The english we speak(BBC教學)第181期:Bells and whistles 華而不實的東西

Feifei: Hi Finn. I'm so happy. I finally bought that laptop I was so keen on.

菲菲：你好，芬恩。我非常高興。我終於買到了我喜歡的筆記本電腦。

Finn: That's great, Feifei. It took you a long time to decide on the brand, the model... and even the colour, didn't it?

芬恩：菲菲，那真是太棒了。你花了很長時間才決定要買什麼品牌、什麼型號……還有顏色，不是嗎？

Feifei: Yes, I know. But there are so many options on the market... Every computer has its good and bad points, but I followed your advice!

菲菲：是啊，我知道。但是市場上有太多選擇了……每臺電腦都有優缺點，不過我聽了你的建議！

Finn: My advice?

芬恩：我的建議？

Feifei: Yes, your very good advice! Let me take the laptop out of the bag and show you...

菲菲：是啊，你提了非常好的建議！我把筆記本電腦拿出來讓你看看……

Finn: Bells?!

芬恩：鈴鐺？！

Feifei: Yes, bells! Aren't they lovely?

菲菲：是啊，鈴鐺！它們是不是很可愛？

Finn: And what on earth are those?

芬恩：那這些東西又是什麼？

Feifei: Those are whistles!

菲菲：那些是哨子！

Feifei: And this one, too.

菲菲：還有這個。

Finn: Feifei, the laptop is a good one. This is the latest model of a very good brand...

芬恩：菲菲，這檯筆記本電腦很好。這是一個非常好的品牌推出的最新款……

Feifei: Yes, it is! And you told me to buy one with all the bells and whistles!

菲菲：是啊！你告訴我買一個有鈴鐺和哨子的！

Finn: Yes, but when I said that, I didn't mean actual bells and whistles. In English, when you say 'bells and whistles', you mean something extra, like all the add-ons and gadgets.

芬恩：是啊，可是我的意思並不是指實際的鈴鐺和哨子。在英語中，bells and whistles用來表示那些多餘的東西，就像這些附加的東西還有小配件。

Feifei: No whistles? And no bells?

菲菲：不是哨子？也不是鈴鐺？

Finn: I'm afraid not. 'Bells and whistles' is today's expression in The English We Speak. Let's hear some examples of how it's used.

芬恩：恐怕是這樣的。Bells and whistles就是本期地道英語節目要學的表達方式。我們來聽一些例句，看看這個表達如何應用。

My neighbour is very jealous of me. I've just bought a car with all the bells and whistles! It's even got a mug holder for my coffee by the dashboard!

我的鄰居非常嫉妒我。我剛剛了一輛裝飾華麗的新車！儀表盤旁邊還有可以放咖啡的杯墊！

I don't need a mobile phone with the latest bells and whistles. They add to the cost and all I do is answer calls and send text messages.

我不需要最具備最新功能的手機。這些會增加成本，我的手機只用來接電話和發短信。

Feifei: Well, even if you didn't mean actual bells and whistles, Finn, you gave me good advice.

菲菲：嗯，即使你並不是指鈴鐺和哨子，芬恩，你還是給了我很好的建議。

Finn: Oh? How come?

芬恩：哦？怎麼說？

Feifei: When I left the shop, with my brand new laptop, a mugger tried to steal it from me.

菲菲：我帶着我新買的筆記本電腦離開商店的時候，有一個搶劫犯想搶我的電腦。

Finn: Oh, that's terrible, Feifei!

芬恩：哦，菲菲，那真是太糟糕了！

Feifei: Yes, I know. But I managed to unzip my bag, shook the laptop and blew the whistle. A policeman who was nearby heard the noise; he rushed over and arrested the mugger!

菲菲：是啊，我知道。可是我成功地拉開了我的包，然後晃動筆記本電腦，吹響了哨子。附近的警察聽到了嗓音，他跑過來抓住了那個搶劫犯！

Finn: Oh, that's brilliant! Well, maybe I should attach some bells and whistles to my laptop, too.

芬恩：哦，那真是太好了！嗯，也許我也應該在我的筆記本電腦上加一些鈴鐺和哨子。

Feifei: Yes. A computer with all the bells and whistles is great, I say!

菲菲：是啊。我覺得一個帶有鈴鐺和哨子的電腦非常棒！

Finn: OK. Bye.

芬恩：好的。再見。

Feifei: Bye.

菲菲：再見。

重點講解：
1. be keen on
（對…）喜愛的，滿懷熱情的；
eg. My husband is keen on football.
我的丈夫十分喜歡足球。
eg. I wasn't too keen on physics and chemistry.
我對物理和化學不是太感喜愛。
2. decide on
決定；選定；
eg. After leaving university, Therese decided on a career in publishing.
大學畢業後，特蕾澤決定從事出版行業。
eg. I need more feedback to decide on future development.
我需要更多的反饋來確定以後的開發。
3. on the market
在出售；待售；
eg. The scientists say they hope their flowerpot will be on the market in a year or two.
這兩位科學家表示，他們期望這種花盆能在一兩年內上市銷售。
eg. These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.
這些貨品過時了，在市場上賣不了高價。
4. be jealous of
妒羨的；羨慕的；忌妒的；
eg. She was jealous of his wealth.
她忌妒他的富有。
eg. I'm very jealous of your new job.
我很羨慕你的這個新工作。
5. attach to
縛上；繫上；貼上；
eg. We attach labels to things before we file them away.
存檔前，我們先貼上標籤。
eg. We used paste to attach our designs to the poster.
我們用漿糊把我們設計的圖案貼在招貼牌上。