評論
打印
And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
歡迎收聽VOA慢速英語《詞匯掌故》節目。
Have you ever gone to a farm or an orchard to pick fruit?
你去過農場或果園采摘過水果嗎？
Was all of the fruit easy to pick, or were some pieces easier to reach than others?
是所有的水果都很容易摘到，還是有些水果比其他水果更容易摘到？
Perhaps there were some apples in a tree that were too high for you to reach.
也許樹上有一些蘋果太高了，你夠不著。
And maybe you saw that others had picked the easiest fruit to reach before you.
也許你會發現，別人比你先摘了最容易夠到的水果。
Today's Words and Their Stories, however, is not about fruit, but about ideas.
然而，今天的《詞匯掌故》節目不是關于水果的，而是關于想法的。
If you are the first person to arrive at an apple tree during harvest time, you can easily find some low-hanging fruit.
如果你是第一個在收獲季節來到蘋果樹前的人，你可以很容易地找到一些長在低處的水果。
These are the apples that are on the branches closest to the ground.
這些蘋果長在離地面最近的樹枝上。
Low-hanging fruit describes the most obvious or easiest things to do to help you reach a goal.
Low-hanging fruit指的是做最明顯或最簡單的事情以幫助你達到目標。
The problem with low-hanging fruit is that it is easy for others to get there first, too.
low-hanging fruit的問題在于，其他人也很容易先到手。
People who try to create new music, TV shows, or movies sometimes face this problem.
試圖創作新音樂、電視節目或電影的人有時會面臨這個問題。
They might believe that the best melodies and story ideas have already been taken.
他們可能會認為，最好的旋律和故事創意已經被采納了。
Some songwriters or scriptwriters might say that the creative low-hanging fruit has already been picked.
有些詞曲作者或編劇可能會說，創意上容易摘到的果實可能已經被摘走了。
When most of the fruit, ideas, or things that we desire have already been taken, we can say that the remains are slim pickings.
當我們渴望得到的水果、想法或東西大多已被別人拿走時，我們可以說剩下的收獲很少。
This means there are only a few useful things left to choose from.
意思是只剩下少數有用的東西可供選擇。
And, when almost nothing of value remains, we are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
而且，當幾乎沒有任何有價值的東西剩下時，我們只好退而求其次。
That means we are trying to get the last little bits.
意思是我們正在努力獲得最后的一小部分。
There is nothing but scraps left.
只剩下“殘羹剩飯”了。
"Scraps" are small, unwanted pieces that remain at the end of a process, like bits of food remaining after making or eating a meal.
“Scraps”指的是在一個過程結束時殘留的小塊、無用的殘留物，比如吃完飯后剩下的食物。
The scraps are often given to animals or thrown away.
這些“殘羹剩飯”經常被喂給動物或扔掉。
So, if you have nothing but scraps, it means you have the least valuable things, worth almost nothing to most people.
因此，如果你除了“殘羹剩飯”什么都沒有，那就意味著你擁有最不值錢的東西，對大多數人來說幾乎一文不值。
When there is nothing left of something we need, like water, we must solve the problem.
當我們需要的東西，如水，沒有了的時候，我們必須解決問題。
One answer is to dig a well to reach water underground.
一種解決辦法是挖一口井從地下取水。
Some wells can last for many years, but others run dry.
有些井可以用很多年，但有些井會干涸。
When the well has run dry, there is nothing left.
井干了，就什么都沒有了。
Paul Simon is a famous American songwriter.
保羅·西蒙是美國著名的詞曲作者。
In 2007, he told a reporter, "I think there's a certain reservoir of melody that you are born with, and in the beginning, you draw on that. And then after a while, a relatively short while, you use it up."
2007年，他告訴記者，“我認為你生來就有某種旋律儲備，一開始，你會利用它。然后，過了一段時間，一段相對較短的時間，你就會用完它?！?/p>
A reservoir is a place where water is stored, such as a pool, a pond, or a lake.
水庫是儲存水的地方，如水池、池塘或湖泊。
Simon added that when the artist has used all that is in the reservoir, he or she needs to expand their skills. Otherwise, their creative well is going to run dry.
西蒙補充說，當藝術家用完了水庫中的所有東西時，他或她需要擴展他們的技能。否則，他們的創意之井就會枯竭。
So far, we have talked about running out of ideas.
到目前為止，我們已經談到了創意枯竭的問題。
But what happens if you get lucky and find a lot of something valuable, like oil or gold?
但如果你幸運地發現了很多有價值的東西，比如石油或黃金，會發生什么？
In those cases, you have hit the mother lode.
在這些情況下，你找到了主礦脈。
The term mother lode came from California after gold was discovered there in 1848.
1848年在加利福尼亞州發現金礦后，“主礦脈”一詞產生了。
It describes a narrow area of rock in the state about 190 kilometers in length.
它指的是該州一片約190公里長的狹窄巖石區域。
This rock was the source, or "mother," of the gold found in rivers and streams in the area.
這片巖石區域是在該地區河流和溪流中發現的黃金的來源。
Is VOA Learning English your mother lode for learning new idioms and expressions?
VOA慢速英語是你學習新習語和短語的主要來源嗎？
Let us know in the comments below.
請在下面的評論區里告訴我們。
And be sure to keep reading Words and Their Stories!
一定要繼續收聽《詞匯掌故》節目！
I'm Andrew Smith.
我是安德魯·史密斯。
譯文為可可英語翻譯，未經授權請勿轉載！
