Listen 聽一聽

Exercise 練一練

1. If you are at a loose end, are you:

a) busy, with lots to do?

b) free, and looking for something to do?

c) lost?

2. This expression was originally used on:

a) ships

b) trains

c) aeroplanes

Script 文本閱讀

You’re listening to British Council’s English Online podcast and I’m Nina. Today on Language Snacks we take a look at the expression at a loose end. Let’s listen to the dialogue.
您現(xiàn)在收聽的是英國領(lǐng)事館英語在線欄目，我是尼娜。今天的語言小點心節(jié)目我們來學(xué)一下at a loose end這個短語，一起來聽下面的對話。

A: Hi! Do you want to have lunch?
A：嗨，想去吃晚餐了嗎？

B: Sure, but I thought you had a meeting with John.
B：當(dāng)然好，不過我以為你要和約翰開會呢。


A: Oh, he had to cancel, so I'm at a loose end.
A：噢，他有事取消了，所以現(xiàn)在我沒事做了。


B: Great, I'll just get my coat.
B：太好了，我去拿外套。


Most of us lead very busy lives these days, but do you ever finish everything you have to do and find that you have a bit of spare time to fill? In these situations, when we have free time, but we don't know what to do with it, we say we are at a loose end.?
近段時間很多人都過著忙忙碌碌的生活，不過你有沒有過完成手頭上所有事情后有那么一點點的空閑時間呢？當(dāng)我們有空卻不知道做些什么打發(fā)的時候，我們就可以稱這種情況為at a loose end，無事可做，閑著。


This expression was originally about sailors' ropes which had become untied, or 'loose', and therefore were not being used properly.
這個短語最開始形容水手沒有綁緊繩子，松掉了，繩子就派不上用場了。


And that’s it for now – join us again for some more Language Snacks.
好了，今天的節(jié)目就到這里，歡迎大家繼續(xù)關(guān)注下期語言小點心。

You’ve been listening to English Online – the podcast for English learners in China.
您正在收聽的是英語在線，中國英語學(xué)習(xí)者的英語學(xué)習(xí)播客。

Key 參考答案

1. b

2. a

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