The english we speak(BBC教學)第215期:To keep a lid on it 保密

Li and Neil go for a coffee, but why do they have to keep a lid on it?

莉和尼爾去喝咖啡，但是他們爲什麼要隱瞞呢？

(sound of coffee cup being put on a table)

（咖啡杯放在桌子上的聲音）

Li: Thanks for the coffee, Neil. What a good idea to present The English We Speak from a coffee shop!

莉：尼爾，謝謝你請我喝咖啡。在咖啡店裏主持地道英語節目真是個好主意！

Neil: Yes, Li, it's good to get out of the studio — and anyway, I get the coffee for free here.

尼爾：是啊，莉，走出演播室真的很好——而且我在這裏喝咖啡是免費的。

Li: You don't pay for it?! So why do you get it for free?

莉：你不用付賬？！爲什麼你能免費喝咖啡？

Neil: (Sounding slightly vague) Contacts.

尼爾：（聲音聽起來有些模糊）我有熟人。

Li: Err… contacts?

莉：什麼……熟人？

Neil: Yes, people I know. Don't tell anyone but my friend works here and… well… when the boss isn't around, he gives me the coffee for free.

尼爾：對，我在這裏有認識的人。別告訴其他人我朋友在這裏工作，老闆不在的時候他會請我免費喝咖啡。

Li: (loudly and surprised) He gives it to you for free?

莉：（大聲又驚訝）他讓你免費喝咖啡？

Neil: Ssshhh! Keep your voice down. If he gets found out he'll get the sack — you know, lose his job. We need to keep a lid on it.

尼爾：噓！小點聲。如果他這麼做被發現了會被辭退的，他會丟掉工作的。我們要隱瞞這件事。

Li: Keep a lid on it?! Why do we need to keep a lid on the coffee? Are we trying to hide it?

莉：在上面蓋蓋子？！我們爲什麼要在咖啡上蓋蓋子？我們要把它藏起來嗎？

Neil: No Li. When you say keep a lid on something, it means keep it secret — or keep it quiet about it...

尼爾：不是，莉。我們說keep a lid on something的意思是要保密。

Li: Oh I see.

莉：哦，我明白了。

Neil: The phrase can also mean keep something strongly under control. Like your loud voice — control it and don't tell anyone! Keep a lid on it.

尼爾：這個短語也可以用來形容嚴格控制某事。比如你大聲說話的聲音，要控制音量，不要告訴別人！要保密。

Li: We had better hear some examples while I drink my coffee... quietly!

莉：在我安靜地喝咖啡時，我們來聽一些例句！

Examples

例句

We need to keep a lid on the company merger — if the newspapers get to hear about this, our share price will drop.

我們要對公司合併的消息保密，如果報社聽說了這件事，我們的股份就會下跌。

Our baby is due in November but keep a lid on the news — we haven't told our parents yet.

我們的寶寶將於11月份出生，不過要保密，我們還沒有告訴我們的父母。

Please — keep a lid on your emotions — otherwise the waiter is going to ask us to leave!

請控制一下你的情感，否則服務生會讓我們離開的！

Li: So that is keeping a lid on something. (sips coffee) Mmm, this coffee does taste good but I don't like the idea that you got it for free — it's dishonest... I might have to tell someone about this dishonest behaviour.

莉：要對某件事保密。（喝咖啡）嗯，這咖啡很好喝，不過我不贊同你免費喝咖啡這件事，這是不誠實的行爲……我可能會把你這種不誠實的行爲告訴別人。

Neil: Ah! You mean you're going 'to lift the lid' on what I'm doing — that means to tell someone about something bad — well, you can but you know what that will mean?

尼爾：啊！你的意思是你要把我做的事情說出去，lift the lid的意思是把不好的事情告訴別人，你是可以這麼做，可是你知道這意味着什麼嗎？

Li: What's that?

莉：什麼？

Neil: You'll be buying the coffee next time — and it's not cheap!

尼爾：你下次來喝咖啡就要付錢了，而且這裏的咖啡可不便宜！

Li: Oh right — let's just keep it our little secret for now shall we?

莉：哦，好吧，我們還是保守這個小祕密吧，好嗎？

Neil: OK Li!

尼爾：好的，莉！

Both: Bye.

二人一起：再見。

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重點講解：
1. for free
義務地；無償地；免費地；
eg. You can hardly expect her to do it for free.
你不可能指望她無償地做這事。
eg. This paper cannot be downloaded for free.
這篇文章不可免費下載。
2. keep down
使（數目、大小、數量等）保持在低水平；抑制…增長；
eg. She is managing to keep down her spending.
她在設法縮小開支。
eg. "Keep your voice down," I whispered.
我輕聲說：“小聲點兒。”
3. keep a lid on sth.
限制；抑制；隱瞞；
eg. The soldiers' presence seemed to keep a lid on the violence.
士兵的存在似乎抑制住了暴力活動。
eg. They tell us to keep a lid on the report until the campaign is over.
他們告訴我們競選結束之前，先隱瞞那份報告。
4. keep quiet about sth.
將…保密；保守…的祕密；
eg. I told her to keep quiet about it.
我告訴她此事要保密。
eg. I've decided to resign but I'd prefer you to keep quiet about it.
我已決定辭職，你先別聲張。