字神帝國英語天地

 今日主題：Downsizing for Italy's Casanovas  花花公子的開支縮小

 凱妃老師&派老師共同推薦：雅思聽力最好的課外教材：BBC
 康康精選雅思會考的主題，堅持每天精聽一定會進步的哦!!

 建議方法：
1. 先聽兩三遍 (不看文稿)
2. 再一句一句聽寫 (每句都要聽寫數遍，直到寫出85%以上的字)
3. 最後check文稿，看哪聽不出來，單字沒背過，還是發音不熟。
4. 堅持天天聽，就能每天進步哦。

 MP3音檔 (按右鍵可下載聽)：喜歡的同學，幫忙推或按讚哦~~
http://static.iyuba.com/sounds/minutes/113.mp3

 只有音檔怎夠，聽不懂地方，不用怕，康康幫你準備好中英文稿了：

 中英文稿：
Hello I’m Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m joined today by Finn. Hi Finn.
大家好我是Rob。歡迎來到BBC6分鐘英語。今天和我一起的是Finn。你好，Finn、
Hi Rob.
你好Rob。
Today we are talking about Casanovas. Finn, could you explain what one is?
今天我們來說說花花公子。Finn，你能解釋下什麼樣的人稱之為花花公子嗎？
Yes a Casanova is a man who is a smooth talker, very charming and great at seducing women –to be blunt, or to be honest, they are good at getting women into bed!
好的。花花公子是指一個能言善道、很迷人而且很會勾引女人的人--坦率或坦白講，他們非常擅長騙女人上床！
Yes, they have many sexual partners. Do you know anyone you could call a Casanova?
是的，他們有很多的性伴侶。你認識的人中有可以稱得上花花公子的人嗎？
No, nobody. The name is often related to Italian men because it comes from the 17th Century Italian adventurer and writer, Giacomo Girolamo Casanova, who was known for his sexual adventures.
不，沒有。這個名字通常也會和義大利男人聯繫起來因為這個詞來自17世紀的義大利冒險家和作家，Giacomo Girolamo Casanova,他因性冒險而聞名。
Well the modern-day Casanova could be in trouble, as we’ll be explaining soon. But first, a question for you Finn.
好吧，在現代，浪蕩公子可能有麻煩，接下來很快我們會解釋。但是首先，Finn問你有一個問題。
I hope you won’t be asking how many sexual partners he had?
我希望你不是問他有多少性伴侶？
Nothing like that. Do you know which Italian city he was born in? a) Florence b) Rome c) Venice
沒有。你知道他是在哪個義大利城市出生的嗎？a) Florence佛羅倫斯 b）Rome羅馬 c) Venice威尼斯
I consider Venice the city of love so let’s say c) Venice.
我覺得威尼斯是一座愛的城市，所以我選擇c）威尼斯。
It’s a beautiful city I know , but I’ll let you know the answer at the end of programme. So let’s talk more about Italian Casanovas. These promiscuous men are suffering because of today’s economic problems.
我知道這是一座美麗的城市，我會在節目的最後揭曉答案。所以讓我們繼續說說義大利的花花公子。由於今天的經濟問題，這些混雜的人很痛苦。
Yes – unlike me and you Rob – they’re struggling to woo women – that means to attract them and give them attention. They often do this financially – by spending money on them.
是的--不像我和你Rob--他們追求女人們--那意味著吸引她們並引起她們的注意。他們經常通過經濟上在她們身上花錢。
So these Italian Casanovas used to buy their ladies gifts and treats, like meals or a night in a swanky hotel, but now they can’t afford it.
這些花花公子以前對女士出手很大方，像吃大餐或在一個奢華的酒店的度過一夜，但現在他們負擔不起了。
Well, no sympathy from me. But like all of us, they have had to cut costs - but in Italy, where unemployment is more than 12%, they’ve had to make some bigger sacrifices.
好吧，我不同情他們。像我們所有的人一樣，他們不得不節省開支--但是在義大利，失業率超過12%，他們要做更大的犧牲。
Ha, you mean they have had to give up some of their women – or at least cut back – reduce – the gifts they are buying. It means the Italian women they woo will have to lower their expectations – they’ll have to expect less!
Ha，你的意思是他們不得不放棄一些他們的女人——或者至少減少-減少他們購買的禮物。這意味著他們吸引的義大利婦女將不得不降低她們的預期,她們會減少期待!
Or go elsewhere! This is something the BBC’s Emma Jane Kirby has been investigating for the programme From Our Own Correspondent. She discovered real life examples of men who are downsizing – in other words, spending less.
或者去其他地方！下面是BBC From Our Own Correspondent欄目的記者Emma Jane Kirby一直在調查的。她發現人們縮小開支的真實例子--換句話說，花費減少。
Let’s hear some of her report now. What word is used to describe a Casanova’s secret girlfriend’? And what gifts did the Casanova traditionally give her?
現在讓我們一起聽一下她的報導。過去用什麼詞來形容花花公子的秘密情人呢？這些人通常給他們的情婦什麼禮物呢？
The economic crisis has hit Italian men where it hurts most; with their country still in recession and the cost of living soaring, the Latin lover has had to rein in his appetite. The traditional kept mistress, secretly hidden away in her fully paid-up flat and lavished with furs and jewels, has been consigned to history.
經濟危機最讓義大利男人心疼的地方是，他們的國家仍在衰退，生活成本飆升，拉丁情人不得不控制他的胃口。過去的情婦悄悄地隱藏在全款付清的公寓，揮霍著皮草和珠寶的日子已經成為歷史了。
That’s Emma Jane Kirby describing the economic situation in Italy. She says the country is in recession – that means the economic situation is bad. It also means, as she said, the cost of living is soaring – so going up.
這就是 Emma Jane Kirby描述的目前義大利的經濟形勢。她說國家處於衰退期--也就是說經濟形勢不好。這也就是說，就像她說的生活成本在飆升--所以上升。
And it’s these rising costs that has hit Italians ‘where it hurts most’.
這些上升的成本撞擊了義大利人“最疼的地方”。
That sounds painful! But of course she means ‘in the pocket’ – in other words the biggest pain men are suffering is financial. Financial pain.
這聽起來很痛苦！當然她指的痛苦“在口袋裡”--換句話說人們最大的傷痛是經濟。經濟傷痛。
Did you hear another name the correspondent used for a Casanova? It was a Latin lover. The Latin lover has had to rein in his appetite – so he’s had to learn to control or limit his romantic habits.
你聽過記者給花花公子起的另一個名字嗎？拉丁情人。拉丁情人不得不減少他的胃口--因此他不得不學著控制或減少浪漫的習慣。
And one of his habits was having a kept mistress – so another woman he would support financially. These women were kept secret, hidden away but lavished with furs and jewels.
其中之一的習慣就是有一個情人--他要在經濟上供養另一個女人。這些女人是秘密保養的，不露面的，但是卻揮霍著皮草和珠寶。
Lavished – that’s a good word – it means to give a lot – so these men were giving their mistresses lots of gifts. But not anymore!
揮霍--這是一個好詞--這說明要給與很多--這些男人會給他們的情婦很多的禮物。
No. Now some of them can only offer simple pleasures like a cup of coffee, a walk in the park and if they’re eating out they might have to ‘go Dutch’ – that means split the bill 50:50.
是的。現在他們只能提供簡單的快樂例如一杯咖啡，在公園散個步，如果外出吃飯他們會選擇“各自付帳”也就是AA制。
It sounds tough being a Casanova these days. But I wonder what their wives think about this?
聽起來今天要變成花花公子很艱難。但是我想知道的是他們的妻子會怎麼想呢？
Well, they probably don’t know, but the number of people getting divorced is going down as the Casanova can no longer afford to support two women. So maybe the recession in Italy is having a positive effect for married women at least!
Well，他們很可能不知道，但是人們離婚的數量在降低因為花花公子們同時養不起兩個女人。所以或許至少義大利經濟的衰退對結婚的女性來說是一個積極的作用！
For now, the Casanova can only rely on his charm and good looks and possibly just stick to window shopping – or just eyeing up women without taking things further.
現在花花公子只能依靠他的魅力和姣好的外貌，並且很可能只是堅持逛街--或只是盯著女士看而不會採取進一步行動。
It sounds like hard work being a Casanova Rob. I’ll stick with women one at a time!
Rob，聽起來成為一個花花公子是一項艱難的工作。我會一次只和一個女人！
Very wise. Now let me reveal the answer to today’s question. Earlier I asked you which Italian city was Giacomo Girolamo Casanova born in?
太明智了。現在讓我揭曉今天問題的答案。早些時候我問你 Giacomo Girolamo Casanova 是在義大利的那座城市出生的？
I said c) Venice.
我回答的是c）威尼斯。
You were right. He was born in Venice in 1725.Well that’s it for this programme. Please join us soon again for 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
你說對了。他于1725年出生於威尼斯。好了這就是今天的節目。歡迎繼續加入我們下一期BBC6分鐘英語。
Bye.
再見。