BBC地道英语:Mind-Boggling 难以置信的

Feifei: 大家好，欢迎收听地道英语节目，我是冯菲菲。

William: And I'm William.

Feifei: William, how much do you know about China?

William: Er... Not much. Why are you asking?

Feifei: 我今天读报纸的时候，看到一个有关中国的小测验。

William: Oh no, not quizzes, I'm rubbish at quizzes.

Feifei: Let's see. Here is the first one – 中国的首都是哪儿？

William: Ah, well. That's easy, Beijing.

Feifei: 回答正确！中国哪里的菜肴是以麻辣出名的？

William: Em, I think Sichuan food is quite spicy.

Feifei: See, you are doing well! How about this one – 汉字里一共有多少个字？这道题有点难度。

William: Em, 5,000?

Feifei: No. Try again.

William: 7,000?

Feifei: No. Roughly 42,000.

William: Wow, that's amazing. I didn't know it was that many. How can people possibly learn them all? I just think that's totally mind-boggling!

Feifei: Mind-boggling, 这个短语是什么意思？

William: Mind-boggling means something overwhelming and amazing, like really impressive numbers or facts.

Feifei: 知道了，mind-boggling 就是说一件令人吃惊的、非常难以置信的事情。比方说一个巨大的数字。

William: It's made up of two words: mind and to boggle. Let's hear an example.

Example

Woman 1: I took my son to the Science Museum on Sunday.
Woman 2: Did you go to the space mission area?
Woman 1: Oh yes. There were rockets, space suits, even parts from a satellite - so many mind-boggling things to see.

How many stars are there in the Milky Way?

Feifei: 我对宇宙一向都很感兴趣，不过里面的学问真的是太深奥了。

William: Well, astronomy, the study of stars, has lots of mind-boggling theories.

Example

Man: I was at a physics workshop last month in Munich. There were seminars on black holes and antimatter. It was totally mind-boggling stuff; I think I might have understood about five percent of what was discussed.

Feifei: 我想大家现在知道 mind-boggling 这个短语的意思和用法了吧。其实就是用来形容那些令人难以置信的事实。And here is one final mind-boggling question – How many stars are in there in the Milky Way?

William: Er, is it 42,000 again?

Feifei: No, no! Some people say there are over 200 billion stars in the Milky Way but no one knows for sure.

感谢收听今天的《地道英语》节目，下次节目再会。

William: Bye.