(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, the VOA Learning English program, "Words and Their Stories."
On the third Sunday in June, Americans take time to recognize and thank a special person in the family – fathers! Father's Day celebrates the importance of fathers, young and old, and the men thought of as father figures.
"Like father, like son" is probably the most common father expression. It means a boy is very much like his father, and sons often do what their fathers did before them. This can be a good thing or a bad thing.
Harry Chapin's song, "Cat's in the Cradle," was popular in the 1970s. He sings about a father who did not spend time with his son. His son grew up to be a man who did not have time for his aging father. Like father, like son.
"...And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me, he'd grown up just like me. My boy was just like me."
The words "the child is father of the man" come from the William Wordsworth poem "My Heart Leaps Up." It means people's personalities form when they are children. They will most likely have the same qualities as an adult that they had as a child.
Used in everyday speech, one could say, "In his case, the child was father of the man; he loved nature as a child and now works as a botanist."
Let's say you want to tell a child a story about something that happened long before they were born. You could say it happened when they "were just a twinkle in their father's eyes." This expression has a humorous and dreamy feel. Here, the word "twinkle" suggests the interest your father had in your mother.
When a much older man is interested in a much younger woman and supports her with his money, he is called her "sugar daddy." The money part is very important – that's the sugar.
Sometimes fathers are not a good influence or active in the lives of their children. In that case, a person may look for a father figure, a man who is not actually the person's father but who acts like one.
The relationship between a man and his son can be complex.
There is a time when the son wants to grow into his own man – something described often in literature. Author Tom Wolfe wrote about a father and son relationship in his 1987 book, "The Bonfire of the Vanities."
"Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later... that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could, out of a sense of duty and, perhaps love, adopted a role called Being a Father."
Rarely are father and son relationships as complex as they are in the film series "Star Wars." Luke Skywalker, the hero, fights against the evil Darth Vader. Then, Vader gives Luke the shock of his life.
The words "I am your father" are now part of American pop culture. And it's more fun if you say it like Darth Vader.
The relationship between a father and daughter is often simpler. The expression "daddy's little girl" is understood to mean that, in a father's eyes, his daughter can do no wrong.
There is usually not a dry eye at any wedding during the traditional father-and-daughter dance, especially if they are dancing to a song like Michael Buble's "Daddy's Little Girl."
I'm Anna Matteo.
词汇解释
1.botanist n. 植物学家
A botanist can differentiate varieties of plants.
植物学家能区分各种不同的植物。
2.twinkle vi. 闪烁；发亮 vt. 使闪耀；闪耀 n. 闪烁
A kindly twinkle came into her eyes.
她的眼睛里闪烁着亲切的光芒。
3.bonfire n. 篝火；营火
The bonfire blazed away for hours.
营火继续燃烧了几个钟头。
4.vanities n. 虚荣心；浮华（vanity的复数）
Her small vanities and selfishness were growing nicely.
她小心眼里的虚荣和自私愈演愈浓烈。
内容解析
1."...And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me, he'd grown up just like me. My boy was just like me."
occur to 想到；想起
It did not occur to me to check my insurance policy.
我没有想到要核实我的保险单条款。
Didn't it occur to you to close the window?
难道你没有想到去关窗户吗?
2.There is usually not a dry eye at any wedding during the traditional father-and-daughter dance, especially if they are dancing to a song like Michael Buble's "Daddy's Little Girl."
dance to 随着……起舞；听命于；跟着…行动:
She has to dance to a different tune.
她不得不改弦易辙。
We can't dance to his baton.
我们不能跟他的指挥棒转。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语词汇典故。
每到6月的第三个周日，美国人就会花时间来认可和感谢一位特殊的家庭成员——父亲！父亲节庆祝父亲的重要性，无论年轻还是年老的父亲们，以及被视为父亲样的人。
“有其父必有其子”可能是有关父亲的最常见表达，意思是男孩很像他的父亲，儿子通常会做父亲以前做过的事，这可能是好事也可能是坏事。
哈里·查宾的歌曲Cat's in the Cradle在20世纪70年代很流行，他唱道一位父亲没有时间来陪儿子，他的儿子长大后没时间陪年老的父亲，有其父，必有其子。
“......放下电话，我突然想起，他长得很像我，我的儿子很像我。”
“三岁看老”来自威廉·华兹华斯的诗《我心雀跃》，意思是人们的性格形成于儿童时期，人们长大后的性格很可能和小时候一样。
在日常表达中，人们会说，“从他的情况来看，三岁看老，他小时候喜欢自然，现在成了植物学家。”
假如你要给孩子讲他出生之前的事情，你可以说事情发生时，他只是“父亲眼里的一道闪光”。这种表达很幽默，且有梦幻意味。这里，“闪光”意味着父亲对母亲的关注。
当一位老男人喜欢上一位年轻女子并给她钱时，他就叫做“甜爹”，这里钱是很重要的，钱就是糖。
有时父亲们没有对孩子们产生好的或积极的影响，这种情况下，人们会寻找父亲般的人物，这个人不是父亲，但起到父亲的作用。
一个男人和他儿子的关系可能很复杂。
在孩子的成长过程中他们会想长成自己，这有时出现在文学作品中。作家汤姆·沃尔夫在他1987年的作品《虚荣的篝火》中写到父子关系。
“谢尔曼突然发现他迟早会成为父亲那样，他面前的男人不是一位年老的父亲，而是一个男孩，一个像自己的男孩，这个男孩会长大，有自己的孩子，然后出于指责并尽其所能，接受了作为父亲的角色。”
很少出现像电影《星球大战》中的父子关系那么复杂的，卢克·天行者是对抗邪恶的达斯·维达的英雄，然后维达给了卢克一生的打击。
“我是你父亲”这句话已经成为美国流行文化的一部分，像达斯·维达那样说出来会更有趣。
父亲和女儿的关系通常会简单些，“爸爸的小宝贝”这句话的意思是，在父亲的眼里，女儿不会犯错。
在任何婚礼上传统的父女共舞环节中没有不哭的，尤其是伴着迈克尔·布雷的歌曲《Daddy's Little Girl》跳舞时。
我是安娜·马特奥。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
