The english we speak(BBC教學)第103期:Wake up and smell the coffee 清醒點
Jen: Hi I'm Jen and with me today is Li. Did you get my text message this morning?
珍：大家好，我是珍，今天我們請到了李。你今天早上收到我的短信了嗎？Li: Hi Jen, yes, and I've brought everything you mentioned.
李：你好，珍，收到了，所以我把你說的東西都帶來了。Jen: What, I didn't ask you for anything?
珍：什麼，我沒有讓你帶東西啊。
Li: I've got you this great alarm clock and I've made this lovely pot of coffee–would you like a cup?
李：我給你帶了這個很棒的鬧鐘，我還泡了這壺很香的咖啡，你想來一杯嗎？Jen: Er… No thanks… But Li, I didn't tell you to bring anything today.
珍：額……不用了，謝謝……可是，李，我並沒有說讓你今天帶這些東西來。Li: You did. Look – you said : “The boss asked to see you in his office… I think you need to wake up and smell the coffee!”…
李：你說了。你看啊，你說：“老闆讓你今天去他辦公室找他……我想你需要清醒點！”Jen: Yes…but…
珍：是，可是……Li: So I've brought some coffee and an alarm clock for when I see the boss, to show him I can wake up and smell the coffee.
李：所以帶了些咖啡還有一個鬧鐘來，我去見老闆的時候，就讓他看我帶的這些東西，以表明我一醒來就能聞到咖啡香。Jen: I didn't mean it literally. When we say ‘wake up and smell the coffee' in English, it means that you need to pay attention because you're missing something that's really obvious.
珍：我的意思並不是要這樣照字面來理解。這個短語在英語中的意思是，你需要注意，你可能錯過了一些很明顯的事情。Li: So when you tell me to “wake up and smell the coffee,” you think something's going on that I don't realise.
李：所以你跟我說wake up and smell the coffee的時候，你認爲我沒有意識到一些事情。Jen: Exactly. Let's hear some examples:
珍：沒錯。我們來看一些例子：Wake up and smell the coffee–she doesn't want to go out with you!
清醒點吧，她並不想和你出去約會！My girlfriend wants me to buy her some diamond earrings, but I've got no money, she really needs to wake up and smell the coffee!
我女朋友希望我給她買鑽石耳環，可是我沒有錢，她真的應該說認清現實！Li: So if this man's girlfriend needs to ‘wake up and smell the coffee', she needs to realise he can't afford to buy her the earrings she wants.
李：所以，如果這個男人的女朋友需要wake up and smell the coffee，那就是說她要認清他買不起她要的鑽石耳環。Jen: Now you've got it!
珍：現在你已經明白了！Li: Ok, so in your text you said that I need to wake up and smell the coffee because the boss wants to see me?
李：好，所以你在短信中說老闆要見我，而我要清醒點？Jen: Yeah…
珍：對……Li: So you think I'm missing something…
李：所以你認爲我錯過了一些事……Jen: Think about it… he said he loves your work, he is always talking about how talented you are, how he wants to reward his staff…wake up and smell the coffee, Li!
珍：你想想……他說過他喜歡你的工作表現，你總是在說你多有才華，而且他還說會獎勵他的員工……清醒點，李！Li: I just don't know what you are getting at.
李：我還是不明白你的意思。Jen: I mean I think he's going to give you a pay rise.
珍：我是說，我認爲他要給你漲工資。Li: Really! Wow, that would be fantastic! I never would have thought I'd get a pay rise, he must think I'm really good!
李：真的嗎？哇，那真是太棒了！我從來沒想過我會漲工資，他一定是認爲我的表現非常不錯！Jen: Well, don't forget me if you suddenly become really rich.
珍：如果你突然變成富翁了，可別忘了我啊。Li: Of course I won't forget you.
李：我當然不會忘了你的。Jen: You can buy me something nice.
珍：你可以給我買些不錯的東西。Li: I'll tell you what–I'll buy you a coffee!
李：我告訴我會買什麼吧，我會請你喝杯咖啡的！重點講解：
1. wake up and smell the coffee
清醒點；面對現實；
eg. I'm your friend. I just want you to wake up and smell the coffee.
我是你的朋友。我只是要你認清事實。
eg. By the time they do wake up and smell the coffee, it's often too late.
當他們意識到並且清醒過來時，常常已經太晚了。
2. pay attention
關心；注意；
eg. Pay attention when I'm talking to you!
我跟你說話的時候，你要留心聽！
eg. It is bad for us to pay attention to one side and neglect the other.
只顧一方面，不顧其他方面，會對我們不利。
3. go out with sb.
與（異性）交往；與…談戀愛；
eg. He must be mad if he thinks I'll go out with him.
如果他認爲我會和他約會那他就是瘋了。
eg. I started to go out with another woman.
我開始與另一個女人約會。
4. cannot afford to do sth.
承受不起；負擔不起；
eg. We can't afford to pay such a price.
我們付不起這個價錢。
eg. We can't afford to have all this expensive machinery lying idle.
讓所有這些機器閒置着，我們可負擔不起損失。
5. get at
查明；弄清楚；
eg. Our object is to get at the truth.
我們的目的是弄清事實真相。
eg. I cannot get at the meaning of this sentence.
我不能理解這句句子的意思。
