對話 Dialogue
清清：華華，這禮拜六去唱KTV，要不要約你弟弟一起來？好久沒看到他了。
Photo courtesy of Piqsels 照片：Piqsels 提供
Qīngqing: Huáhua, zhè lǐbài liù qù chàng KTV, yào búyào yuē nǐ dìdi yìqǐ lái? Hǎojiǔ méi kàndào tā le.
華華：他應該去不了。他最近都在忙期中考，每天都熬夜念書，沒時間出去玩。
Huáhua: Tā yīnggāi qùbùliǎo. Tā zuìjìn dōu zài máng qízhōngkǎo, měitiān dōu áoyè niànshū, méi shíjiān chūqù wán.
清清：這麼拼喔？他的成績一定很好，也是你們家的學霸吧？
Qīngqing: Zhème pīn o? Tā de chéngjī yídìng hěn hǎo, yě shì nǐmen jiā de xuébà ba?
華華：才不是咧！就是因為「平時不努力，臨時抱佛腳」，要考試了才念書，聽說已經有兩科被當了，根本就是學渣。
Huáhua: Cái bùshì lie! Jiùshì yīnwèi “Píngshí bù nǔlì, línshí bào fójiǎo,” yào kǎoshì le cái niànshū, tīngshuō yǐjīng yǒu liǎng kē bèi dàngle, gēnběn jiùshì xuézhā.
清清：蛤？他以前不是一直都很優秀嗎？總是考前幾名。
Qīngqing: Há? Tā yǐqián búshì yìzhí dōu hěn yōuxiù ma? Zǒngshì kǎo qián jǐ míng.
華華：「小時了了，大未必佳。」尤其是最近，不知道怎麼搞的，就是念不好，讓我爸媽很頭痛。
Huáhua: “Xiǎo shí liǎoliǎo, dà wèibì jiā.” Yóuqí shì zuìjìn, bùzhīdào zěnme gǎo de, jiùshì niànbùhǎo, ràng wǒ bàmā hěn tóutòng.
清清：可能是對念的系沒興趣吧？
Qīngqing: Kěnéng shì duì niàn de xì méi xìngqù ba?
華華：自己選的，自己負責，希望他能快點找到自己的方向，少讓我爸媽為他煩惱。
Huáhua: Zìjǐ xuǎn de, zìjǐ fùzé, xīwàng tā néng kuàidiǎn zhǎodào zìjǐ de fāngxiàng, shǎo ràng wǒ bàmā wèi tā fánnǎo.
翻譯 Translation
Qingqing: Huahua, how about inviting your younger brother to go to KTV with us this Saturday? It’s been a while since I last saw him.
Huahua: He probably can’t make it. He’s been busy with mid-term exams recently, staying up late to study every day. He has no time to go out.
Qingqing: Really? His grades must be excellent; he must be the academic star of your family.
Huahua: Hardly! It’s precisely because he didn’t put the work in when he should have, and he’s left everything to the last minute. He only started studying when the exams were around the corner. I heard he already failed two subjects; he’s just a poor student.
Qingqing: Huh? Wasn’t he always outstanding before? Always ranking in the top few before exams?
Huahua: Just because the child is clever, it doesn’t mean the adult is smart. I don’t know what happened, especially recently; he just can’t study effectively, and it’s causing a real headache for my parents.
Qingqing: Maybe he’s just not interested in his major?
Huahua: He chose it, so he needs to own responsibility for his choice. I hope he can quickly find his own path and cause my parents less worry.
生詞 Vocabulary
1. 期中考 (qízhōngkǎo) mid-term exam
2. 當 (dàng) fail, flunk
3. 熬夜 (áoyè) stay up late, burn the midnight oil
4. 拼 (pīn) desperately, with all one’s might
5. 學霸 (xuébà) academic overachiever, top student
6. 學渣 (xuézhā) poor student, slacker in studies
7. 怎麼搞的 (zěnme gǎo de) [phrase] What happened? How did it happen? What’s going on?
8. 煩惱 (fánnǎo) worry
教材音檔 Audio Files
國立清華大學華語中心提供
By National Tsing Hua University Chinese Language Center:
Street lights are often taken for granted until a power outage plunges the world into darkness. When that happens, the value of these lighting installations becomes evident as the world turns into a more dangerous place for pedestrians and motorists alike. The Chinese could claim to be the first to have constructed a crude type of street light. Around 500 BC, residents of Beijing employed a type of street lamp that used hollow bamboo pipes and natural gas vents to create burning torches. Later, ancient Romans adopted lamps fueled by vegetable oil, which relied on slaves to light and
A: Who else is on Billboard’s list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century?” B: No. 15 to 6 are: Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Usher, Adele, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Britney Spears. A: I can’t believe that Adele’s only at No. 10. B: No. 5 to 1 are: Lady Gaga, Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Beyonce. A: Well, they surely deserve the honor. A: 《告示牌》雜誌的「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」，還有誰上榜啊？ B: 第15至6名是：麥莉希拉、大賈斯汀、妮姬米娜、阿姆、亞瑟小子、愛黛兒、亞莉安娜、小賈斯汀、肯伊威斯特、小甜甜布蘭妮。 A: 真不敢相信愛黛兒只排第10名。 B: 第5至1名是：女神卡卡、德瑞克、蕾哈娜、泰勒絲、碧昂絲。 A: 這幾位真是實至名歸！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: The 21st Century is now entering its 25th year. B: So Billboard has released a list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century.” A: Who are the greatest pop singers? B: No. 25 to 16 are: Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Bad Bunny, One Direction, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, BTS, The Weeknd, Shakira and Jay-Z. A: Wow, my favorite K-pop supergroup BTS has made it to the list. A: 21世紀正在邁入第25個年頭了。 B: 《告示牌》雜誌特別公布：「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」。 A: 最偉大的歌手有哪些？ B: 第25至16名是：凱蒂佩芮、紅髮艾德、壞痞兔、1世代、小韋恩、火星人布魯諾、防彈少年團（BTS）、威肯、夏奇拉、Jay-Z。 A: 哇，我最愛的韓流天團BTS也上榜了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Spoiler alert and shift blame 破梗&甩鍋 在新冠疫情期間，無論是因為封城 (lockdown) 還是居家隔離 (self-isolation at home)，人們關在家中使用網路的時間大增。這也讓一些原本只存在於網路論壇的用語廣為普及。我們來談一下破梗 (spoiler alert) 與甩鍋 (shift blame) 這兩個用語。 有位古典文學教授 Joel Christensen 針對領導統御與疫情控制寫了一篇以古喻今、相當深入的文章：“Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales”，文中出現一些講法，可用來翻譯上述的流行語： In the 5th century B.C., the playwright Sophocles begins Oedipus Tyrannos with the title character struggling to identify the cause of a plague striking his city, Thebes. (Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.) (Joel Christensen, “Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales,” The Conversation, March 12, 2020) 作者提到 Oedipus（伊底帕斯）想找出瘟疫何以降臨他的城邦的緣由，加了一句：Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.（破梗：領導無方）。Spoiler alert 就是「破梗」，如果用在有人洩漏電影劇情的情境中，也可以翻作「小心爆雷」或「劇透警告」。疫情之下，在家看影集、電影成了很多人的娛樂，但要小心劇透 (spoilers)，很多 YouTube 上的影評在開頭也都會說 Spoiler alert!，警告還沒看過電影的觀眾小心爆雷、劇透。 至於「甩鍋」，源自大陸網民用語，通常意指某人犯了錯之後想推卸責任、轉移焦點、甚至讓別人背黑鍋的做法。疫情爆發後，相關網路資訊量爆增，許多中國網民也想找人為這場疫情負責，紛紛呼籲地方政府首長、地方黨書記不要「甩鍋」。 其實，在古代文學《奧德賽》中，就有「將自己的責任怪罪眾神」的說法，試用時下流行的「甩鍋」來重新翻譯： Humans are always blaming the gods for their suffering, but they experience
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