The english we speak(BBC教學)第178期:Smell a rat 起疑心

Li: Hi Neil. How are you today?

莉：嗨，尼爾。你今天怎麼樣？

Neil: Hello Li. I'm a bit worried. All these bills to pay... there'll be no money left for my holiday.

尼爾：你好，莉。我有點擔心。所有這些賬單都要付……那我就沒有錢去度假了。

Li: My problems are over and so are yours, Neil! I'll pay all my bills, and yours, and... where do you want to go for a holiday? How about Dubai? Five star hotel, by the beach, drinking champagne...

莉：尼爾，我的賬單已經解決了，你的也會解決的！我會付清我的賬單和你的……你想去哪裏度假呢？迪拜怎麼樣？五星級酒店，在海灘旁邊喝香檳……

Neil: Well, it's very generous of you, Li, but where are you going to get the money for that?

尼爾：嗯，你真是太大方了，莉，不過你的錢是哪兒來的？

Li: I won the lottery!

莉：我中彩票了！

Neil: The lottery?! That's brilliant! How much?

尼爾：彩票？！太棒了！你中了多少？

Li: Yes. I won US$10m! It's a lot of money, Neil! They sent me an email this morning.

莉：對啊。我中了1000萬美元！好大一筆錢呢，尼爾！今天早上他們給我發了封電子郵件。

Neil: An email?

尼爾：電子郵件？

Li: Yes. The only thing that the organisers are asking is for me to pay them a small fee and give them the details of my bank account so that they can transfer the money. I'm a millionaire!

莉：對啊。組織者唯一的要求就是讓我付他們一點兒費用，把我銀行賬戶的詳細信息告訴他們，這樣他們就能轉賬了。我就要成爲百萬富翁了！

Neil: Mmmm... I smell a rat!

尼爾：嗯……我覺得不太對勁！

Li: A rat?! Where?! I am terrified of rats! Where is it? I can't see a rat!

莉：老鼠？！哪兒呢？！我非常害怕老鼠！在哪裏呀？我沒看到老鼠！

(Li stands on her chair)

（莉站在椅子上）

Neil: No, no, no! No need to stand on the chair, Li. There's no rat, no mouse, there're no rodents at all here. In English, when we say we 'smell a rat' we mean we're suspicious of someone: we feel there's something wrong.

尼爾：不，不是，不是！莉，沒有必要站在椅子上。沒有老鼠，沒有老鼠，這裏完全沒有齧齒動物。在英語中，我們用smell a rat來形容我們懷疑某個人：我們覺得有些問題。

Li: So you think there is something wrong with this lottery?

莉：所以你認爲這個彩票有問題嗎？

Neil: Yes, I'm afraid so. Let's hear some examples of how to use 'smell a rat', today's expression in The English We Speak.

尼爾：對，恐怕是的。這就是今天地道英語節目要學的表達，我們來聽一些例句，看看如何使用這個短語。

A: I read an article about a diet which makes you lose six kilos in one week. It says there is no need for exercise.

A：我剛看了一篇有關節食的文章，可以讓你在一週內減掉6公斤。裏面說沒有必要鍛鍊。

B: Six kilos in one week?! That's impossible! I smell a rat!

B：一週內減掉6公斤？！那根本不可能！我很懷疑！

Jane smelt a rat when she read a job advert for actresses in the newspaper. It said "no training or experience required", but they wanted someone "good-looking and open-minded".

簡在報紙上看到一份招聘女演員的廣告，她對此很懷疑。上面說“不需要培訓或經驗”，但是他們卻想找“漂亮又開放的人”。

Li: Oh. No money for me then... but are you sure, Neil? Maybe this one is for real...?

莉：哦。那我就沒有錢了……但是尼爾，你確定嗎？也許這個是真的呢……？

Neil: No, it's not, Li. And you shouldn't send emails around with your bank details. It's very dangerous. Someone might steal your money!

尼爾：不是，莉，不是真的。你不應該把你的銀行賬戶信息用郵件發過去。這太危險了。有人可能會偷走你的錢！

Li: Yes. I should be careful with my email.

莉：是啊。我發郵件應該更小心。

Neil: Think: have you ever entered the Australian lottery? Did you buy a ticket?

尼爾：你想想：你去過澳大利亞的彩票站嗎？你買過彩票嗎？

Li: No. I've never even been to Australia.

莉：沒有，我從來沒去過澳大利亞。

Neil: So how could you be the winner? It's a scam, Li. It's a dishonest way to make money by deceiving people like you.

尼爾：那你怎麼可能中彩票呢？莉，這是個騙局。這是通過欺騙像你這樣的人來賺錢的不正當手段。

Li: You are right, Neil. I wanted to win the lottery so much!

莉：尼爾，你是對的。我是太想中彩票了！

Neil: So let's go out and buy a proper lottery ticket. One we know is real!

尼爾：那我們去外面買張彩票吧。買張真的彩票！

Li: Maybe we will win.

莉：也許我們會中獎的。

Neil: Maybe we will! Let's go. Bye.

尼爾：也許會的！我們走吧。再見。

Li: Bye.

莉：再見。

重點講解：
1. smell a rat
懷疑有問題；發現不對頭；有所警覺；
eg. If I don't send a picture, he will smell a rat.
如果我不寄出照片，他將有所察覺。
eg. Though Lloyd George's behaviour seemed curious, Haig still did not smell a rat.
儘管勞埃德·喬治的行爲古怪，黑格仍然沒有任何懷疑。
2. there's no need
沒有必要；不必；
eg. There's no need for you to feel sorry. You are trying your best.
你不必感到抱歉。你已經盡力了。
eg. There's no need to blow a fuse over such a little problem.
爲這麼點小事沒必要發脾氣。
3. for real
真實地；真正地；不是假裝；
eg. This is not a fire drill,it's for real.
這不是救火演習，是真失火了。
eg. That's when you know it's for real.
此時你會知道，這就是現實。