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L3. Pub Talk and the King’s English(酒吧闲谈与标准英语) Henry Fairlie (亨利·费尔利)

1. Conversation is the most sociable of all human activities. And it is an activity only of humans. However intricate the way in which animals communicate with each other, they do not indulge in anything that deserves the name of conversation.

人类的一切活动中，闲谈是最具交际性的sociable（主题句），也是人类特有的。而动物之间的信息交流，无论其方式何等复杂intricate，也是称不上交际的。

1. And it is an activity only of humans. (para1) 并且它是人类特有的一种活动。

And conversation is an activity which is found only among human being．

Sociable [?so???bl] adj.随和的，好交际的，友善的 friendly or agreeable,eapecially in an easy,informal way(用书）

intricate (adj) : hard to follow or understand because full of puzzling parts，details，or relationships错综复杂的；难以理解的，难懂的

Indulge: 任凭自己沉溺于……；耽于to allow yourself to have or do sth that you like,eapecially sth that is considered bad for you ----indulge in sth, indulge yourself. 例： Women do not indulge in to the same extent as men. deserve: 值得；应得

2. The charm of conversation is that it does not really start from anywhere, and no one has any idea where it will go as it meanders or leaps and sparkles or just glows. The enemy of good conversation is the person who has “something to say.” Conversation is not for making a point. Argument may often be a part of it, but the purpose of the argument is not to convince. There is no winning in conversation. In fact, the best conversationalists are those who are prepared to lose. Suddenly they see the moment for one of their best anecdotes, but in a flash the conversation has moved on and the

opportunity is lost. They are ready to let it go.

2. 闲谈的引人入胜之处就在于它没有一个事先设定好的主题。它时而迂回meander前

进，时而奔腾leap起伏，时而火花四射sparkle，时而热情洋溢glow，话题最终会扯到什么地方去谁也拿不准。感觉“有话想说”的人是一个“完美闲谈”的最大敌人。闲谈不是为了争论，尽管争论常常是闲聊的一部分，不过其目的并不是为了说服对方。闲谈之中是不存在什么输赢胜负（convince说服）的。事实上，真正的闲聊高手往往是随时准备让步（lose输掉）的。他们也许会偶然间觉得该把自己最得意的奇闻轶事anecdote选出一件插进来讲一讲，但一转眼in a flash大家已谈到别处去了，插话的机会随之丧失，他们也就听之任之了。

meander: n. (比喻）proceed in an aimless way ; ramble漫谈，闲聊

例： The discussion meandered on for hours.讨论会漫无边际的进行了几个小时。 make a point: explain fully what one is proposing. 表明一种看法，证明一个论点 例： All fight，you’ve made your point；now keep quiet and let the others say what they think．好 啦，你已经把话说清楚了；那就别说了，让别人谈谈看法。 Conversationalist: n. 健谈的人

Sparkle: v. be full of life and wit活力和才智换发。 She always sparkles at parties.在聚会上，他总是神采奕奕。

Glow: glow with pride/joy/pleasure.

Anecdote: [??n?kdo?t] n.奇闻轶事(关于真人真事的短小有趣的事）

in a flash: suddenly，very quickly瞬间，非常突然。 Without any delay 例： Just wait here．I’v be back in a flash．就在这儿等我，我马上就回来。

2. Conversation is not for making a point.(para2)交谈并不是为了表明一种看法。

Conversation is not for persuading others to accept our idea or point of view．（说服 convincing, taking sb. over）

3. In fact, the best conversationalists are those who are prepared to lose.(para2) 实际上，最好的交谈者，是那些准备输的人。 In fact a person who really enjoys and is skilled at conversation will not argue to win or force others to accept his

point of view．

meander (v.) : wander aimlessly or idly；ramble漫步；闲逛

conversationalist (n.) : a person who converses；esp．，one who enjoys and is skilled at conversation交谈者；(尤指)健谈者

anecdote (n.) : a short，entertaining account of some happening，usually personal or biographical轶事，逸事

3. Perhaps it is because of my upbringing in English pubs that I think bar conversation has a charm of its own. Bar friends are not deeply involved in each other’s lives. They are companions, not intimates. The fact that their marriages may be on the rocks, or that their love affairs have broken or even that they got out of bed on the wrong side is simply not a concern. They are like the musketeers of Dumas who, although they lived side by side with each other, did not delve into each other’s lives or the recesses of their thoughts and feelings.

3. 或许是从小混迹于(upbringing n. 培养，养育)英国小酒吧的缘故吧，我觉得酒馆

里的闲聊是别有韵味的。酒馆里的朋友们对彼此的生活毫不了解（involve in 使牵扯到），他们只是临时的伙伴，相互之间并无深交（intimate密友，知己）。这些人之中，也许有人的婚姻面临破裂（on the rock婚姻的破坏），有人恋爱受挫，有人碰到别的什么不顺心的事儿（go out of bad on the wrong side），但这些都无关紧要。他们就像大仲马笔下的三个火枪手（musketeer火枪手）一样，虽然朝夕相处，却从来不过问（delve 发掘）彼此的私事（recess私事），也不去打探别人内心的秘密。

4. Bar friends are not deeply involved in each other's lives. (para3)

酒吧友人没有深层次地涉及彼此的生活。

People who meet each other for a drink in the bar of a pub are not intimate friends for they are not deeply absorbed or engrossed in each other’s lives．（close friends密友）

intimate (n.) : a close friend or companion密友，知己

on the rocks :in or into a condition of ruin or catastrophe(婚姻)破坏的，失败的