地道美语听力练习:家庭成员

在英文中黑颜色和白颜色往往是对立的。黑代表黑夜和邪恶，而白象征着日光、善良或美德。在美国好莱坞早期那些无声电影里，导演往往给英雄人物戴上白帽子，而给坏蛋戴黑帽子。黑和白这两个字 black and white 经常在美国的成语和俗语中出现。可是，它们并不一定像好人、坏人那样黑白分明。有时候，黑还具有肯定和积极的意思。例如，对一个做生意的人来说 in the black 就意味着赚钱，而不是亏本。今天我们就来讲一个关于black的俚语。

Idiom: black sheep

Meaning: In the English language, black sheep is an idiom used to describe an odd or disreputable member of a group, especially within a family.
败家子；害群之马；指代一个给他周围的人带来耻辱的人。

Origin：The term originated from the occasional black sheep which are born into a flock of white sheep due to a genetic process of recessive traits. Black wool was considered commercially undesirable because it could not be dyed. In 18th and 19th century England, the black color of the sheep was seen as the mark of the devil.

Example:
We all thought my youngest brother was the black sheep in our family. In fact he was in so much trouble he ran away to Australia. But he started a new life there, married a wonderful girl, and now he's a millionaire.
我们都认为我最小的弟弟是我们家的败家子。实际上，他闯了好多祸，最后只好逃到澳大利亚去。可是，他在那里重起炉灶，和一个非常好的女孩结了婚，现在都成了百万富翁了