Professor: Jeremy invited Heather to his party last weekend because she helped him cheat on his math homework. Today Jeremy is talking with his friend Allison about some of the gossip people have been saying since the party.
Gossip? 八卦閑話?哎呀,我也想聽聽!
Jeremy: Hey Allison, what's up? Did you have a good time at my party last weekend?
Allison: Oh yeah, it was totally awesome. Although I'm sorry to hear that you broke up with Karen. You guys were such a great couple!
Jeremy: What? I didn't break up with Karen. We're still dating. Why did you think we weren't together anymore?
Allison: What? Everyone is saying that you dumped Karen and are with Heather now.
Jeremy: What? That's a complete fabrication. You shouldn't believe hearsay like that.
哇,不知道party上發(fā)生了什么!Allison說,大家都在傳,Jeremy dumped his girlfriend Karen--甩掉了自己的女友Karen, 和Heather成一對兒啦!
Professor: Exactly. But what does Jeremy say?
他說這些傳言完全是fabrication--虛構(gòu)的謊言。
Professor: That's right. You can also use fabricate as a verb. For example, "Elliot forgot to do his homework, so he fabricated a story about his dog eating it."
哦,fabricate是動詞,就是“瞎編”的意思。對了,professor, Jeremy 說,Allison不該聽信這種hearsay。 Hearsay是謠傳的意思么?
Professor: Right. Now let's see where this rumor came from.
Jeremy: Where did you ever hear such a crazy rumor?
Allison: Oh, I don't know .... I suppose I heard it through the grapevine.
Jeremy: Oh come on, Allison. Tell me why people are saying that.
Allison: Well, you've never invited Heather to any of your parties before. And people have been seeing you two spending a lot of time together lately.
Jeremy: No, we haven't!
Allison: Sure! People in math class say that you all have been talking very quietly and secretly in the back of class. And then there were some people who overheard you spending a long time begging her to come to your party.
原來,Jeremy以前從沒邀請過Heather參加party,所以,這次Heather一去,大家都覺得肯定是有什么特殊原因!
Professor: That's right. And why else have people started to think they're dating?
因為大家看到Jeremy和Heather兩個人老在教室后面嘀嘀咕咕,所以覺得倆人八成兒是好上了! 哈哈,他們哪里知道,這倆人是在偷偷商量抄作業(yè)的事兒呢!
Professor: Right. Say Winnie, have you ever heard of "the grapevine" before?
我知道,grapevine就是“口頭消息”的意思。所以,Allison剛開始的時候說,她是從別人口中聽到Jeremy和Heather交往的消息的。
Jeremy: What? I didn't beg her. When I invited her, I just gave her some advice about what clothes to wear.
Allison: I don't know Jeremy, isn't that the kind of advice that a boyfriend usually gives? And what about your secret conversations in math class?
Jeremy: No! She was just giving me the answers to the math homework ... Wait! I mean ... she is my math tutor.
Allison: Your math tutor? I have to say, that sounds pretty fishy. Isn't tutoring the usual excuse people use when they start dating?
Jeremy: Come on Allison, you have to believe me. This is all just a big misunderstanding.
盡管Jeremy費(fèi)力澄清,可是Allison并不相信他的話,覺得他說的話很"fishy"--可疑!
Professor: Right. You can call something "fishy" if it sounds suspicious or unbelievable.
Jeremy: Eh ... It's really bad when people believe whatever they hear without asking for proof.
Allison: Well you know, everybody just wants to be in the loop. And when the gossip is really good, everybody wants to tell their friends.
Jeremy: Hmm .. Do you think we could start a good rumor? Like, that I'm the smartest student in school?
Allison: Sorry buddy, nobody is interested in good rumors. And that one definitely isn't believable if you need a math tutor!
Allison說得對,人們只喜歡傳壞事兒,看別人熱鬧。不過,professor, 什么叫“to be in the loop?”
Professor: Being in the loop is having the latest information.
哦,to be in the loop就是消息靈通!Professor Bowman, 下次你想給我們pop quiz的時候,一定要keep me in the loop,好不好?
Professor: Nice try!
這次的美語三級跳就播送到這里。