【美国习语】301 盲目地购买商品，物美价廉，接受，突如其来的不正常死亡

英语自学网

【节目介绍】:本节目每天早上9点更新，介绍美国的习惯用语，让大家有更开阔的语言视角。适合各个阶层的人学习，难度中等。大家只要听写出音频中的例句就可以了，本期一共四段例句。听写不需要打引号，句子间也不用编序号。音频中听到的所有习语，提交后都均可在译文部分找到。
hints:
buy the farm
Florida
91Ford
Bill
注：本期只读一遍。My brother bought a pig in a poke. He bought some property in Florida over the phone. It was on the ocean, in fact at high tide it was six feet under water.
You have to be careful when you buy a used car. But I bought this 91Ford for a song, about half of what I expected to pay. And I've had good luck with it, it runs like a new car.
He is always telling people how brave he was during the war, but I don't buy his story. I know he never got overseas, he spent the whole wartime working in an army base in the US.
Bill was the best pilot I knew when I was in the air force. But he bought the farm when his plane was hit two days before the end of the war.我们今天要学的习惯用语都有buy这个词。我们要学的第一个习惯用语是: Buy a pig in a poke。Poke在这儿解释口袋。Buy a pig in a poke是个很古老的习惯用语，至少有五百年的历史了。它来自一个滑头的人耍弄别人的一个故事。这个人说他的口袋里有一头小肥猪要出卖，而买主居然笨得不看一眼就买下了，回到家打开袋子，才发现原来里面装的是只猫。他的盲目不仅让他白花钱，还使他不得不承担养猫的责任。像这种骗人上勾的买卖现在还有。比方说，不时有人会打电话来向你推销产品，甚至房地产。他会把你没亲眼目睹的东西说得天花乱坠。例如下面这个例子讲的是房地产经纪人推销在佛罗里达州的地产。
例句-1：My brother bought a pig in a poke. He bought some property in Florida over the phone. It was on the ocean, in fact at high tide it was six feet under water.
大家都听懂了吧?原来他兄弟在电话上就买下了佛罗里达沿海的那块土地。涨潮的时候这块地竟然淹在水面下六英尺。
花钱买下这样一块时有时无的土地等于把钱往水里扔。问题出在他是通过电话买的根本没看过他买的地。所以buy a pig in a poke意思就是没有亲自过目就轻率地买下某些东西。
******
Buy a pig in a poke是轻率和盲目地购买商品的意思，有时候买来的东西一文不值。下面要学的习惯用语可有截然相反的意思。这个习惯用语是: buy for a song。Buy for a song可能来自街头卖唱的艺人。他们做的是无本买卖，唱歌来换取生活所需。如果唱一支歌就能得到报酬，也就是没化钱而买到了，言下之意是非常便宜。好，我们听一个例子来琢磨buy for a song含义是什么。他说的是买一辆91年出产的福特牌二手车的事儿。
例句-2：You have to be careful when you buy a used car. But I bought this 91Ford for a song, about half of what I expected to pay. And I've had good luck with it, it runs like a new car.
大家都听懂这段话了吧? 买旧车是得小心谨慎，但是他的运气真好；他买那辆91年福特牌汽车只化了预计中的一半钱，可车开起来就像新的一样。
从而可见buy something for a song含义是花的代价不大，而买到东西却很合算。
******
我们接着要学的习惯用语里buy这个词意思很特别，不像刚才那样解释"买"，而是"相信或者采纳"。我们来听个例子吧。这个人在议论一个好吹嘘光荣历史的人。
例句-3：He is always telling people how brave he was during the war, but I don't buy his story. I know he never got overseas, he spent the whole wartime working in an army base in the US.
这段话说：他老是告诉别人他战时的英勇事迹。我可不信他编的故事。我知道他从来没去过海外；整个战争年代他都在美国本土的军事基地工作。
所以这儿buy意思就是"相信或者接受"。
******
我们再学一个习惯用语: buy the farm。听了这个短语你也许以为它的意思是买农场，其实它和购置产业毫无关系。这个习惯用语起源于二次大战，当时许多年轻人都英年早逝，于是就有了buy the farm这个说法委婉地表示突如其来的不正常死亡。好，我们来听一个例子吧。
例句-4：Bill was the best pilot I knew when I was in the air force. But he bought the farm when his plane was hit two days before the end of the war.
他说：我在空军部队的时候据我所知Bill是最出色的飞行员，但是就在大战结束前两天，他的飞机被击中，而他也英年早逝了。
这儿bought the farm意思是突如其来的不正常死亡。