VOA流行美语 Unit 101: eye candy / bazillion

今天Larry 和Li Hua下课以后在电影院门口商量看什么电影。Li Hua会学到两个常用语：eye candy 和 bazillion。

LH: Hmm, 我想看Troy. 听说这部电影挺棒的！

LL: I don't know, Li Hua. That movie looks like it's nothing but eye candy.

LH: 你说那部电影是什么？Eye candy? candy不是“糖果”吗？。这是一部关于古希□的电影，和“糖果”有什么关系呀？

LL: I said it's mostly eye candy. Eye candy describes something that looks really good, but does not serve a useful purpose.

LH: 噢，你说的是eye candy。Eye candy是比喻某个东西看上去虽好，可是并不实用。那不就有点儿像我们中文里常说的“华而不实”吗？

LL: That's right. In a movie, fancy special effects are just eye candy.

LH: 现在好多电影都是靠电脑制作的特技场面，看起来挺花哨，其实电影本身一点儿意思也没有。可是Larry, 你知道吗 - Troy 这部电影是Brad Pitt主演啊？

LL: Well, in this case the eye candy is Brad Pitt.

LH: 什么？说 Brad Pitt 是eye candy, 这也太不公平了。他不仅长得帅，而且演技也是一流的。你怎么能说他“华而不实”呢？

LL: Fine, fine, Brad Pitt is more than just eye candy. Still, I'd rather see something else... like that science fiction film I was telling you about. That's the kind of eye candy I want to see!

LH: 你要看那部科幻片啊？我看那才是名符其实的eye candy 呢！

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LL: You know, Li Hua, we've been standing here trying to choose a movie for fifteen minutes. Why don't we forget about seeing a movie today? There are a bazillion other things to do in this city.

LH: 就是啊，我们在这儿都站了15分钟还决定不了看哪个电影。那要是不看电影我们干什么呢？你说有a bazillion事情可做。Bazillion - 这是个数字吗？

LL: I said "there are a bazillion other things". "Bazillion" means a lot. It's supposed to sound like "a billion" or "a zillion" - a large number, anyway.

LH: 对，bazillion 听起来就好像billion，或zillion。Billion是十亿， zillion是“千千万”， 所以 bazillion 也可以说是“许许多多，数不清的”意思。Larry, 你说我们有bazillion 的事可干，那你说说我们可以干什么呢？

LL: Well, there's an outdoor rock concert this evening not far from my place and the museum is showing a new exhibit of ancient bronze work today.

LH: Hmm, 我不想听什么摇滚音乐会，博物馆的古青铜器展览可能会更有意思。Larry, 我还是有点糊涂，bazillion这个词可以像使用具体数字一样来使用它吗？

LL: Yeah, pretty much. For instance, I'm not sure that today is a good day to visit the museum. There will be a bazillion people there on the opening day of that exhibit.

LH: 没错，开展第一天，人肯定很多。那我们改天再去吧。你不是说有a bazillion other things to do 吗？

LL: There's a bazillion bars along this street. We could go hang out in one while we decide what to do next.

LH: 这条街上的酒吧是挺多的，可是现在才下午3点多，我不想去酒吧。

LL: Hmm... well, let me think... sometimes when you have a bazillion choices, it's hard to make a decision.

LH: 哎哟，得了得了，说什么选择多了反而不好决定。我说还是看电影吧。Troy 还有几分钟就要开始了，你肯定不想看吗？

LL: Look, we've discussed this a bazillion times. That movie is nothing but eye candy for girls.

LH: 哎哟，你真是的，你不要看，那我自己去看啦！

今天李华从Larry那儿学到了两个常用语，一个是eye candy。意思是“华而不实的东西”。李华学到的另一个常用语是bazillion, 就相当于中文里面所说的“多得数都数不清”。