Lesson 57

【劲词天天学】

scratch your head 搔头皮/碰到难题了

when you are scratching your head, most likely you have encountered some problems. 
有时候去搔头皮确实是因为痒或者不舒服，但有时在碰到难题时，我们也会下意识地去搔头皮。

Scratch your head over这里表示你正在为某个问题犯难。
 
这个词可以这么用：

1. Scientists are scratching heads over a most annoying problem——why we itch.
科学家正困于一个很让人烦恼的问题之中——我们为何会发痒呢。
 
2. Now many people must be scratching their heads and trying to figure out what they can do. 
现在很多人一定在搔破头皮想着他们可以做些什么。

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Topic: the trendiest puppy 最时尚的小狗
New vocabulary：outfit 外套，装备
Host: Tristan (Nanfang Center, Shanghai)

Greg is on his way to work. He runs into his friend Sally who is taking her dog for a walk.
格雷格正在去上班的路上。他碰见他的朋友萨利，她正在遛狗呢。

---S: Hey, Greg, how's it going?
嘿，格雷格，你好吗？

---G: Oh, Sally, hi. I'm just on my way to work. My car's in the shop today, so I'm taking the subway(n.地铁) What about you? Where are you off to?
哦，萨利，我正要去上班。我的车今天在店里，所以我今天乘地铁。你呢？你准备去哪里？

---S: I'm just taking Cinderella for a walk. She's been cooped up（v.被关着） in my apartment for too long. She needs some exercise. Isn't that right, Cinderella? Yeeesss. You're a lazy puppy（n.小狗）.
我带着仙德瑞拉出来散步。她在我的房里闷得太久了。她需要一些锻炼。是不是，仙德瑞拉？你真是一只懒惰的小狗。

---G: I see, and what is that she's wearing?
我明白了。她戴的是什么？

---S: Well, it's cold so I bought her a little sweater. Chihuahuas have kind of a thin coat, so they get cold easily. And all the salt on the road is bad for their paws, so I make sure she wears her booties. Doesn't she look cute（adj.可爱的）?
天太冷了，所以我买了一条小小的毛线衫给她。吉娃娃只有薄薄的外衣，所以他们很容易着凉。对他们的爪子也不好，所以我一定要让她穿上小靴子。她看上去很可爱吧？

---G: She certainly looks interesting.
她确实看上去很有趣。

---S: Yeah. All this stuff is top of the line（adj.最好的）. You know her outfit cost $500. 是的。这些东西可都是最好的。你知道她的外套花了500美金。

---G: That's more than my suit cost.
这比我的衣服要贵。

---S: I know. But nothing's too good for my baby. Right, Cindy? Who's the trendiest（adj.最时尚的） puppy around? I think it's you.
我知道。但是对我亲爱的宝贝来说，再好也不为过。对吧，辛迪？谁是这最时尚的小狗？我想是你。

---G: Uh, listen, I've got to get going, but you and Cinderella enjoy your walk.
哦，我必须要走了。但你和仙德瑞拉请好好享受你们的散步。

---S: Okay, I'll call you later this week. We should get together for dinner or something.
好的。我在这周晚些时候打电话给你。我们一起吃顿饭什么的。

---G: Sounds good. See ya.
听上去不错。再见。

---S: Say goodbye, Cinderella. Bye-bye…Alright. I'll talk to you later.
说再见，仙德瑞拉。再见……好吧。我之后和你联系。

---G: Bye.
拜拜

Let’s go over some phrases now.
Cooped – kept in a place for a long time  拘禁
Puppy – baby dog 小狗
Chihuahuas – small kind of dog 吉娃娃
Paws – dog’s feet 狗爪
Booties – boots 靴子
Top of the line – fashionable 时尚的
Outfit – set of clothes that match 全套装配
Trendiest – fashionable / cool 新潮人物

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【调味英语】爱赌博的鸽子

Blackjack（n.扑克牌中的二十一点）, slot machines, good ol’ Texas hold’em. People love to gamble（v.赌博）. And we’re not the only ones. A new study shows that pigeons will also pass up a sure thing in the hopes of a big payoff（n盈利，报酬）. The work appears in the Proceedings of the Royal Society（n.英国皇家学会学报）.
 
二十一点，老虎机，古老的德克萨斯扑克，人类可真爱赌博，但是爱赌博的可不只我们人类，因为一项最新的研究显示，鸽子也喜欢为了大额报酬赌一把，而宁愿舍弃一定会得到的少量报酬。这项研究发表在《英国皇家学会会报》上。
 
Theories about foraging（n.觅食理论）say that animals should stick with the proverbial bird in the hand, especially when it comes to food. Eating is key to survival, so clever critters（n.家畜，动物） shouldn’t take unnecessary chances. But these new findings suggest that pigeons don’t always play it safe.
 
觅食理论认为动物们应该遵从谚语“二鸟在林不如一鸟在手”，尤其这个“鸟”是它们赖以生存的食物，所以聪明的动物不会为了更多的食物去冒险。但是有些新发现告诉我们，鸽子就想斗胆试试。
 

Scientists set up an avian（adj.鸟类的） casino（n.赌场）in which pigeons could place their bets on one of two symbols. Peck (v.啄) at symbol 1 and you get three food pellets（n.食物）. Never more, never less. Symbol 2 was the wildcard. Choose that one and 20 percent of the time, you’ll hit the jackpot: 10 food pellets. The rest of the time you’ll get nothing. But the lure （n. 引诱）of the big win was too hard to resist: pigeons chose to gamble more than 80 percent of the time, even though, on average, that path paid out fewer pellets.

科学家们设置了一个鸟类的“卡西诺赌场”，在那里放上两个标志以供鸽子下赌注。如果它们啄了一下标志1，就给它们三粒食物，一粒不多，一粒不少。如果啄标志2，就有二成的机会获得十粒食物，而剩下那八成就一粒都没有。鸽子们难以抗拒十粒食物的诱惑：它们在80％的情况下会选择赌一把，即使这种选择平均下来会得到更少的食物。

Perhaps it’s the joy of a pleasant surprise. Because even for a literal（adj.无夸张的，笨笨的） bird brain, hitting the lottery(n.中大彩) is a hoot.

或许这对鸽子来说是一种惊喜。因为即使对笨笨的鸟儿来说，中大奖也是件高兴的事。