Hot Potato
英语听力
歌词
00:00.10(MUSIC)
00:09.39Now, the VOA Special English program
00:13.72WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
00:17.00Every language has its own
00:21.52special words and expressions.
00:24.71And a story can be told
00:27.46about each of them.
00:29.73Hot is a simple,
00:33.02easily understood word.
00:35.54So are most of the expressions
00:39.19made with the word hot.
00:41.51But not always,
00:43.63as we shall see.
00:45.61The words hot potato,
00:49.74for example,
00:50.78give you no idea at all
00:53.34to the meaning of
00:54.77the expression, hot potato.
00:57.80The potato is a
00:59.68popular vegetable
01:01.32in the United States.
01:03.23Many people like
01:04.88baked potatoes, cooked
01:06.22in an oven or fire.
01:09.10Imagine trying to carry a hot,
01:12.09baked potato in your hand.
01:14.01It would be difficult,
01:15.90even painful, to do so.
01:19.14Now we are getting close
01:21.50to the meaning of hot potato.
01:24.24Some publicly disputed issues
01:29.81are highly emotional.
01:32.00The issues must
01:33.82be treated carefully,
01:35.21or they will be difficult
01:37.23and painful if an elected official
01:39.76has to deal with them.
01:41.37As difficult and painful
01:44.48as holding a hot potato.
01:47.69One such hot potato is taxes.
01:52.32Calling for higher taxes
01:54.99can mean defeat for a politician.
01:57.70And yet, if taxes are not raised,
02:01.27some very popular government
02:03.98programs could be cut.
02:06.34And that also can make
02:08.63a politician very unpopular.
02:11.25So the questions must
02:14.05be dealt with carefully,
02:16.14the same way you would
02:18.43handle any other hot potato.
02:21.52Another expression is not so hot.
02:26.54If you ask someone
02:28.63how she feels,
02:30.32she may answer "not so hot."
02:33.83What she means is
02:35.13she does not feel well.
02:37.03Not so hot also is a way of saying
02:40.57that you do not really like something.
02:43.56You may tell a friend
02:45.55that the new play you saw
02:47.69last night is not so hot.
02:49.99That means you did not
02:52.33consider it a success.
02:54.48A hot shot is a person,
02:57.87often a young person,
02:59.76who thinks he can do anything.
03:02.21At least he wants to try.
03:05.10He is very sure he can succeed.
03:08.48But often he fails.
03:10.57The expression was born
03:13.11in the military forces.
03:15.17A hot shot was a soldier
03:18.13who fired without aiming carefully.
03:20.64Hot is a word that is often
03:24.43used to talk about anger.
03:26.38A person who becomes angry easily
03:30.22is called a hothead.
03:32.57An angry person's neck
03:34.86often becomes red.
03:36.90We say he is hot under the collar.
03:40.25You could say
03:42.09that your friend is no hothead.
03:44.48But he got hot under the collar
03:47.02when someone took his radio.
03:49.52In nineteen sixty-three,
03:53.40hot line appeared
03:55.95as a new expression.
03:57.64The hot line was a direct
04:00.77communications link
04:02.26between the leaders of
04:03.55the Soviet Union
04:04.64and the United States.
04:06.66The hot line had an important purpose:
04:09.78to prevent accidental war
04:12.02between the two competitors
04:13.92during the period known
04:15.71as the Cold War.
04:17.40The American president
04:19.54and the Soviet leader were able
04:21.63to communicate directly
04:22.98and immediately on the hot line.
04:25.73This helped prevent any conflict
04:28.52during an international crisis.
04:31.61(MUSIC)
04:38.76You have been listening
04:40.67to the VOA Special English program,
04:43.31WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
04:46.05Our program was written
04:48.09by Marilyn Rice Christiano.
04:50.38I'm Warren Scheer.