美语会话实录第188期(MP3+文本):A lost cause!

英文原文:

Acheng:Who's that?
Sophia: Saint Jude-he's the saint of lost causes. Like my cousin, Anna, who can't stop getting pregnant. She's a lost cause.
Acheng:Is that your cousin in the back?
Sophia: Yep. She's always got a bun in the oven. She was pregnant before marriage-a real sin in the Catholic Church.
Acheng:What about birth control pills? Don't they work on Italians?
Sophia: Ha-ha. Birth control and abortion are four-letter words in my family.
Acheng:And I heard that Italian men have very active libidos.

参考译文:
阿　震：那是谁？
苏菲亚：圣犹大——他是个守护无法自拔者的圣徒。好比我表妹安娜一直在怀孕。她根本无药可救了。
阿　震：后面那位是你表妹吗？
苏菲亚：是啊。她肚子里永远怀着一个。她结婚前就怀孕了——天主教的大罪。
阿　震：那避孕药呢？对意大利人无效吗？
苏菲亚：哈哈。在我家不准讲节育跟堕胎这两个词。
阿　震：我还听说意大利男人性欲很强

重点词汇:

lost cause
无成功希望的人。Saint Jude是个没有自制能力的人，他的宿命正好也是专门帮助这种人而无法自拔。由于意大利天主教徒不能避孕，安娜不得已只能不停怀孕，所以苏菲亚才以Saint Jude来比喻她的处境
With the whole world going to war, peace seems like a lost cause.
由于全世界都支持战争，和平似乎已无望。
pregnant (a.)
怀孕的。a bun in the oven是“怀孕”的口语说法。pregnancy (n.) 怀孕
My girlfriend is pregnant again!
我女朋友又怀孕了！
sin (n.)
道德上、宗教上的）罪
Some say it's a sin to have sex before marriage.
有人认为婚前性行为是一种罪恶。
birth control pill
避孕药丸
Birth control pills need to be taken regularly.
堕胎药要按时服用。
abortion (n.)
堕胎
Abortion is still controversial in some places.
堕胎在某些地方依然有争议。
four-letter word (n.)
粗话，通常指由四个字母构成的脏字，如fuck、shit、damn…等
A: Is he really mad at you?
他真的对你发飙吗？
B: Well, he called me a four-letter word.
嗯，他还用脏话骂我。
libido (n.)
性冲动，性欲
He has a powerful libido.
他有强烈的性欲。