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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。
On this program, we explore words and expressions in the English language.
在本节目中，我们探索英语中的单词和短语。
We give examples and notes on usage.
我们会举一些例子，还会对用法进行解释说明。
The United States is a very big country.
美国是一个非常大的国家。
So, getting from point A to point B can take a lot of time.
因此，从A地到B地可能需要很长时间。
Most people who live in the U.S. drive cars.
大多数居住在美国的人都开车。
So, it should come as no surprise that we have many car expressions.
因此，我们有很多有关汽车的短语也就不足为奇了。
Driving a vehicle is a big responsibility.
开车是一项重大的责任。
After all, it is a heavy piece of machinery traveling at fast speeds.
毕竟，它是一台高速运转的重型机械。
So, it is important to stay focused on the road.
因此，保持注意力集中在道路上是很重要的。
You should pay close attention when driving.
开车时你应该要专心致志。
It is dangerous to drive when you are distracted or when you are tired.
当你分心或疲倦时开车是危险的。
If you lose your focus, you could cause a crash.
如果你注意力不集中，你可能会撞车。
The same could be said in other situations in life.
这种说法也适用于生活中的其他情况。
And that brings us to our expression for today: to be asleep at the wheel.
这就引出了我们今天要学的短语：to be asleep at the wheel（心不在焉）。
This expression comes from the idea of someone falling asleep while driving a car.
这个短语源自某人在开车时睡着了。
But as an idiom, it means someone is not paying attention or is focused on what they are doing.
但作为一个习语，它的意思是某人没有专注于其正在做的事情。
This can cause all kinds of problems.
这可能会导致各种问题。
If I am asleep at the wheel, I fail to see my responsibilities or duties.
如果我心不在焉，我就看不到我的责任或义务。
I am not paying attention to important issues for which I am responsible.
我没有注意到我所负责的重要问题。
We often use this expression to describe a person who is not thinking about possible future problems.
我们经常用这个短语来形容一个不考虑未来可能出现的问题的人。
It can also be used when talking about a business or government that is not paying attention to problems waiting down the road.
它也可以被用于谈论没有注意到即将出现的问题的企业或政府。
Here is an example:
下面是一个例子：
The government agency in charge of public health safety was asleep at the wheel on this issue.
负责公共卫生安全的政府机构在这个问题上疏忽大意。
Here is a workplace example:
下面是一个有关工作场所的例子：
Gabrielle was supposed to make sure all the contracts were signed by the deadline.
加布里埃尔应该确保所有合同在最后期限前被签好。
But she fell asleep at the wheel and did not get her task done on time.
但她玩忽职守，没有按时完成任务。
Anyone can fall asleep at the wheel and in any situation.
任何人在任何情况下都可能会心不在焉。
Here is an example from the world of sports.
下面是一个来自体育界的例子。
During an important game, the star goalie of the football team was asleep at the wheel.
在一场重要的比赛中，足球队的明星守门员玩忽职守。
The other team was able to score easily.
另一队轻松得分。
In these examples, we used the verbs “to fall” or “to be” with this expression.
在这些例子中，我们在这个短语中使用了动词“to fall”或“to be”。
Both are correct.
两者都是正确的。
And neither one is more common than the other.
两者都很常见。
So, feel free to take your pick!
所以，请随意挑选！
As we said earlier, this expression refers to someone who has fallen asleep while driving a vehicle.
正如我们前面所说的，这个短语指的是开车时睡着的人。
We have a similar expression that relates to someone falling asleep while operating a train.
我们有一个类似的短语，与在驾驶火车时睡着的人有关。
That expression is “to fall asleep at the switch.”
这个短语是“to fall asleep at the switch”。
Here, “switch” refers to the controls on the train.
这里的“switch”指的是火车上的控制器。
Note that “falling asleep at the switch” is less commonly used.
请注意，“falling asleep at the switch”不太常用。
And that is all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.
以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。
When it comes to teaching English, VOA Learning English promises not to fall asleep at the wheel.
说到英语教学，VOA慢速英语承诺不会玩忽职守。
We will stay focused on helping you improve your language skills!
我们将会继续致力于帮助你提高语言技能！
Until next time … I’m Anna Matteo.
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！
