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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。
The English language has several expressions that describe things that happen very fast.
英语中有一些用来描述发生得非常快的事情的短语。
Today we will talk about several.
今天我们将讨论几个短语。
Some involve body parts.
有些涉及身体部位。
And some involve acts of nature.
还有一些涉及自然行为。
Let's start with our bodies.
我们从我们的身体开始吧。
There are some things we humans we do very quickly--namely our blinking eyes and beating hearts.
有些事情我们人类做得很快——即眨眼和心跳。
Those bodily actions happen incredibly fast.
这些身体动作发生得极其快。
So, we use "in the blink of an eye" and "in a heartbeat" to describe things that happen in no time at all.
所以，我们用“in the blink of an eye”和“in a heartbeat”来形容在瞬间发生的事情。
Here are some examples:
以下是一些例子：
She accepted the new job in a heartbeat.
她立刻接受了新工作。
She didn't need to think about it at all.
她根本不需要考虑。
When he hit the lottery, all his money problems disappeared in the blink of an eye.
当他中了彩票时，一眨眼的功夫，他所有的金钱问题就消失了。
Now, some may say that "blink of an eye" is redundant.
现在，有些人可能会说“blink of an eye”是多余的。
After all, the only part of the body we can blink are the eyes.
毕竟，我们身体上唯一能眨的部位就是眼睛。
So just saying "blink" is enough.
所以，只要说“blink”就足够了。
She blinked and her friend was gone!
一眨眼的功夫，她的朋友走了！
But when we use the expression, we always say the word "eye."
但当我们使用这个短语时，我们总是说“eye”这个词。
We also don't think about blinking our eyes or beating our hearts--well, hopefully we don't.
我们也不会想眨眼或心跳——嗯，希望我们不会。
So, the expressions also mean that no thought was involved in the action.
因此，这些短语也指行动中不掺加任何想法。
If something happens in the blink of an eye or in a heartbeat, it happens "in no time flat."
“in no time flat”和“in the blink of an eye”或“in a heartbeat”的意思相同。
This strange little phrase also means something happens in a very short amount of time.
这个奇怪的短语的意思是在很短的时间内发生了某件事。
For example, my friend reached my house in no time flat.
例如，我的朋友很快就到了我家。
She wasted no time in getting here!
她马上到了这里！
Okay, now let's talk about the expressions from the natural world.
好了，现在我们来谈谈涉及自然界的短语。
If you are very fast, we might compare you to two powers in nature: wind and lightning.
如果你跑得很快，我们可能会把你比作自然界中的两种力量：风和闪电。
These two are usually used in the form of a simile.
这两个词通常以比喻的形式使用。
A simile compares things using "like" or "as."
比喻用“like”或“as”来比较事物。
And we usually use them when describing a person's actions.
我们通常用它们来描述一个人的行为。
So, we might say you move or run like the wind!
所以，我们可以说你像风一样奔跑！
Or we might say you are as fast as lightning.
或者我们可以说你跑得像闪电一样快。
With lightning, we could also the words with a hyphen and say you are lightning-fast!
我们也可以用带有连字符的单词lightning-fast来表示你快如闪电！
Also, when lightning happens, it happens as a flash of lightning or bolt of lightning.
此外，当闪电发生时，它是以一道闪电的形式发生的。
Both these words, flash and bolt, are also used to describe fast things.
flash和bolt这两个词也被用来描述快速移动的事物。
If something happens in a flash, it happens at lightning speed.
in a flash的意思是某件事以闪电般的速度发生。
And if I bolt somewhere, I run very fast to get there.
如果我bolt某个地方，意思是我快速跑到那里。
For example, when it started to rain, I bolted to my car!
例如，当天开始下雨时，我快速跑到我的车里！
Now let's hear some friends use these expression together.
现在让我们来听一些朋友一起使用这些短语。
They are waiting for a third friend in front of a movie theater.
他们正在电影院前等着第三个朋友。
Hi! Thanks for coming to the movies with me.
嗨！谢谢你来和我一起看电影。
I love movies! As soon as you texted, I responded in a heartbeat.
我喜欢电影！你一发短信，我就立刻回复了。
It's a good thing I came early and got tickets. They sold out in the blink of an eye. Hey, where's Steve?
幸好我来得早，买到了票。一眨眼的功夫，票就卖光了。嘿，史蒂夫在哪里？
He had some work to finish up. So, he might be a bit late.
他还有一些工作要完成。所以，他可能会晚一点到。
Oh, look there he is now! Hey Steve! Looks like you ran all the way here.
哦，看，他来了！嘿，史蒂夫！看起来你是一路跑过来的。
I was running from work not to the movies. So, what's the name of the movie anyway?
我是从公司跑过来看电影的。那么，电影名字是什么呢？
Lightning McGrady and the Race Against Time!
闪电麦迪和与时间赛跑！
Sounds great! I can't wait! Um … what's it about?
听上去不错！我都等不及了！嗯……它是关于什么的？
A fast man. Now, let's go inside and get a seat.
一个速度快的人。现在，让我们进去找座位。
He's not just fast. He's lightning-fast! When he runs, he can slow down time. Hey, who wants popcorn or a drink?
他不只是速度快。他快如闪电！当他跑步时，他可以放慢时间。嘿，谁想要爆米花和饮料？
There's no time! People are going in! You'll miss the trailers! And you love trailers!
没时间了！大家都进去了！你会错过预告片的！而且你喜欢预告片！
No problem. I'll be back in a flash!
没问题。我马上就回来！
Hold on. I'll go buy drinks and popcorn. After all, you bought the tickets. Just save me a seat.
等一等。我去买饮料和爆米花。毕竟，电影票是你买的。给我留个座位就行了。
Great Steve! Thanks!
伟大的史蒂夫！谢谢！
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！
