大学生英语口语培训：看美剧《我们这一天》，学地道口语

如何通过美剧来提高大学生英语口语？美剧中通常都会展示最地道的英语口语表达，大学生英语口语培训主要就是针对学习最地道的英语口语表达和发音，所以美剧在一定程度上还是对大学生英语有帮助的。今天我们通过美剧《我们这一天》来学习一些不一样的口语表达。
                
                
美剧《我们这一天》(This Is Us)是一部由NBC出品的生活类轻喜剧，曾被评为2016年美国电影学会十佳剧集，并获得第43届美国人民选择奖最受喜爱剧情新剧奖。该剧的出发点颇为新颖，以四个人在36岁生日这一天的不同境遇为起点，讲述了他们的生活故事。该剧的拍摄手法略带纪实感，将生活中的种种琐事真实、细腻地呈现出来，让观众感觉这些事就如同发生在自己身边一样。由于该剧讲述的都是普通人的故事，所以各个角色的喜怒哀乐常常能引起观众的共鸣，令人感同身受，不失为一部了解美国人日常生活、学习常用口语的佳剧。下面就让我们一起来看看剧中都有哪些出彩的口语表达，学一些简单小词的地道用法。
1.Katowski: I’m also aware that I’m a complete stranger to you, and this is the biggest moment of your life. Alright? Honey, listen to me. I am the best of the best. And I swear to you on the lives of my children and my grandchildren that I am up to the task.
【大学生英语口语培训】对于up to这个常用的口语表达，我们平时最熟悉的含义是“取决于……的，须由……决定的”。但在此处，该短语是“胜任……，足以应付……”之意。所以下一次，当你要表达自己能胜任时，除了脱口而出“I can do it”，不妨试着用这两个小词说出更地道的句子，比如：“I’m up to it and won’t disappoint you.” (我能做好，不会让你失望。)
                
                
2.Kate: Well, this is a low point. We’re 36. We’re officially late 30s, like we are deep in the threes. How did I get here? … I had this whole dream life that I envisioned for myself. A real career … I would marry a man like Dad. I would be a mom like Mom. But look at me, Kev (Kevin的昵称), like I ate my dream life away!
【大学生英语口语培训】这段台词中的“加分”词汇其实是很简单的一个词——away。多数人在用away时，可能只会far away、go away这几个有限的固定搭配。但其实，away在口语中能用在很多动词之后，常常意为“尽情地/痛快地去做……吧”，比如：“Drink away, my friend!”(尽情地喝吧，我的朋友！)又如：“I slept away the whole night yesterday.”(昨天我一觉睡到了大天亮。)台词中的“eat … away”字面意思是“尽情地吃掉”，结合剧情可以看出，Kate真的是把梦想“吃”光了。
3.Alan: I’ll see you out there on the playing field.
Kevin: All right.
Alan: Break a leg, kid.
Kevin: Thank you, sir.
【大学生英语口语培训】短语break a leg的字面意思是“摔断腿”，其实际意思却与之截然相反，意为“祝好运”。对于该短语的来源，有很多种说法，比较广泛的一种说法源自莎士比亚时期的舞台传统。演出结束后，演员要到台前谢幕，若表演出色，就会得到台下观众的小费。收到小费后，演员要弯腿行屈膝礼表示感谢，而这个弯腿屈膝的动作就叫“break a leg”。所以后来，break a leg就有了“祝演出大获成功”的意思。另一种说法是，旧时人们出于迷信，觉得剧院是个很邪门的地方，如果对演员说“Good luck”会带来厄运，所以要说“Break a leg”这样的反话。如今，break a leg和good luck基本同义，前者更常用于在演员表演前或学生考试前表达祝愿。比如：“This is your big chance. Go out there and break a leg!”(你的机会来了。上场去吧，争取大获成功！)
                
                
4.Randall: No, you didn’t like me apologizing for you. I get it. Would you have been happier if I made a big scene? … Because I grew up in a white house, you think I don’t live in a black man’s world. Oh, you know the one. The one where that salesman there has been eyeballing (盯着，仔细打量) us ever since we came in here. Or where that security guard has moved just a little off his mark so he can keep us in his sight. And where they’ll definitely ask for an ID with my credit card when I go to pay, even though they haven’t asked for anybody else’s. Plus a million things every day that I have to choose to let go, just so I’m not pissed off (使恼火) all the time.
【大学生英语口语培训】这段台词中的make a scene的意思是“(尤指在公共场所)大吵大闹”。该短语的字面意思是“(当众)制造一个情景”，引申一下就可以理解为引人围观，通俗点翻译就是“瞎闹”“丢人现眼”，比如：“Come on, don’t make a scene out here. There are people watching you!”(得啦，别在这儿丢人了，别人都在看你呢！)
5.Toby: What’s up, kid?
Kate: I went to buy a dressing and nothing fit, literally nothing. Everything looks terrible. I’m not losing weight. I’m starving …
Toby: Look, we have had three lunches and four dinner dates…. Our plane is rapidly approaching the boyfriend-girlfriend zone, and I, for one, am preparing myself for landing. But I need to know that everything isn’t gonna always be about our weight. All right? We need to be able to cut loose at parties. We need to get really dressed up.
【大学生英语口语培训】短语cut loose有“挣脱束缚”之意，表示“自由自在，不受约束”，正好涵盖了cut和loose这两个词的精髓，比如：“You have no idea how bad I want to cut loose and party.”(你不知道我现在多想开个派对狂欢一下啊！)在这段台词的字幕中，将其翻译成“狂欢”或“放纵”更能真切地反映出角色内心的渴望。
                
                
6.Toby: Quick question. Last night, after the party, I kind of blacked out. We didn’t ...
Kate: Oh, no. A lot of vomiting, but not a lot of anything else.
【大学生英语口语培训】此处的black out表示“宿醉后失忆”，比如：“I blacked out last night.”(我昨晚喝得断篇了。)相比于drunk (喝醉的)，black out这个口语表达更接地气，可以翻译为“喝到断篇”。美式口语中，表示“喝醉”的表达有很多，包括bombed、hammered等，都可以用来形容very drunk的程度，比如：“I got so hammered last night, and I don’t even remember what I said.”(我昨天晚上喝得太多了，都不记得自己说了什么。)
大学生英语口语培训需要注重学习简单灵活的小词，千万不要小看这些小词，组合在一起会产生多种常用的口语表达，常有人说：“看电影中老外也没说多少生僻词汇，明明单词都认识，怎么连在一起就不知道是什么意思呢？”如果你也有这样的疑问，或者你身边的同学也曾为此抱怨，那么问题就出在缺乏积累上。想要通过提高大学生英语口语，不要只关注剧情，积累地道的口语表达和词汇，才能真正提高大学生英语口语。