內容簡介

有人讓Rob 裝扮成一只猴子去參加聚會，結果根本沒有聚會，Rob 被人捉弄，他十分惱怒自己竟然做了一次“傻猴子”。不過Li 的一句智慧提示，讓 Rob 破涕為笑。

文字稿

（關于臺詞的備注: 請注意這不是廣播節目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能沒有體現錄制、編輯過程中對節目做出的改變。）

Li
大家好歡迎收聽《地道英語》我是楊莉…

Rob
And hello, I'm Rob

Li
Sorry, I didn't hear that.

Rob
If I just take this head off… you can hear me. Hello!

Li
That's better but why are you wearing a life-size monkey costume Rob?

Rob
Well my friend said I should wear it to his son's birthday party this morning – his son loves monkeys and it would make his birthday really special if he saw one!

Li
原來 Rob 的一個朋友為兒子舉辦聚會，他讓 Rob 裝扮成一只猴子去湊熱鬧。
Well, that's very kind of you Rob – and how did the party go?

Rob
Well that's the problem. As you can see, I dressed up like a monkey, travelled across London on the bus and there was no party!

Li
Ha ha – no party! 聽上去你好像是被朋友當猴子一樣給耍啦！ 這叫'making a monkey out of you'!

Rob
Making a monkey out of me? Yes, it's a good phrase. You mean he's trying to make me look foolish or to humiliate me.

Li
He's certainly done that! 短語 'to make a monkey out of someone' 意思就是愚弄某人，讓某人出洋相，也就是我們常說的被人耍（猴）啦！下面我們聽幾個例句：

Examples
Mary made a monkey out me by telling to me to ask her best friend out on a date – she said no!

My boyfriend's always making a monkey out of himself by getting drunk at parties.

Sid made a monkey out of Paul by telling him to wear a suit to the party – everyone else was wearing jeans!

Li
這個詞的意思很清楚了。不過，愚弄別人或被別愚弄都不是好事兒。我記得，好像還有一個類似的表達， 'making a fool out of someone'. So Rob, you're angry because he's made a fool out of you?

Rob
Yes! This phrase doesn't just apply to people who dress up like monkeys. It can apply to any situation where somewhere has been made to look foolish or ridiculous – like me!

Li
是的，這個表達的使用面兒更寬一些，而不僅僅限于裝扮猴子式的捉弄或取笑。

Rob
But Li, this phrase compares someone to a monkey because monkeys look like they are fooling around. And that makes me look really stupid!

Li
Rob 越說越覺得自己像個傻猴子，可猴子一點兒都不傻呀! Ah but Rob, in Chinese culture, a monkey is seen as a clever animal and is often compared with a clever person.

Rob
Oh really? Well, in that case I might wear this monkey costume for a little bit longer. How does it make me look? Clever, smart?

Li
Quite smart and quite handsome too.

Rob
Oh thanks very much!

Li
Bye.

Rob
Bye.