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And now Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English.
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。
Springtime is coming soon to the northern half of the planet.
北半球的春天即将到来。
That means signs of green plant life are beginning to show!
这意味着绿色植物生命的迹象开始显现！
Some flowers and trees will start to bloom and some grasses will become more green.
一些花和树将开始开花，一些草将变得更绿。
In the United States, many people spend a lot of time and money growing a yard full of weed-free green grass.
在美国，许多人花费大量的时间和金钱在院子里种满了没有杂草的绿草。
Even if that area surrounding the house is not used very much, some people still want it to look nice with lots of healthy-looking green grass.
即使房子周围可用的区域面积不是很大，一些人还是希望它看起来很漂亮，有很多看起来很健康的绿草。
Neighbors can even get competitive over who has the greenest, thickest lawn.
邻居们甚至会为了谁的草坪最绿、最厚而相互竞争。
But competing with and comparing ourselves to others is usually not a good idea.
但与他人竞争并将自己与他人比较通常不是一个好主意。
In fact, we have an idiom to describe that exact situation.
事实上，我们有一个习语来描述这种情况。
That idiom is: "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."
这句习语是：“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence。”
This expression describes people who are not happy with their own lives, and they think that someone else--or everyone else--has a better life than they do.
这个短语描述的是那些对自己的生活不满意的人，他们认为其他人过得比自己更好。
Some might say this idiom describes the human quality of always wanting something different than what you have.
有些人可能会说，这个习语描述的是人类的一种特征，即总是想要一些不同于自己所拥有的东西。
Some people are never happy with their own situation.
有些人对自己的处境永远不满意。
They are never satisfied.
他们永远不会满足。
They think others have it better or easier than they do.
他们认为别人比他们过得更好或更容易。
Even if their life is perfectly fine, they still look at others and want what they have.
即使他们的生活很好，他们还是会看别人，想要他们拥有的东西。
The idiom also expresses this idea: people often think a different set of conditions would bring them greater happiness.
这个习语也表达了这样的观点：人们通常认为一套不同的条件会给他们带来更大的幸福感。
So, we use this idiom to remind people that this is not often the case.
所以，我们用这个习语来提醒人们，事实并非如此。
Let's say you "look over the fence" and see that your neighbor has a new car, a big house, and a good-looking partner.
假设你“从围栏向外望去”，看到你的邻居有一辆新车，一栋大房子，还有一个长相好看的伴侣。
You may want what that neighbor has.
你可能想要那个邻居拥有的东西。
But what you may not know is that the new car and big house are making your neighbor poor.
但你可能不知道的是，新车和大房子正在让你的邻居变穷。
And the good-looking partner is actually a mean, unpleasant person.
而长相好看的伴侣实际上是一个刻薄、令人讨厌的人。
Let's listen to a conversation between two friends.
让我们来听两个朋友之间的对话。
Notice how they use a shortened form of the idiom.
注意他们是如何使用这个习语的缩写形式的。
This is often how you will hear it.
这通常是你听到它的方式。
Did you hear the news about Martin? He's moving again.
你听说马丁的事了吗？他又搬家了。
What? That's the third time in a year! What's wrong this time?
什么？这已经是他一年中的第三次搬家了！这次又怎么了？
Well, he visited a friend in Oregon and saw that the guy has got a big house with a big yard, and the city has more farmers' markets and bike lanes than where he lives now.
嗯，他拜访了俄勒冈州的一个朋友，看到那个人有一栋带大院子的大房子，而且那座城市里的农贸市场和自行车道比他现在住的地方多。
So now he's moving out there to start over.
所以现在他要搬出去重新开始。
He did the same thing a few months ago when he visited a friend in California.
几个月前，当他去加州拜访一位朋友时，他也做了同样的事情。
You know Martin. He's always been a grass-is-always-greener kind of guy.
你知道马丁。他一直是那种这山望着那山高的人。
Well, hopefully he'll be happy in Oregon.
希望他在俄勒冈州过得开心。
I doubt it.
我对此表示怀疑。
And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. Until next time, I'm Anna Matteo.
以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。下次见……我是安娜·马特奥！
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
