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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 world is filled with many interesting places.
世界上有许多有趣的地方。
A map helps us find them.
地图可以帮助我们找到它们。
Any place you need to find -- a street address, business, famous landmark or park -- is most likely on a map.
你要找的任何地方——街道地址、商业场所、著名地标或公园——都很有可能在地图上找到。
Which brings us to our expression: all over the map!
这就引出了我们的短语：all over the map！
We use this expression in several different ways.
我们以几种不同的方式使用这个短语。
The first way means to be spread out over a great distance.
第一种方式的意思是遍布范围很广。
For example, years ago I drove across the United States by myself.
例如，几年前，我一个人开车横穿美国。
I was all over the map on that trip -- through mountains, deserts, forests, and more.
在那次旅行中，我走遍了所有地方——山脉、沙漠、森林等等。
Here is another way we use this expression.
下面是我们使用这个短语的另一种方式。
All over the map can also mean having many different kinds of something.
All over the map也可以指拥有许多不同种类的东西。
For example, if a restaurant offers a variety of dishes from many different countries, you can say its menu is all over the map.
例如，如果一家餐厅提供来自许多不同国家的各种菜肴，你可以说它的菜单种类繁多。
Here is another example.
下面是另一个例子。
Washington, D.C. is a very international city.
华盛顿特区是一个非常国际化的城市。
People from all over the map live and work together in D.C.
来自世界各地的人们在华盛顿一起生活和工作。
Here's another example.
下面是另一个例子。
If someone asks me what music I like, it’s hard to answer.
如果有人问我喜欢什么音乐，我很难回答。
I enjoy listening to many kinds of music -- from rock to classical to soul and country.
我喜欢听多种音乐——比如摇滚乐、古典音乐、灵魂乐和乡村音乐。
You could say my musical interests are all over the map.
你可以说我对音乐的兴趣多种多样。
Or, another example: My favorite international store sells a little of everything.
或者，另一个例子：我最喜欢的国际商店几乎什么都卖。
It has coffee from Brazil, chocolate from Belgium, soap from France, and tea from Japan.
它有巴西的咖啡、比利时的巧克力、法国的肥皂和日本的茶。
But you can also buy fresh vegetables!
但是你也可以买到新鲜的蔬菜！
That store is all over the map with its products!
那家商店的产品琳琅满目！
Finally, we also use the expression all over the map to mean confused or unfocused.
最后，我们也用all over the map来表示困惑或不专注。
If thinking, speaking, or planning is unorganized, we can describe it as all over the map.
如果思考、说话或计划是杂乱无章的，我们可以用all over the map来描述。
This expression can also describe a person.
这个短语也可以用来形容人。
If someone is all over the map, they could be having a hard time focusing on one thing.
如果某人是“all over the map”，他们可能很难专注于一件事。
Here’s an example. My coworker Karen led a very confusing meeting.
下面是一个例子。我的同事凯伦主持了一个非常令人困惑的会议。
First she talked about plans to move the company overseas.
首先，她谈到了将公司迁往海外的计划。
Then she switched to sales estimates for the next season and later, budget cuts.
然后，她转向了下一季的销售预测，以及之后的预算削减。
Her presentation was all over the map!
她的演讲可真是杂乱无章！
Nobody had a clear understanding of the project.
所有人都不清楚这个项目。
Another project I worked on was set up to fail.
我参与的另一个项目注定要失败。
The directions the designer gave to the team were all over the map.
设计师给团队的指示很混乱。
The builders did not even know where to start digging!
建筑工人甚至不知道从哪里开始挖掘！
And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.
以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。
I hope our expression was clearly explained. This is not time to be all over the map!
我希望我解释清楚我们的短语了。现在不是乱讲一通让人无法理解的时候！
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！
