"布朗尼加分"口語課堂:不可以貌取人

Hi，大家好，歡迎的網友們做客“布朗尼加分”口語課堂。相信很多網友們都看過電影“金剛”，也一定對那個長相兇惡，但心有柔情的大傢伙記憶深刻。今天，我們來認識另一位金剛。

Binti is a fierce-looking gorilla who lives at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. One day, she was sitting in the gorilla habitat eating bananas. A little boy and his mother were watching the gorillas. All at once, the child climbed over the stone wall. "Look out!" someone shouted. But it was too late. The child fell 24 feet onto the cement floor of the gorilla habitat and was knocked out cold.

With her own baby on her back, Binti-Jua picked up the young boy. "The gorilla's got my baby!" cried the boy's mother. Onlookers were scared out of their wits. "I feared the worst," said one paramedic. "I thought she was going to treat him like a toy." But Binti-Jua was cool as a cucumber as she took care of the boy. She rocked him in her arms and kept the other gorillas away. Then she carried him to the gate where zoo officials were waiting. "I can't believe how gentle she was! We're proud of her. She's the apple of our eye," said a zoo director. The little boy is safe and sound, and Binti-Jua is a hero.

Binti是一隻fierce-looking gorilla，長相兇狠的母猩猩。一天，她正在吃香蕉的時候，一個小男孩兒爬過石牆，摔在了大猩猩籠子裏的水泥地上，並且was knocked out cold。Be knocked out cold意思是become unconscious from a blow to the head。因爲頭部受到重擊而失去意識。小男孩兒摔得不輕，意外發生的時候，Binti身後還揹着自己的孩子，當Binti走過去抱起小男孩兒的時候，所有的onlookers，圍觀者，都were scared out of their wits. Wits，智力，智慧。短語意思就是 “嚇得腦袋都不運轉了，嚇得不知所措，靈魂出竅”。有些恐怖電影，或者恐怖城就會用Scared out of your wits“下破你的膽”來做宣傳語。

上面的人亂作一團，孩子的媽媽甚至認爲Binti打算吃了她的孩子，唯獨Binti自己cool as a cucumber。鎮定自若。As cool as a cucumber相當於，very calm and relaxed. 非常放鬆，非常冷靜。再比如：Not everyone can keep as cool as a cucumber in an emergency. 在緊急情況下，並不是每個人都能保持冷靜的。 Confronted with such a vital question of life and death, he looked as cool as a cucumber. 面對着這樣重大的生死問題，他的神態卻異常冷靜。

Binti rocked the boy in her arms，抱在懷裏搖動着孩子，還kept the other gorillas away，還不讓其他猩猩靠近。這樣的舉動真是太富於母愛了。難怪動物管理員都驚詫地說不敢相信自己的眼睛。不過，Binti的表現的確是足以讓動物管理員們feel proud感到驕傲，並且將她視爲是管理員們的the apple of eye，珍愛之物。這個用法相信在初中階段老師就介紹過了。再比如：The little girl is the apple of her father's eye. 這個小女孩是他爸爸的掌上明珠。

小故事以happy ending結束，小男孩兒safe and sound, Binti也成了英雄。sound在這裏可不是“聲音”或者“聽起來”的意思。它等同於healthy，表示“健康的，健全的”。再比如：She is sound in body and mind. 她身心健康。

聽過這個故事一下想起孔令東描述大學時期同寢室裏一個長得很兇悍，但卻偏好瓊瑤小說，內心也非常柔軟的北方漢子。恩，看來不管是人還是其他動物，我們都不能輕易以貌取之。好了，期待下期和您再見。