VOA慢速英语听力训练素材：词汇故事gift

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VOA慢速英语，作为国际英语学习者的重要资源，通过清晰缓慢的发音与简洁的词汇，为初学者及中等水平学习者搭建了通往流利英语的桥梁。它不仅帮助提升听力理解能力，还丰富了词汇量，增强了语感，是学习地道英语表达不可或缺的工具，对全球英语学习者的语言提升至关重要。让我们一起进入今天的VOA慢速英语听力训练：词汇故事gift。

英文原文

Sometimes we tie the show to an event or special time of the year. This show could be tied to any time of the year that features a holiday. Holidays are a wonderful time of the year. They are a time when people slow down and take a break from their daily lives. While holidays are celebrated in different ways, many have something in common: gift giving. And who doesn't like to get a present covered in pretty paper, may be tied with a bow or ribbon? A wrapped gift is a surprise; it could be anything. "Oh, you really shouldn't have," is a common response when someone hands you a gift. We say this even when we are thinking to ourselves, "Yay, I got a present!"

有时，我们会将节目与一年中的某个事件或特殊时刻联系起来。这个节目可以与任何有节日的年份的任何时间挂钩。节日是一年中美好的时光。在这个时候，人们会放慢脚步，从日常生活中抽离出来。虽然节日的庆祝方式各不相同，但许多节日都有一个共同点：送礼。又有谁不喜欢收到被漂亮包装纸包裹、可能还绑着蝴蝶结或缎带的礼物呢？被包装的礼物总是令人惊喜，里面可能是任何东西。当有人送你礼物时，“哦，你其实不用这样的”是常见的回应。即使我们心里暗自想着“耶，我收到礼物了”，嘴上也会这么说。

Sometimes the gift is perfect; it's just what I have always wanted, you might say. Sometimes it's not. We have all been there: you happily tear open a gift wondering what is inside, but then you see it and you are disappointed. But you must not show it, and you absolutely must not criticize the gift and make comments about why you don't like it. In other words, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. This idiom is really old. Way back in 1546, a man named John Haywood supposedly used this phrase in some Middle English text. However, some word experts say the idiom is much older than that. However old it is, people must have used it when gifting a horse was a common thing.

有时，礼物很完美，可能正是你一直想要的。但有时，情况并非如此。我们都经历过：满心欢喜地拆开礼物，想知道里面是什么，但看到之后却感到失望。但你不能表现出来，也绝对不能批评礼物，或评论为什么你不喜欢它。换句话说，就是不要挑剔别人送的礼物。这个习语非常古老。早在1546年，一个叫约翰·海伍德的人就在一些中世纪英文文本中使用了这个短语。然而，一些语言专家认为这个习语比这还要古老得多。不管它有多古老，在赠送马匹是常见之事的年代，人们肯定使用过它。

To understand this idiom, we must understand a bit about horses' teeth. They grow over time, so checking the length of the teeth is a way of knowing the horse's age. Although I've never given or received a horse, I'm guessing a young horse makes a better gift than an old one. However, checking the horse's mouth would be a sign of mistrust towards the gift giver. This would be bad manners, and it might make the giver feel embarrassed or even angry. The polite thing to do is simply to say thank you and accept the gift horse graciously.

要理解这个习语，我们必须对马的牙齿有一定的了解。随着时间的推移，马的牙齿会生长，因此检查牙齿的长度是判断马匹年龄的一种方法。虽然我从未送过或收过马匹，但我猜测一匹年轻的马肯定比一匹老马更适合作为礼物。然而，检查马匹的口腔是对送礼者不信任的表现。这是不礼貌的行为，可能会让送礼者感到尴尬甚至愤怒。礼貌的做法是简单地说声谢谢，并欣然接受这份礼物。

These days, horses are not common gifts, but we commonly use this idiom. Today, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" means don't find fault with something that has been received as a gift or favor. Don't be ungrateful when you receive a present, even if it's not exactly what you wanted. If you complain about a gift someone has given you, or a favor someone has done for you, you could be accused of looking a gift horse in the mouth. Besides gifts, you can use this idiom for other things, such as a favor.

如今，马匹不再是常见的礼物，但我们仍然经常使用这个习语。如今，“don't look a gift horse in the mouth”意味着不要挑剔别人送的礼物或恩惠。收到礼物时，即使不是完全符合你的心意，也不要忘恩负义。如果你抱怨别人送给你的礼物，或者别人为你做的事情，你可能会被指责为挑剔别人的礼物。除了礼物之外，这个习语还可以用于其他事物，比如恩惠。

Let's say you ask a friend to help cook a dish for a party you are throwing for a group of senior citizens in your neighborhood. She comes to the dinner smiling from ear to ear and hands you the dish she has cooked. It is very burnt and it smells odd, but you don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. You thank her for her dish and the time she took to make it. Then you put it on the table in the back where people hopefully won't see it.

比如，你请一位朋友为你准备一道菜，用于你为社区里一群老年人举办的聚会。她笑容满面地来到晚宴，把你请求的那道菜递给你。然而，这道菜被烧得很焦，味道也很奇怪。但你不希望挑剔别人的礼物。你感谢她为你准备的这道菜，以及她所花费的时间。然后，你把这道菜放在桌子后面，希望人们不会看到它。

So next time you get a gift that is less than perfect, remember that it is not nice to look a gift horse in the mouth. After all, it's the thought that counts. This means that it's the thought of gift-giving, and not the gift itself, that is important. And don't worry if you get something as a gift that you really don't like; you can always pass it along to someone else who may actually like it. In other words, you can always regift it.

所以，下次你收到一份不太完美的礼物时，请记住，挑剔别人的礼物是不好的。毕竟，心意最重要。这意味着送礼的心意，而不是礼物本身，才是最重要的。如果你收到一份自己真正不喜欢的礼物，不用担心；你可以把它转送给可能会喜欢它的人。换句话说，你可以把它再次送出去。

以上便是VOA慢速英语听力训练：词汇故事gift相关内容，希望能帮助你提升听力！