美語情景對話 第232期:Dublin 都柏林

Marion: So you lived in Dublin for awhile, didn't you Mauve? What's life like in Dublin?

瑪麗恩：你在都柏林住過一段時間，對吧，莫夫？都柏林的生活怎麼樣？

Mauve: I think life in Dublin is very different from everywhere else in the country. It's the biggest city in Ireland. It's got a population of about a million I think, even though the population of Ireland is only 4 million, so most people...

莫夫：我認爲都柏林的生活與愛爾蘭其他地方的生活非常不同。都柏林是愛爾蘭最大的城市。擁有1百萬人口，而愛爾蘭的人口才4百萬，所以大部分人……

Marion: So it's a quarter of the whole population.

瑪麗恩：所以都柏林的人口占到全國人口的四分之一。

Mauve: Exactly. It's a very young population, I think, the Dublin population, I suppose like all cities there's plenty to do, in terms of cinemas, theatres, I don't know, you know whatever else, comedy club and all that kind of, plenty of night clubs, loads of restaurants. It's very international now, at the moment I suppose, like there's Japanese restaurants, and well there's always Indian and Chinese, and there's like, I don't know, French and Spanish, and every type of restaurant.

莫夫：沒錯。我認爲都柏林的人口非常年輕化，就像所有城市一樣，那裏有許多可以做的事情，有電影院，劇院，還有什麼，哦，還有喜劇俱樂部，諸如此類的地方，當然也有許多夜店和餐廳。愛爾蘭現在非常國際化，因爲那裏有日本餐廳，印度餐廳，中國餐廳，當然也有法國餐廳和西班牙餐廳，各種類型的餐廳。

Marion: So it's kind of a cosmopolitan city.

瑪麗恩：就像國際大都市一樣。

Mauve: Yeah, exactly.

莫夫：對，沒錯。

Marion: Or big by Irish standards, I suppose. Yeah, it's probably like a village for other people.

瑪麗恩：可能以愛爾蘭的標準來看算大都市。也許其他人會認爲那裏像鄉村。

Mauve: I know. Even though when I went to New York then, in June, it wasn't such a culture shock, cause even though, there are high rise buildings and every thing but it wasn't that different though. You know, I think that Dublin has come on a lot and it's by no means rural anymore, you know, in comparison to other cities in Ireland, like Cork and Gaul, we're very rural, but, I don't think Dublin is.

莫夫：我知道。我六月份去了紐約，那時我並沒有遭遇文化衝擊，那裏有高樓大廈，不過與都柏林並沒有太大的不同。你知道，我認爲都柏林取得了很大的進步，再也沒有鄉村的面貌了，你知道，與愛爾蘭的鄉村科克和高爾相比，都柏林並不是鄉村。

Marion: Yeah, I think Dublin is like an international city, and it can stand on it's own.

瑪麗恩：對，我想都柏林就像一個國際化城市，可以獨立存在。

Mauve: Definitely, yeah, you can compare to London or, you know, New York.

莫夫：完全正確，你可以拿它和倫敦，甚至是紐約相比。

Marion: And the standard of, like the cost of living, is very high in Dublin, though, isn't it.

瑪麗恩：都柏林的生活費用非常高昂，對吧？

Mauve: Yeah, it is. Rents are much higher there. It's more expensive to eat out and I suppose to do everything really. You need a good salary to live in Dublin I think.

莫夫：對，的確是這樣。租金非常貴。而且外出吃飯的花銷也很大，我想那裏的所有事情都很貴。要在都柏林生活你要有高收入。

Marion: Yeah, yeah!

瑪麗恩：對，對！

Mauve: Big bucks!

莫夫：需要很多錢！

重點講解：
1. come on
進展；進步；
eg. His French has come on a lot since he joined the conversation class.
他自從參加了會話班，法語取得了很大進步。
eg. Lee is coming on very well now and it's a matter of deciding how to fit him into the team...
李現在進步很大，問題是如何在隊裏給他找一個合適的位置。
2. by no means
決不；絲毫不；一點兒也不；
eg. This is by no means out of the ordinary.
這絲毫不足爲奇。
eg. The problem is by no means as simple as we first thought.
問題決不像我們當初想象的那麼單純。
eg. The inquiry is by no means cut and dried.
調查之事遠未蓋棺定論。
3. in comparison to
與…相比；與…比較而言；
eg. Women have come a long way in terms of the freedoms they enjoy in comparison to times past.
對比過去，享受到自由，女性已經走了很長的道路。
eg. But this temporary confidence is nothing in comparison to the confidence one can obtain by excelling in sports, academics, or a hobby.
但這些短暫的自信，無法與從運動、學業優異和興趣當中獲得的自信相提並論。