王青
【New words and expressions】生詞和短語（7）
slip n. 小錯誤
comedy n. 喜劇
present v. 演出；adj. 出席，到場的
queue v. 排隊
dull adj. 枯燥，無味
artiste n. 藝人
advertiser n. 報幕員
★slip n. 小錯誤，失誤，疏漏
You’ve made some slips (of the pen) in your report.
When he was nervous, he would sometimes make a slip of tongue.
【Text】
People will do anything to see a free show -- even if it is a bad one. When the news got round that a comedy
show would be presented at our local cinema by the P. and U. Bird Seed Company, we all rushed to see it. We had
to queue for hours to get in and there must have been several hundred people present just before the show began.
Unfortunately, the show was one of the dullest we have ever seen. Those who failed to get in need not have felt
disappointed, as many of the artistes who should have appeared did not come. The only funny things we heard that
evening came from the advertiser at the beginning of the programme. He was obviously very nervous and for
some minutes stood awkwardly before the microphone. As soon as he opened his mouth, everyone burst out
laughing. We all know what the poor man should have said, but what he actually said was: 'This is the Poo and Ee
Seed Bird Company. Good ladies, evening and gentlemen!"
參考譯文
人們總要想盡辦法看不花錢的演出--哪怕是拙劣的_____演出。當“皮尤”鳥食公司將在我們當地影院演
出喜劇節目的消息傳開后，我們都趕緊跑去觀看。我們不得不排了好幾個小時才進得場去。在演出開始前
場內肯定已有好幾百人了。不幸的是，這次演出是我們看過的最乏味的演出了。那些沒能進到場內的人沒
有必要感到失望，因為很多應該出場的專業演員都沒有來。那天晚上唯一有趣的事情是節目開始時那個報
幕員的開場白。他顯然非常緊張，局促不安地在麥克風前站了好幾分鐘。但他剛一開口說話，人們便哄堂
大笑起來。我們都明白那個可憐的人應該說些什么，而他實際說的卻是：“這是‘浦伊’鳥食公司，好女
士們，晚上和先生們！”
【課文講解】
1、A slip of the tongue
a slip of the tongue 口誤，說走了嘴，失言
Are you sure that it was just a slip of tongue? 你確信那只是一時口誤嗎？
2、People will do anything to see a free show -- even if it is a bad one.
427
新概念英語第二冊筆記
anything用于肯定句時表示“不論什么，任何事情”，to see a free show 表示目的，也可以用for +名詞
形式：
He will do anything to save his child’s life.
He will do anything for the child.
3、When the news got round that a comedy show would be presented at our local cinema by the P. and U. Bird
Seed Company, we all rushed to see it.
get round = get around/about 四處傳遍，（消息、謠言等）傳開
The word soon got round that there was buried treasure in that cave.
Bad news gets round quickly.
4、As soon as he opened his mouth, everyone burst out laughing.
burst out 突然……起來（后面常接動名詞，或in/into+名詞）
When she heard that her father had died in the accident, she burst out crying.
At the sight of the drunk, everyone burst out laughing/in laughter.
【Special Difficulties】
Free and Single
free
① adj. 免費的，無償的
She has got some free ticket to the comedy show.
The people are free to choose who will govern them.
② adj. 自由的，沒束縛的，不受控制的，空閑的
You are free to make your own decision.
I’m free on Friday evening.
single adj. 單身的，獨身的，未婚的
I enjoy being single.
Are you married or single?
a single parent 單親（獨自一人養育兒女的父親或母親）
Queue and Row
queue
① vi. 排隊
We had to queue for hours to get in.
She has to queue for the bus every morning.
② n.（按順序等待的人、車等的）行列、隊（通常為縱隊）
There’s a long queue/line of people waiting for the bus.
We’d better join the queue for tickets.
row n.（人或物的）一排、一行（通常為橫的）
You can see me in this old photo, standing in the back row.
Please put the desks in four rows.
Funny
428
新概念英語第二冊筆記
① adj. 有趣的，滑稽的，逗人發笑的（與amusing同義）
He included a large number of funny stories in his speech.
② adj. 反常的，古怪的，奇怪的（口語）
I thought there was something funny about the parcel, so I phoned the police.
This morning I saw her wearing a funny hat which looked like a lighthouse.