The english we speak(BBC教學)第321期:To be fair 說句公道話

Life isn't always fair. But when having an interesting discussion with someone, it's often a good idea to explore both sides of the argument. Learn a phrase to help you do just that.

生活並不總是公平的。但在和其他人進行有趣的討論時，我們應該儘量去分析雙方的論據。本期節目將教大家一個與此有關的短語。

Neil: Welcome to The English We Speak: I'm Neil.

尼爾：歡迎收聽地道英語節目，我是尼爾。

Feifei: And I'm Feifei.

菲菲：我是菲菲。

Neil: You know what, Feifei, I just love living here in London. I mean, the culture, the parks, the restaurants — it's got everything.

尼爾：菲菲，你知道嗎，我很喜歡在倫敦生活。我的意思是，文化、公園、餐廳，這裏什麼都有。

Feifei: Yeah, it's not bad, though to be fair it's not the cheapest place to live.

菲菲：對，還不錯，不過說句公道話，倫敦並不是生活成本最低的城市。

Neil: You're right. Though most world capital cities are quite pricey to live in, to be fair.

尼爾：你說得對。說句公道話，世界上大多數首都城市的生活成本都非常高。

Feifei: Actually, to be fair, I think there are a lot of reasons to move out of the big city — you know, more space, better air, fewer people, and... nature!

菲菲：實際上，說句公道話，我認爲有許多理由搬離大城市。你知道，更多空間，更清新的空氣，更少的人，還有……大自然！

Neil: Feifei, I think we've given good arguments on both sides, to be fair! And I hope we've demonstrated today's phrase — which is: to be fair.

尼爾：菲菲，說句公道話，我想我們雙方提出的論點都非常好！我希望我們已經向大家演示了今天的短語的使用方法，就是“說句公道話”這個習語。

Feifei: It's a phrase you'll hear a lot, especially in British English. It's used when you want to explain more than one side of an issue.

菲菲：這是大家經常會聽到的短語，尤其是在英式英語中。當你要解釋一個問題的多個方面時，你就可以用這個習語。

Neil: Let's listen to these examples:

尼爾：我們來聽幾個例句：

Examples

例句

We played well in the first half, but to be fair we were awful in the second half.

我們上半場打得很不錯，但是平心而論，我們下半場的表現太糟糕了。

Now, Luke. We know that wasn't your best exam result, but to be fair, you had very little time to prepare.

好了，盧克。我們知道那不是你最好的考試成績，但說句公道話，你幾乎沒有時間準備考試。

Neil: So — it's a phrase that we use to give balance in a discussion. And it comes just before or after making a point, or giving an opinion.

尼爾：所以，我們使用這個短語在討論中達到一種平衡。在我們給出觀點和表達意見之前或之後，可以用這個短語。

Feifei: But these days, especially in spoken English, people sometimes just use it when giving an opinion — whether or not it's really about fairness.

菲菲：不過最近，尤其是在口語中，人們有時在表達意見時就使用這個短語，而不管它是否與公平有關。

Neil: Yes, for example: To be fair, The Beatles were the best band of all time.

尼爾：對，舉個例子：說句公道話，披頭士是有史以來最好的樂隊。

Feifei: I think Italian food is the finest there is, to be fair.

菲菲：說句公道話，我覺得那裏最棒的是意大利美食。

Neil: So be careful when listening out for this phrase — sometimes it's just a 'filler' phrase, something people say a lot with no real meaning. It might not always mean what you expect it to!

尼爾：所以聽到這個短語時要留心，有時它只爲“填補說話空白”而使用的小詞，雖然人們用得很多，但卻不表達任何實際意思。它可能並不總是你所認爲的那個意思。

Feifei: To be fair, that's why we make these programmes — to help people understand real English.

菲菲：說句公道話，這也就是我們做這些節目的原因：爲了幫助人們理解地道英語表達。

Neil: And they are some of the best English learning materials available, to be fair.

尼爾：說句公道話，這也是一些可以大家可以使用的最棒的英語學習材料。

Feifei: Though, to be fair, other programmes are available!

菲菲：不過說句公道話，其他很多節目也可以用！

Neil: Bye for now.

尼爾：現在該說再見了。

Feifei: Bye.

菲菲：再見。

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重點講解：
1. to be fair 說句公道話；平心而論；
例句：To be fair, the team is young and not yet settled.
說句公道話，這個隊還年輕，還沒有成型。
2. whether or not (表示選擇或懷疑)是否，是不是；
例句：I am deliberating whether or not to buy a new car.
我在考慮是否要買一輛新汽車。
3. of all time 一直，始終；有史以來；
例句：Many rated him the best singer of all time.
許多人認爲他是有史以來最優秀的歌手。