The english we speak(BBC教學)第119期:Sponger 寄生蟲

Neil: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, I'm Neil.

尼爾：大家好，歡迎來到地道英語節目，我是尼爾。

Li: And I'm Li. Neil, is that a new watch?

李：我是李。尼爾，那是新手錶嗎？

Neil: Yes I got it from my parents.

尼爾：是啊，我父母給我買的。

Li: Oh that's nice.

李：哦，這表真不錯。

Neil: Did I tell you I'm going on holiday soon?

尼爾：我告訴過你我馬上就要去度假了嗎？

Li: No, where?

李：沒有，去哪兒度假？

Neil: To Hawaii.

尼爾：夏威夷。

Li: Wow, how can you afford a holiday to Hawaii?

李：哇，你怎麼負擔得起去夏威夷度假的費用啊？

Neil: My in-laws paid for it. We told them it was too expensive but, you know, we just need a holiday.

尼爾：我岳父母支付旅行的費用。我們跟他們說了旅行費用太昂貴了，可是你知道，我們真的需要假期。

Li: Hmm… so your in-laws have paid for your holiday too…

李：嗯……所以你的岳父母爲你們付了旅行費用……

Neil: I'm thinking of giving up work actually, Li.

尼爾：李，實際上我想辭掉工作。

Li: Giving up work? What about the cost of living?

李：辭掉工作？那生活開銷怎麼辦？

Neil: Oh my wife can work. You know what, Li? I really need to move into a bigger house in a nicer part of London.

尼爾：哦，我妻子可以工作。你知道嗎，李？我真的想搬進倫敦好地區的大房子。

Li: But you just said you're going to give up work! How can you afford a new house if you have no job?

李：可是你剛說你要辭職了！如果你沒有工作，那你怎麼買新房子呢？

Neil: My grandparents will give me some money. They always do.

尼爾：我的祖父母會給我些錢。他們一直這樣做。

Li: Neil, there's a word for people like you. You're a sponger!

李：尼爾，有個詞可以形容像你這樣的人。你是個寄生蟲！

Neil: A sponger!? How rude!

尼爾：寄生蟲！這太無禮了！

Example

例子

A: When I was at university I had no money at all. I had to buy second-hand clothes and I could never afford to go out for a meal even though I had a part-time job.

A：我上大學的時候一點錢都沒有。雖然我找了份兼職，可是我還是不得不買二手衣服，而且負擔不起去外面吃飯的費用。

B: Yeah me too, but there were all these other students with cars and designer labels eating in expensive restaurants all paid for by Daddy.

B：我也是，不過也有些學生有車，穿着設計師品牌的衣服，還去昂貴的餐廳吃飯，而這些都是他們的爸爸付的錢。

A: What a bunch of spongers.

A：真是一幫吃閒飯的傢伙。

B: Yeah.

B：沒錯。

Li: A sponger is a person who gets money, food and other things from other people without paying. Often it's used very negatively to describe people who live off state benefits.

李：這個詞指自己不出錢，而從他人那裏得到錢財、食物和其他東西的人。通常來說這個詞有消極意義，用來形容那些依賴政府救濟過活的人。

Neil: Just like a sponge.

尼爾：就像海綿動物一樣。

Li: Yes, a sponge.

李：對，海綿動物。

Neil: A sponge soaks up the water all around it. A sponger soaks up gifts, food and money without working. And it can also be used as a verb–to sponge off someone.

尼爾：海綿動物會吸收周圍的水分。而寄生蟲則是不工作卻收到禮物、食物和錢財。這個詞也可以用作動詞，揩某人的油。

Li: It's also a verb 'to sponge off someone.' Be careful to use the word 'off' with this verb.

李：動詞搭配是揩某人的油。注意這個詞用作動詞時要和off搭配。

Neil: Whether it's a verb or a noun, it's still not a nice thing to say about someone, Li.

尼爾：李，無論它是動詞還是名詞，用它來形容一個人都不太好。

Li: Well I'm sorry to be rude, but it's true–you are a sponger.

李：嗯，我很抱歉剛剛無禮了，不過我說的是實話，你確實是吃閒飯的人。

Neil: You're right. I'm a sponger but I'm proud of it. Do you fancy taking me out for dinner? There's a fantastic restaurant I've been meaning to go to. It's very expensive, but you can afford it Li.

尼爾：你說得對。我是吃閒飯的人，不過我爲此感到自豪。你想請我出去吃晚飯嗎？有個很棒的餐廳我一直想去。那裏很貴，不過李，你可以負擔得起。

Li: He's trying to sponge a meal off me! What a sponger…

李：他想從我這兒蹭頓飯！真是個寄生蟲……

Neil: What a sponger…

尼爾：真是個寄生蟲……

重點講解：
1. live off
依賴……生活；
eg. Thousands of waterfowl breed round the lake and live off the fish.
數以千計的水鳥在湖邊繁殖，靠魚爲食來生活。
eg. The injured climbers had only meagre supplies of water and peanuts to live off.
受傷的登山者只剩下少量的水和花生賴以生存。
2. soak up
吸收（液體）；
eg. The cells will promptly start to soak up moisture.
細胞會立即開始吸收水分。
eg. If you air your quilt on such a wet day, it'll soak up the moisture.
如果在這麼潮溼的天曬被子，被子就會把溼氣都吸去。
3. sponge off
揩…的油；靠…養活；
eg. He should just get an honest job and stop sponging off the rest of us!
他應該找一份正當的工作，不要再揩我們這些人的油了！
eg. He still spends much of his time at home and continues to sponge off his father.
大部分時間他依然在家，靠他父親生活。
4. be careful to
小心的；仔細的；謹慎的；
eg. He was careful to keep out of sight.
他小心翼翼地躲開別人的視線。
eg. The conscientious researcher is careful to avoid up the pole and omission.
那位一絲不苟的研究人員總是小心謹慎地避免錯誤或疏漏。
5. take sb. out
邀請…外出，帶…出去（吃飯、看電影等）；
eg. Jessica's grandparents took her out for the day.
傑茜卡的祖父母帶她出去玩了一天。
eg. Reichel took me out to lunch.
雷赫爾請我出去吃的午飯。
6. be proud of
爲…而感到驕傲；
eg. He was proud of his impeccable pedigree.
他爲他出身於名門望族而驕傲。
eg. Men of science had reason to be proud of their achievements.
科學家有理由爲他們取得的成就而自豪