本课您将学到：scare to death(吓死了！)，句型play games with sb(耍花招)

　　过山车，恐怖电影——所有这些你都乐在其中。为什么你会喜欢惊吓的感觉呢？

　　Fear can be fun. Many young people queue up to ride very fast and scary roller coasters(过山车), screaming but enjoying themselves. Other people like to read "goose bumps" books or watch horror(恐怖) movies at night, scared to death but feeling excited. Why do people like being scared?

　　One reason is that we can play games with fear, find ways to reduce the scariness(恐惧感) by looking away or thinking of something else. To believe we have control over a situation gives us a feeling of power. Scary movies or novels are good practice to prepare young people for the real thing. Thrills(引人兴奋的事物) such as roller coaster rides also go to the brain's pleasure center.

　　【世博读书笔记】

　　不同地区的英文会有一些差别，像"排队"﹐北美作"line up"﹐在英国则作"queue up"，排队去做什么就是Queue up (for something)。例如：

　　We queued up for the bus.

　　我们排队等候公共汽车。

　　恐惧也可以给人带来乐趣。(Fear can be fun)有很多年轻人乐意花时间排队等候(Many young people queue up)乘坐高速、惊险的过山车, (to ride very fast and scary roller coasters)惊声尖叫的同时却享受着另一番乐趣。(screaming but enjoying themselves)另一些人则喜欢在深夜里读恐怖小说或看恐怖电影，(Other people like to read "goose bumps" books or watch horror movies at night)尽管看得毛骨悚然，(scared to death)还是乐此不疲。(but feeling excited)人们为什么喜欢这种被惊吓的感觉呢？(Why do people like being scared?)

　　提到“害怕”，大家第一个想到的词可能会是afraid，这是个形容词。

　　我们常说I’m afraid that…，意思是“恐怕”，举个例子：

　　I’m afraid (that) you’ve been given the wrong address.

　　恐怕你的地址错了。

　　今天我们要来学的scare是个动词，意思是“吓死(某人)”。来看一个例句：

　　Believe it or not, the physically strong young man is scared of the little puppy.

　　信不信由你，这个身强体壮的年轻人居然怕这只小狗。

　　短语scare sb to death表示“把某人吓得半死”。例如，刚才还是晴空万里，忽然风云突变，“咔嚓”一个炸雷打响了，下面这个人就用这个短语来表达自己的心情：

　　The sudden deafening noise really scared me to death.

　　这突如其来的巨响真把我吓坏了。

　　这段中的goose bump意思是“鸡皮疙瘩”，而goose bumps books就是让人看了之后会起鸡皮疙瘩的书，也就是“恐怖小说”。

　　我们接着往下看文章：

　　一种原因是我们可以与恐惧展开较量。(One reason is that we can play games with fear)使用转移视线或注意力的方法，(by looking away or thinking of something else)我们可以减轻恐惧感。(find ways to reduce the scariness)能够控制局面也使我们感到自己很强大。(To believe we have control over a situation gives us a feeling of power)看恐怖电影或小说可以提高年轻人应对险境的能力。(Scary movies or novels are good practice to prepare young people for the real thing.)过山车等游戏所产生的刺激也会到达大脑控制快感的中心。(Thrills such as roller coaster rides also go to the brain's pleasure center.)

　　【世博句型留言板】

　　今天的节目里，要教大家一个在口语中经常使用的句型，play games with sb，耍花招。

　　play games玩游戏，与通常说play the game(光明正大；按常规来做件事)不一样。如果我们说指责某人playing games，意思就是他们在面对严峻的现实时不够严肃，或者他们故意误导你，让你犯错或者付出过多。

　　来看一个例子：

　　The company says it needs about a week to decide how many employees will be called back. One turned-away union employee says he thinks the company is playing games with them.

　　公司宣称需要一星期时间决定有多少雇员将被解职。一个被驱逐的工会员工说这是公司在玩什么伎俩。(公司裁员，可在工会的要求下决定招回一批员工，说话的这个人没有被招回，所以就对公司的决定大放厥词。)

　　这个句型带有很不客气的成分，所以，经常被用在刑事审问中，比如下面这位警官就是这样问的：

　　Don’t play games, Mona. I know about the theft, and I know that you know about it. I repeat: why are you here?

　　别跟我玩花样，Mona。我熟悉盗窃，我知道你也很了解这个。我再问一次，你为什么在这？

　　今天的节目里，我们学了表示害怕的动词scare，及短语scare to death意思是“吓死了”，句型play games with sb表示“耍花招”。

　　我们下次再见！

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