文/古德明

What’s interesting is the difference between the genders

有趣的是男女之间颇有分别

n         对话

Earl: I’ve been reading a report in the paper about young people’s career choices.

俄尔：我在报上读到一则报导，谈及年轻人的就业选择。

Kay: Oh, that was one of the topics at a conference I attended last week.

凯：啊，这是我上星期出席那个会议的议题之一。

Earl: What’s interesting is the difference between the genders.

俄尔：有趣的是男女之间颇有分别。

Kay: Yes, that was one of the main issues discussed at the conference.

凯：不错，那是会议上讨论的一个主要事项。

Earl: It seems that girls shy away from careers in science and math.

俄尔：女性似乎不愿从事着重科学、数学的职业。

Kay: Yes, they tend to be male-dominated areas and girls shy away from them because they seem to see them as too competitive and individualistic.

凯：是啊，那些职业向来都由男性主宰，女性不愿从事，似乎是因为她们觉得业内竞争太过剧烈，而且太过个人主义。

Earl: That’s a shame because there are a lot of girls who are very talented in science and math I’m sure.

俄尔：那真可惜，因为我相信不少女性都很有科学和数学天赋。

Kay: There are, so this is a situation that’s got to change.

凯：你说得对，所以这情况必须改变。

n         多学一点点 性别

俄尔谈到年轻人的就业选择：What’s the interesting is the difference between the genders。Gender和sex都可译作“性别”，两字用法有什么不同？

按gender本是文法用语，指名词、代名词所属性别，例如：“Man”is masculine gender, “woman” is feminine gender, “person” is common gender, and “pen” is neuter gender（“男人”是雄性，“女人”是雌性，“人”是通性，“笔”是中性）。古英文较为复杂，例如视wife（妻子）为中性，woman为雄性，我们今天不必深究。总之，这个意思的gender不可用sex取代。

二十世纪初著名英文学者福勒(HW Fowler)的Modern English Usage（《现代英文用法》）说：Gender is a grammatical term only（Gender只是文法用语）。但现在有些人显然觉得sex一字有情欲意味，改用不涉性爱的gender来说人以至其他动物性别，不复限于词语的性别，例如：Children of both genders go to this school（这家学校男女学生都有）。不少英文学者大概会说这一句的genders应改为sexes，但一般人会认为两字通用。

此外，谈到男女之间文化和心理的差别，现在有时会用gender一字，例如英国广播公司(BBC)政治新闻编辑柯尔(John Cole)谈到英国前首相柴契尔夫人：Margaret Thatcher’s gender did not indelibly mark her style of government（柴契尔夫人的性别，不一定影响她施政的方式）。当然，这一句改用sex也无不可。

n  对话

Milton: How is the stock market doing these days? I haven’t checked for some time.

密尔顿：目前股票市场怎样？我近来没有留意。

Dennis: Well, it’s a pretty mixed picture globally. In some regions stock prices are rising, in some they’re flat and in others they’re falling.

丹尼斯：全球股市表现参差。股票价格在有些地区上升，在有些地区呆滞，在有些地区则下跌。

Milton: What are the most popular stocks?

密尔顿：哪些股票最抢手？

Dennis: Well energy and raw materials stocks are very high because there is such a strong global demand for them. Companies in those areas, especially oil, are doing very well.

丹尼斯：能源和材料股票价格都很高，因为全球需求很大。这类公司表现非常出色，特别是石油公司。

Milton: Tell me, there’s a lot of oil in Iraq. Are the big oil companies investing there?

密尔顿：伊拉克石油藏量丰富。大石油公司有没有在那里投资？

Dennis: No, they’re all fighting shy of investing in Iraq because of the political instability.

丹尼斯：没有。由于当地政治不稳定，大石油公司都避免投资伊拉克。

n  多学一点点 股市情况

丹尼斯谈到全球股市：It’s a pretty mixed picture。Mixed是“混杂的”或“不一的”，例如：(1) I handed in my resignation with mixed feelings, for while I was happy to have got a better paid job, I regretted having to leave many dear friends（我辞职时心情复杂，一边高兴找到薪水较高的工作，一边惋惜要和许多好朋友告别）。(2) The cell phone is a mixed blessing – it keeps you on call, as it were, all the time（行动电话有利有弊—你可以说随时要听人召唤）。(3) His book received mixed reviews（报刊对他那本书既有好评，也有劣评）。

Picture除了解作“图画”，也可指“局面”或情况，例如：The article gives a very clear economic picture of the Far East（那篇文章清楚描述了远东的经济情况）。成语to put someone in the picture是说“使人了解情况”，to get the picture则是“了解情况”，例如：(1) Let me put you in the picture about Taiwan’s political situation（我跟你说清楚台湾的政局吧）。(2) I get the picture – the ruling party is hopelessly corrupt（我明白了—执政党腐败得很）。

丹尼斯又谈到大石油公司：They’re all fighting shy of investing in Iraq。Shy一般指“羞怯的”，作动词则可指马匹受惊跳起，例如：The horse shied when the cannon went off（大炮响起，那匹马吓得乱跳）。Fight shy of 和shy away from都是“避开”的意思，例如：He fought shy of /shied away from taking the matter to court because of the enormous costs（他避免诉诸法庭，因为费用太大）。Fight shy of的shy是形容词。

n  对话

Oliver: It won’t be long before we launch the new marketing campaign.

奥利佛：我们新一轮的推销活动不久就会展开。

Nancy: I wouldn’t be too sure about that if I were you.

南施：我是你的话，可不会那样肯定。

Oliver: What do you mean? The last I heard was that we’ll be getting the go-ahead pretty soon.

奥利佛：我不明白你的意思。我最近一次听到的，是我们不久就会获得“展开行动”的指示。

Nancy: That was some time ago. Since the HQ has been blowing hot and cold about it. One day it’s “You can go ahead”, the next “We’d like to think about it a little longer”.

南施：那是早些时的事了。后来公司总部反覆不定，一天说“你们可以动手了”第二天则说“我们还要考虑一下”。

Oliver: Oh no! If we don’t get the go-ahead soon, it’ll be too late.

奥利佛：哎哟，假若我们不早些获得许可，就会太迟了。

Nancy: I know. And then all our work will have been wasted.

南施：是啊，到时我们所有准备工作都会付诸流水。

Oliver: We must get the boss to put some pressure on HQ to give us the go-ahead.

奥立佛：我们必须请老板给公司总部一些压力，要他们批准这推销计划。

n  多学一点点 总部主意反复

南施说到公司总部对推销计划的态度：HQ has been blowing hot and cold about it。HQ是headquarters（总部）的简称，读作H-Q，重音(stress)在第二音节(syllable)Q。任何一个机构的总部都可叫headquarters，那s切勿略去，动词则用单数或复数形式都可以，例如：The company headquarters was/ were raided by the police（公司总部被警方搜查）。

Blow hot and cold直译是“吹热吹寒”。这成语出自伊索寓言：一只人羊兽(satyr)见一个行人在呵手，问他为什么，那行人说要把手呵暖；人羊兽邀他回家奉上热饮，见他又用口吹，问为什么，那行人说要把热饮吹凉。人羊兽马上下逐客令，说I don’t want to have anything to do with a person who can blow hot and cold from the same mouth（你同一张嘴可以吹热吹寒，我不要跟这样的人来往）。后来，to blow hot and cold就用来说“反覆不定”，其后可用about带出对什么事情反覆，例如：If you keep blowing hot and cold about everything, your staff will never know what to do（假若你事事都反覆不定，你的职员会无所适从）。

奥立佛希望：We’ll be getting the go-ahead pretty soon。动词片语(phrasal verb) go ahead是“展开行动”的意思；作名词，go-ahead就是“准许（做某事）”，一般冠以the字，例如：（1）As soon as we got the go-ahead, we started work in earnest（我们一获得“可以行动”指示，就开始努力工作）。(2) The marketing campaign went ahead as planned（推销活动按照计划展开）。

n  对话

Elise: I’m so glad I came on this lifestyle enhancement course. I’m learning such a lot. How about you?

伊莉斯：我很高兴参加了这个生活更写意课程，学到的东西真不少，你认为怎样？

Maddox: Me too. I think it’s great. I’ve already learned a lot of things I’m going to put into practice after I’ve finished the course.

马多克斯：我也是。我认为课程好得很。我已经学了不少东西，打算课程结束之后就实行。

Elise: All of the people I’ve spoken to on the course think it’s really good.

伊莉斯：所有跟我谈过的同学，都认为课程很不错。

Maddox: Yes, my buddy Jim thinks it’s the best thing he’s ever done.

马克多斯：是啊，我的朋友吉姆说，从来没有上过这样好的课程。

Elise: Of course, it is rather expensive. Three thousand dollars is quite a lot of money.

伊莉斯：但学费当然是贵了一点。3千元可不是小数目。

Maddox: It sure is. That’s why my other buddy Wayne decided against coming. He was originally keen on coming but when he found out the cost he jibbed at paying so much money for a two-day course.

马克多斯：你说得对，所以我另一个朋友韦恩决定不参加课程，最初他很想来，但后来知道所需费用，两天的课程收那么多钱，就打退堂鼓。

n  多学一点点 活得更写意

伊莉斯说：I’m so glad I came on this lifestyle enhancement course。Lifestyle直译是“生活方式”，本位心理学名词，指幼年养成的品质，但现在常用来说日常生活，包括住所、衣着、饮食、娱乐等。例如：“Changing your stressful lifestyle means that you will be less likely to have another heart attack,” the doctor told him（医生告诉他：“改变你紧张的生活方式，心脏病复发的危险会少一点。”）

有时，你会看到alternative lifestyle这说法，直译是“非传统的生活方式”，即同性恋或其他较不“正规”的生活，例如：There is no reason why people in gay relationships should be discriminated against because of their alternative lifestyle（同性恋者生活方式和一般人不同，但绝对不应因此而受到歧视）。

Enhance指提高人、物的品质、能力等，名词是enhancement，如：(1) Cosmetics, properly used, can enhance a woman’s beauty（化妆品使用得当，可以使女人更加美丽）。(2) Humor always enhances conversation（幽默感使谈话更有趣）。留意enhance须和受词(object)连用。

马多克谈到朋友不参加课程的原因：He jibbed at paying so much money。Jib本来是指马匹等停下来不肯前进，常引申解作“不肯做某事”，例如：(1) The horse jibbed at the high fence（马不肯跳过那么高的栅栏）。(2) He was already underpaid, and naturally jibbed at having to do any more work（他的薪水已经过低，要他增加工作，他自然不愿意）。

n  对话

Darlene: What do you think about internet dating?

达琳：你对网络约会有什么意见？

Jeanie: Why do you ask? Have you met some guy on the internet?

珍妮：你问这个干嘛？是不是在网上结识了什么人？

Darlene: Well yes I have actually. We’ve been in contact for more than a month and he’s asked me to meet him. So we’re going to meet next week.

达琳：你说对了。我们在网上往来了一个多月，他邀我见面，约定下星期相见。

Jeanie: You’re not like your sister. She always looks before she leaps.

珍妮：你和你姐姐不同。她总是三思而后行。

Darlene: I know. She’s always saying to me “Look before you leap” when she thinks I’m going to do something risky.

达琳：是啊，她每次觉得我行事鲁莽，都会叫我“三思而后行”。

Jeanie: Well don’t you think it’s a bit risky to meet some guy you know hardly anything about and have never even seen before?

珍妮：你不觉得和这个人约会有点危险吗？你对他几乎毫无认识，也从未见面。

Darlene: Well it could be, I guess, but he seems a really nice person.

达琳：也许是有点危险，但他似乎是个很好的人。

n  多学一点点 约会

达琳问珍妮：What do you think about internet dating? Date作动词，指约会异性，例如：(1) Mary is dating Henry tonight（玛丽约了亨利今晚见面）。(2) They have been dating for several years（他们过去几年常常约会）。Dating agency/ service就是“婚姻介绍所”。

作名词，date除了指“约会”，还可指“（经常）约会的人”，例如：(1) I asked her for a date, but she declined（我想和她约会，但她婉拒了）。(2) Henry is to pick up his date at six o’clock（亨利约了六点钟开车去接女朋友）。

男女双方从未见过面的约会，叫blind date；令人雀跃的异性约会，叫hot date；两对男女一起游玩的约会，叫double date。例如：(1) They met on a blind date（他们约会相识之前，没有见过面）。(2) She has got a hot date with a college football team member on the coming Saturday（她和一个大学足球队员约了星期六见面，十分雀跃）。(3) Henry and his girlfriend often go on double dates with the same couple（亨利和女朋友经常和同一对男女相约，一起外出游玩）。

珍妮认为和陌生人约会有点危险。主要危险是date rape（约会强奸），即男女相约见面，最后女方遭强奸。Many date rape victims suffer in silence because they feel ashamed即“不少约会强奸案受害人由于感到羞耻，唯有哑忍”。

留意date除了指男女的约会，也可指一般约会，例如：We made a date to have a working lunch together（我们约定共进公务午餐）。