美语情景对话 第376期:Canucks and Yanks 加拿大人和美国人

Todd: OK, Mike, I was wondering, you're from Canada, and you have lived in America, and we work together, and in our company everybody is American but you, so how would you say Canadians are different than Americans?

托德：迈克，我在想，你来自加拿大，而且你在美国生活过，现在我们一起工作，在我们公司除了你都是美国人，你觉得加拿大人和美国人有什么不同呢？

Mike: Well, first of all, I'll just, to be honest, just to start, I'll say that Canadians and Americans I think share a lot more similar qualities than they do differences, I mean, I think Canadians have a lot more in common with Americans than they do with even with English people who are like from Britain who were the original sort of Canadians, I suppose, a few hundred years ago, so in that way I think that like again, just to preempt it by saying we're very similar, however, there's definitely some differences I think between Americans and Canadians. First of all, I think Canadians in general are maybe a little bit more humble. Not to put this in a negative way, but they just, they're not as willing to engage in an argument, or to argue over a point, I think, as you know, as most, at least, most of my American friends, who’ll want to debate and get to the bottom of a topic. Canadians would rather just sort of back off and say, you know, "That's, you're right. That's fine. Great" but again, and I can't speak for all Canadians because it depends on your personality too, but just to generalize, that's one difference. Also, I would say that Americans in general tend to be a lot more businesslike and maybe even a little more conservative in, just in the way they, in the way that they, I guess, view, relations, or view discussions with people, but Canadians tend to be a little bit more liberal, a little bit more free and easy-going, again, I'll preempt that by saying all of the Americans that I work with I think are quite liberal and not conservative thinking at all, but if you want to generalize, yeah, culturally, then I think those are probably a couple of differences between the two cultures, or people in the cultures.

迈克：嗯，首先，说实话，相比于不同点，我觉得加拿大人和美国人有很多相似的特质，我的意思是我认为加拿大人和美国人有很多共同点，我想大概是几百年前，英国人原来是加拿大人的一部分，所以首先我们非常相似，不过美国人和加拿大人之间当然有一些不同点。首先，总的来说，加拿大人可能要更谦卑一些。不要用消极的方式来理解，加拿大人不太愿意牵涉进争论中，或者是不愿意就某一观点进行争论。我想，正如你知道的那样，至少我的大部分美国朋友想参与到争论中，他们想弄清论题的真相。加拿大更愿意避让，他们会说“嗯，你是对的。那很好。很棒。”不过，我不能代表所有加拿大人，因为这也要取决于你的个性，不过总的来说，这是一个不同点。而且，我认为美男人一般来说效率更高，而且他们和别人的关系以及在和别人进行讨论方面要更保守，而加拿大人则更开放，更自由，更随和，而和我一起工作的美国人，我认为他们的想法很开放，一点也不保守，不过如果从总体来说，从文化上来说，我想两种文化或者说受这些文化影响的人们有一些不同点。

Todd: Yeah, anything else, any other differences?

托德：没错，那有吗，还有其他不同点吗？

Mike: Well, I think, one thing that Americans tend to point to with Canadians, and it is true to some extent, other than our love of hockey, is sense of humor. I think Canadians in general tend to have a, I wouldn't say unique, but they just tend to look at I guess, look at things with a little bit more of, a bit of humor, too it, and I think the main reason for that is cause it's so bloody cold in Canada.

迈克：我想，美国人和加拿大人其中一个需要指出的不同点是，除了我们对冰球的喜爱，从某种程度上来说应该是不同的幽默感。我认为总体来说，我不认为他们的幽默感很独特，不过加拿大人以更幽默的方式来看待事物，我想主要原因是加拿大太冷了。

Todd: Fair enough. Thanks Mike.

托德：有道理。谢谢你，迈克。

重点讲解：
1. first of all
第一；首先；
eg. First of all, answer these questions.
首先，回答这些问题。
eg. First of all, could I begin with an apology for a mistake I made last week?
首先，请允许我为上周犯下的错误道歉。
2. to be honest
老实说；说实在的；
eg. To be honest, I've got a better offer.
老实说，我有一个更好的工作机会。
eg. To be honest with you, it does not seem to me that you are a management guy.
诚实地说，在我看来你不是个做管理的人。
3. in general
总的来说；总体上来看；大体上；
eg. In general, that's going to generate negative emotions. "
一般而言，这往往会触发负面情绪。
eg. In general, employers do little to help the single working mother.
一般而言，雇主很少为工作的单亲妈妈提供帮助。
4. in common
共有的；相同的；
eg. They had little in common culturally with us.
他们在文化方面跟我们很少有共同之处。
eg. No matter what type of the reason it was, there was one thing in common: carelessness.
不管是哪种类型的原因，它们都有一个共同点：粗心。
5. be willing to do sth.
乐意的；愿意的；
eg. In the current economic environment there are few companies willing to invest in such a costly project.
在目前的经济环境下，很少有公司愿意投资成本这么高的项目。
eg. To get one of these uncommon stamps, some collectors are willing to pay a great deal of money.
为了能得到这些不同寻常的邮票，他们往往愿意花大价钱去购买。
6. engage in
参与；从事；
eg. Those who are non-smokers are often convinced by smokers to engage in this activity.
那些不吸烟的孩子们也会受到吸烟者的影响，加入这项活动中。
eg. Faculty who engage in research seem to have more knowledge to pass on to their students.
从事研究工作的教师似乎有更多的学识可以传授给学生。
7. get to the bottom of
找到…的真正起因；查寻到…的根源；
eg. I have to get to the bottom of this mess.
我必须查清造成这一混乱局面的真正原因。
eg. We need to get to the bottom of the problem between you and me.
我们要彻底搞清楚我们之间的问题。
8. depend on
取决（于）；有赖（于）；
eg. How much can you get depend on how much you pay.
你能得到多少取决于你付出了多少。
eg. At many companies, raises depend on a mix of your performance and how much you make compared with others doing the same job.
在很多公司里，加薪是由你的综合表现以及和别人做同样的工作你的贡献有多少决定的。
9. back off
（为避免问题或冲突而）后退，避让，退缩；
eg. EFF lawyer Jennifer Granick sent Texas Instruments a letter telling the firm to back off.
电子边界基金会的律师詹妮弗·格拉尼克给德州仪器发出一封信，要求该公司不介入此事。
eg. They backed off in horror.
他们心怀恐惧地退缩了。
10. speak for
代表…讲话；充当…的代言人；
eg. What others think I do not know; I can only speak for myself .
别人怎么想我不知道，我只能代表我自己讲话。
eg. Obviously I can't speak for other people, but certainly no one I know would entertain the idea.
我显然不能代表其他人的意见，可是我认识的人当中肯定没有人会有这样的想法。
11. other than
（用于否定陈述后）除了…以外；
eg. But other than that he's a great guy.
但是除此之外他还是个不错的人。
eg. We have no alternative other than to follow the sense of our own experience.
除了根据我们的经验以外，没有其他办法。
12. to some extent
在某种程度上；
eg. To some extent this was the truth.
在某种程度上，这是事实。
eg. These problems are to some extent being acknowledged and addressed.
这些问题在一定程度上正得到承认和解决。