【新唐人2013年05月23日訊】 (美国之音電)
- 禮節美語-250 Cell Phone 2
Sue跟坐在隔壁的同事George聊天。
S: That’s true…we might actually be making more work for ourselves by this constant need to stay in touch.
G: If they allow cell phones on airplanes…we’re going to have to hear even more hours of endless chatter.I heard that some trains have what are called “quiet cars" now. People in the quiet cars aren’t allowed to talk on cell phones. I think that’s an excellent idea! I wish there were more “quiet" places. I’d pay more to eat at a restaurant that banned cell phones.
Sue表示，無時無刻 stay in touch 保持聯繫，無疑會讓自己的工作量增加。George也擔心，如果容許大家在飛機上打電話的話，就又得聽別人沒完沒了的聊大天兒了。George說，現在火車上有不讓接聽電話的"quiet cars"安靜車廂，他希望有更多類似的公共場合，如果哪家餐館禁止顧客接聽手機的話，提高價格他都沒有意見。
S: We really don’t get a lot of quiet time these days. My brother recently went to a meditation center where he didn’t speak for three days. He said after three days, he finally noticed how much noise there is everywhere.
G: I think being connected to the world 24 hours a day, 365 days a year isn’t healthy. We sometimes need to be alone in order to think.
S: And you can’t think if it’s noisy.
G: Many famous people discovered important things when they were just sitting silently by themselves…you know the story about Isaac Newton, right?
Sue說，現在的生活實在嘈雜，她哥哥最近到一個meditation center 靜思冥想中心去，三天沒說一句話，三天過後才突然間意識到周圍的環境是多麼地嘈雜。George也覺得，一年365天，一天24小時隨時隨地 stay connected 跟別人保持聯絡其實是不利健康的，他還舉例說，很多名人的重要發現都是在冥思苦想時發生，比如 Isaac Newton 牛頓。
S: Yep. He came up with the theory of gravity while sitting in a field and watching an apple fall from a tree.
G: He probably wouldn’t have had time to think about gravity if he was talking on his cell phone. Anyway, I really hope they don’t allow cell phones on planes. We need a few last places without cell phones!
S: All right, I can accept that. And besides, many airlines now allow you to use your laptop during the flight…if you really need to communicate, you can send an e-mail.
Sue說，沒錯，如果牛頓當時正忙著講手機的話，就不會 came up with the theory of gravity 了。 to come up with 意思是想到，發現，the theory of gravity 意思是萬有引力的理論。Sue 最後說，其實，現在很多航空公司都已經允許乘客使用 laptop手提電腦了，所以如果在飛行期間需要跟別人聯繫，發電子郵件就可以了。
