词汇、表达、句式我们可以直接挪用来描述自己的感受，非常值得积累。

文章后半段我会筛选一些地道表达，结合外刊和美剧例句，给大家展开讲一讲~

下面是视频的无字幕版和英文字幕版。建议同学们先看生肉，练习精听，再对照讲解，进行复述练习，把学到的表达用起来。

无字幕版

有字幕版

语言点

我摘录了一部分值得学习的语言点，分享给大家~

「青春期」用英文怎么说？

This is where I spent my formative teenage years at. It's been two years since I was last here. And wow, time really just flew by.

sb's formative years 指「某人性格形成的时期」。
sb's formative teenage years 也就是「某人性格形成的青春期」。

formative 来自 form （形成），指「决定性格的，影响发展的」 (having an important and lasting influence on the development of sth or of sb's character) 。

我们在经济学人：女性之间的友谊有多美好？也遇见过这个词：
Many formative experiences were shared: their first trip to the cinema, their first visit to an Asian restaurant, and, as they reveal a few months later over Zoom, their first online activism.
她们共享了许多成长时期的经历：第一次去电影院，第一次去亚洲餐厅，第一次参加线上运动（几个月后通过 Zoom 讲述）。

这里 formative experiences 指「性格形成时期的经历，成长经历」。这个短语考研英语一2022年Part B也考过。

这个词怎么用呢？我们联系「追星」话题造个句：
In many cases, children who are in the formative stage may imitate and follow those celebrities’ ways of thinking and living.
在很多情况下，处于成长阶段的孩子可能会模仿和追随那些明星的思维和生活方式。
children who are in the formative stage , children who are in their formative years 就可以用来与 teenagers 同义替换。

It's been X years since I was last here. 上次来这里已经是X年前了。

Time really just flew by. 真是时光飞逝啊。很常见的一句感叹。

「从小到大」用英文怎么说？

Growing up , I was really lucky to have a pretty happy childhood, but everything got a bit more challenging once I became a teenager going through puberty and all that. I was kinda difficult to deal with if I'm being honest .

Growing up, I ... 这个句式常用来表示「从小到大，我如何如何」，「小时候，我如何如何」。

从语法上说，growing up是一个 现在分词短语作伴随状语 ，指「在长大的过程中」。

我们再来看几个例子：

Growing up, I've always compared to my older sister.

Growing up, I thought my dad was the coolest.

一说到「困难」，大家第一反应都是difficult或者hard，但native speakers还很喜欢用一个词： challenging （有挑战性的），这是一个比较正面的词。

puberty [ˈpjuːbəti] 指「青春期」。 go through puberty 即「经历青春期」。

... and all that 指「... 等等，...之类的东西」，口语里经常用。

kinda 指 kind of ，表示「有点儿」，在口语里非常高频。

Well, it's kind of hard to like someone who doesn't like themselves.

I kind of though you didn't like me.

sb is difficult to deal with. 形容「某人很难对付，某人很难搞」。

我们也可以直接说 difficult 👇

举两个美剧里的例子：

Yeah, he could be difficult. Well he wasn't difficult.

Alyssa found quiet people difficult.

If I'm being honest, ... 指「如果我说实话，...」。我们也可以直接说 honestly 。

No, I can't stand them, if I'm being honest.

如何表达「重视教育」？

It was made quite clear to me that my parents valued education above everything else and that the one and only end goal was to get into a good college.

相信这段描述很多同学都有共鸣了（can relate to）。

It was made quite clear to me that... 指「我很清楚...」。

从语法上说，it 为形式主语，真正的主语是后面that引导的主语从句。

我们把句子还原成一般语序即：
That my parents valued education above everything else and that the one and only end goal was to get into a good college // was made quite clear to me.
直译便是「我的父母最看重教育，最终唯一的目标就是考上一所好大学」这件事，已经明确被告知给我了。

短语 make sth clear to sb 指「明确地告知某人」。 It was made quite clear to me that.. . 就表示「我清楚地知道...」。

value 这里为动词，指「重视」。 value education 便指「重视教育」。
value A above B 指「重视...高于...」。
Many employers value personality above experience or qualifications.
许多雇主重视个性甚于经验或资历。
value education above everything else 便指「把教育看得比其他一切都重要」。

one and only 是个词组，强调「唯一的，仅有的」。

I mean, it's not so bad if tonight is our only night, right? To our one and only night together.

the end goal 指「终极目标」。

如何表达「上课外班」？

And throughout my childhood I had the privilege of attending a lot of outside classes such as art classes, sports, SAT prep, Chinese class, all of these prep classes.

have the privilege of doing sth 指「很幸运能够做某事」。
我很喜欢Jasmine的一点是她能够在很小的年纪就充分地认识到了自己身上的privilege，没有把一切事物都视作理所当然。

attend sth 指「参加」，可以替换我们熟悉的take part in sth, engage in sth。
比如： attend classes 上课 attend college 上大学 attend meetings 参加会议，开会 attend the concert 参加演唱会
attend a lot of outside classes 便指「参加了很多课外班」。
《经济学人》一篇关于双减政策的文章也用到了这个词：
Urban pupils attend cramming classes for more than 10 hours a week, according to Deloitte, an accountancy firm.
德勤的数据指出，城市的小学生每周补习的时间超过10小时。

I was attending a sort of book event.

顺便补充一下，名词 attendance 就表示「出席，出勤」、「出勤人数」。

如何表达「满足期待」？

But because I was an only child, I had all these expectations that were placed on me. And When I couldn't meet them all. I would be met with disappointment and disapproval. And that really tends to take a toll on someone who's really young and really impressionable .

place sth on sb 指「把...放在某人身上」。
place expectations on sb 即「把期待放在某人身上」。
I have all these expectations that were placed on me 便可用来表示「我背负了很多期待，我被寄予厚望」。
meet sb's expecations 便指「满足某人的期待」。

be met with sth 和 meet with sth 一样，都可以表示「遭到，遭受，获得」 (to get a particular reaction or result) ，后面常跟表示态度或情绪的词。

这里 be met with disappointment and disapproval 便指：我会遭遇（父母的）失望和反对。

《南华早报》一篇关于生育政策的文章也用到了这个词：
Instead, the government’s latest attempt to reverse the trend of declining fertility was met with cynicism and indignation.
政府试图扭转生育率不断下降的趋势，公众却是愤世嫉俗，忿忿不平。

考研英语二2021年Text 1的一个选项里也出现过这个短语：

D选项中的 have met with fierce opposition 便指「遭到强烈反对」。

disappointment and disapproval 指「失望与反对」。

take a toll on sb / sth , take its toll on sb / sth 这个短语表示「产生不利影响，产生恶果」 (to have a bad effect on somebody/something; to cause a lot of damage, deaths, pain, etc)。

我们先来看一个美剧《无耻之徒》里的例子：

Your grandmother's passing has taken quite a toll on Frank.

再比如《经济学人》一篇关于疫情对心理健康影响的文章有这样一句话：
The pandemic has taken a devastating toll on the physical health of millions of people. But the mental-health effects could prove even more enduring.
新冠对数百万人的身体健康造成了毁灭性的伤害。然而，其对心理健康的影响可能更加持久。

我们联系「手机对青少年影响」这一话题造个句：
Smartphones can be addictive and distracting, taking a heavy toll on teenagers' mental health.
智能手机会让人上瘾，分散人的注意力，严重影响青少年的心理健康。

我们再联系ChatGPT话题造个句：
While ChatGPT can be a useful tool for learning, an excessive reliance on it takes a heavy toll on students‘ creativity and originality. 虽然 ChatGPT 是一种有用的学习工具，但过度依赖它也会影响学生的创造力和原创性。

impressionable [ɪmˈprɛʃənəbəl] 为形容词，表示「容易受到影响的」 (easily influenced or affected by sb / sth) ，经常用来形容年轻人。

我们再来看一个《死亡诗社》中的例子：

Boys his age are very impressionable.

在《纽约时报》报道中国教育的一篇文章中，有这样一句话：

“It is a period when the children are most impressionable , and begin developing habits, values and modes of thinking,” Mr. Jiang said. “China does not want a situation where its elite are too westernized.”

“这是一个孩子最容易受到影响，开始形成各种习惯、价值观和思维模式的时期。”江先生说，“中国不希望其精英过于西化。“

再比如一篇讲粉圈现象的文章这样写道：

Celebrities are just normal people who are usually in an extremely privileged position that leads many impressionable minds to somehow worship everything they say and do.

明星只是普通人，他们身处极其优越的地位，让许多容易受影响的人崇拜他们的一言一行。

这个词在教育类话题中非常高频，大家可以把上面这个例句记下来。

我们再联系「广告对青少年的影响」这一话题造个句：

Impressionable children who see advertisements may be coaxed into buying things they do not need.

如何表达「表现不好」？

Being even able to attend college is a privilege in itself that I will never stop being grateful for. But first year of college I was not doing so hot . I was not doing grea t mentally. I was not doing great grade-wise.

in itself 是个词组，指「本身」。 sth is a privilege in itself. 便指「...本身就是一种特权，...本身就是一种幸运」。

再比如《经济学人》一篇关于游说的文章有这样一句话：
Lobbying is not in itself corrupt, of course.
当然，游说本身并不涉及腐败。

be not doing so hot 是一个口语表达，指「表现不佳，状态不佳」。

do great / do well 指「表现好」。 do badly 指「表现差」。
I was not doing grea t mentally. I was not doing great grade-wise. 便指「我的精神状态不太好，成绩也不太好」。

You're gonna do great.

n.-wise 指「在...方面，从...角度上说」。 grade-side 便指「在成绩方面」。这个词在口语里很高频，前面可以放各种各样的名词。
比如： money-wise 钱方面 weather-wise 天气方面

So where are you right now, mood-wise?

如何表达「无法承受父母的失望」？

I think this was where I started developing into a very avoidant person. I would ignore their messages, their calls for weeks on end. I really could not deal with any more disappointment on their end.

I think this was where I started doing sth.
这个过渡句式大家也可以积累下来。

develop into sb / sth 指「变成...，发展成...」。

avoidant 为 avoid 的形容词形式，指「回避型的」。回避型依恋就叫作 avoidant attachment 。

for+时间+on end 指「连续多久」。 for weeks on end 即「连续几周」

... your best friend who tolerated you whining about this girl for weeks on end.

I really could not deal with any more ... 指「我无法再承受更多的...」。
比如： I really can't deal with any more pressure. 我无法再承受更多的压力。

on sb's end 指「从某人那一方，从某人那一端」。disppointment on their end 便指「来自他们的失望」。

我们再来看两个美剧里的例子，大家体会一下这里end的用法：

Devotion on my end has not been a problem.

Well, don't worry. I've been slacking on my end, too.

如何形容家庭气氛紧张？

I still went back to visit them in California but it just felt like we were walking on a ton of eggshells. There was just so much tention in the space.

eggshell 是「蛋壳」的意思， walk on eggshells 走在鸡蛋壳上，喻指「战战兢兢地行事，小心翼翼」，类似于中文里说的「如履薄冰」。

tension 指「紧张」。比如你跟爸妈吵架了，家里的氛围很紧张，就可以说：
There was just so much tention in the space.

如果要形容「与父母的关系紧张」，我们可以说： have a strained relationship with parents 。

如何形容观点不一致？

I wouldn't say that my relationship with my parents is completely healed, but we're getting there ! We've reached a point of mutual understanding where our perspective on life might not align exactly but respect each other's choices and that makes me really happy.

I wouldn't say that... But... 我不会说...，但是...
这是口语里经常用的让步转折句。我们来造个简单句：
I wouldn't say that London is very safe, but it is not as dangerous as social media makes it to be.
我不会说伦敦很安全，但它并不像社交媒体所说的那么危险。

get there 是个词组，到达那里，指「达到目的，获得成功」。
be getting there 便指「正朝着目标前进，正在进步」，相当于 be making progress 。

推荐一位宝藏华裔YouTuber

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