White elephant 華而不實(shí)的東西

　　(Finn and Feifei on a visit to the zoo)

　　Feifei: Hi. Im Feifei and joining us here in the zoo to present Authentic Real English is Finn.

　　Finn: Hello.

　　Feifei: Whats the matter, Finn? 怎么不高興呢?動(dòng)物園這么多動(dòng)物，多好看呀!

　　Finn: Yes, I love animals too. But I dont know what Im going to do with that white elephant .

　　Feifei: 你不知道應(yīng)該如果應(yīng)對(duì) a white elephant? 你是說(shuō)遠(yuǎn)處的那頭白象?

　　Finn: No. The one my uncle is giving me.

　　Feifei: 什么?你叔叔送你一頭象?

　　Finn: He is moving to South Africa and hes giving away some of his things.

　　Feifei: 如果我要搬到南非的話，估計(jì)我也會(huì)把帶不走的東西都送人。可是你真打算養(yǎng)一頭大象嗎 Finn?

　　Finn: Thats the problem. I am not. Well, it is beautiful

　　Feifei: 是呀，大象長(zhǎng)得太好看了。

　　Finn: and it is powerful

　　Feifei: 非常健壯。

　　Finn: But it needs too much petrol!

　　Feifei: 汽油?給大象喝?

　　Finn: Yes. Old sports cars need a lot of petrol, you know.

　　Feifei: 就說(shuō)嘛，嚇?biāo)牢伊恕Ｎ乙詾槟阋o大象喝汽油。Finn 是說(shuō)跑車很費(fèi)油。

　　Finn: Yes, of course! It wasnt talking about an actual elephant.

　　Feifei: 你聽(tīng)，大象也松了一口氣。

　　Finn: Yes, he did. In English, when you call something a white elephant, you mean its large, costs a lot of money to keep and has no useful purpose.

　　Feifei: 我們用 white elephant 這個(gè)短語(yǔ)來(lái)描述貴而無(wú)用的，華而不實(shí)的東西。不過(guò)我知道你喜歡騎自行車，跑車對(duì)你來(lái)說(shuō)用處不太大吧。

　　Finn: Thats right. Lets listen to some examples of how to use this expression.

　　Ive paid a lot of money for this posh designer dress that I never use. It is a white elephant!

　　The new airport is a white elephant! Its got four runways and its equipped with the latest technology, but not many people visit this region.

　　Feifei: White elephant 還可以用來(lái)描述一樣看起來(lái)漂亮，但是在實(shí)際生活中浪費(fèi)空間的東西 。

　　Finn: Thats right.

　　Feifei: 所以說(shuō)呀，這些華而不實(shí)的玩意兒可遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)比不上動(dòng)物園里這些大象的人氣。

　　Finn: Feifei, shall we go and have a look?

　　Feifei: 好的，咱們?nèi)タ纯纯蓯?ài)的大象們 and these are certainly not white elephants! Bye.

　　Finn: Bye.

　　White elephant 華而不實(shí)的東西

　　(Finn and Feifei on a visit to the zoo)

　　Feifei: Hi. Im Feifei and joining us here in the zoo to present Authentic Real English is Finn.

　　Finn: Hello.

　　Feifei: Whats the matter, Finn? 怎么不高興呢?動(dòng)物園這么多動(dòng)物，多好看呀!

　　Finn: Yes, I love animals too. But I dont know what Im going to do with that white elephant .

　　Feifei: 你不知道應(yīng)該如果應(yīng)對(duì) a white elephant? 你是說(shuō)遠(yuǎn)處的那頭白象?

　　Finn: No. The one my uncle is giving me.

　　Feifei: 什么?你叔叔送你一頭象?

　　Finn: He is moving to South Africa and hes giving away some of his things.

　　Feifei: 如果我要搬到南非的話，估計(jì)我也會(huì)把帶不走的東西都送人。可是你真打算養(yǎng)一頭大象嗎 Finn?

　　Finn: Thats the problem. I am not. Well, it is beautiful

　　Feifei: 是呀，大象長(zhǎng)得太好看了。

　　Finn: and it is powerful

　　Feifei: 非常健壯。

　　Finn: But it needs too much petrol!

　　Feifei: 汽油?給大象喝?

　　Finn: Yes. Old sports cars need a lot of petrol, you know.

　　Feifei: 就說(shuō)嘛，嚇?biāo)牢伊恕Ｎ乙詾槟阋o大象喝汽油。Finn 是說(shuō)跑車很費(fèi)油。

　　Finn: Yes, of course! It wasnt talking about an actual elephant.

　　Feifei: 你聽(tīng)，大象也松了一口氣。

　　Finn: Yes, he did. In English, when you call something a white elephant, you mean its large, costs a lot of money to keep and has no useful purpose.

　　Feifei: 我們用 white elephant 這個(gè)短語(yǔ)來(lái)描述貴而無(wú)用的，華而不實(shí)的東西。不過(guò)我知道你喜歡騎自行車，跑車對(duì)你來(lái)說(shuō)用處不太大吧。

　　Finn: Thats right. Lets listen to some examples of how to use this expression.

　　Ive paid a lot of money for this posh designer dress that I never use. It is a white elephant!

　　The new airport is a white elephant! Its got four runways and its equipped with the latest technology, but not many people visit this region.

　　Feifei: White elephant 還可以用來(lái)描述一樣看起來(lái)漂亮，但是在實(shí)際生活中浪費(fèi)空間的東西 。

　　Finn: Thats right.

　　Feifei: 所以說(shuō)呀，這些華而不實(shí)的玩意兒可遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)比不上動(dòng)物園里這些大象的人氣。

　　Finn: Feifei, shall we go and have a look?

　　Feifei: 好的，咱們?nèi)タ纯纯蓯?ài)的大象們 and these are certainly not white elephants! Bye.

　　Finn: Bye.