VOA美语咖啡屋 Lesson 38: Mark Bee Keeper & Other Jobs

J: Hello everyone! I’m Jody. Welcome to American Cafe!  

Y: 各位听众好，我是杨晨。欢迎您到美语咖啡屋！  

J: Yang Chen, our guest today is Mark Boudevaul, from Beverly, West Virginia. And he has several ways that he makes a living.  

Y: Mark住在西维吉尼亚的Beverly. 你说他同时有好几种工作，听上去很有意思。那他的主要工作是什么呢？  

J: Primarily, Mark is a beekeeper.  

Y: Beekeeper?  

J: Bee Keeper!  

Y: Bee就是蜜蜂，Beekeeper就是养蜂的人。那他另外的职业是什么呢？  

J: He’s also the host of a bluegrass radio show and is also a musician himself.  

Y: Wow. 他还在电台主持兰草音乐节目，还是个音乐家，那他会不会演奏乐器？  

J: He plays the steel guitar that you hear in the background.  

(Enter samples of steel guitar)  

J: ... and the dobro.  

Y: 我知道 Steel guitar是夏威夷吉他， dobro好象没有中文翻译，  

J: It’s common in bluegrass music. Oh, Yang Chen, listen to that lonely, haunting 1 sound.  

Y: 没错，这种乐器听起来有一种孤独深沉的味道。  

J: Now, let’s meet Mark  

实录1: Mark: I’m Mark Boudervaul and I’m from Beverly, West Virginia. Well I’m a beekeeper primarily but I also do a bluegrass radio show and play steel guitar and dobro.  

Y: Mark的声音真的很好听，难怪他要主持电台节目呢。  

J: I know. He has a great radio voice.  

Y: 没错，不过我更感兴趣的是他的另一个职业：养蜜蜂。  

J: Raising bees sounds like such interesting work.  

Y: 就是啊，那他是什么时候开始养蜜蜂的呢？  

J: Mark started bee keeping when he was around 17 years old. He says a guy a couple farms over, meaning a neighbor, had bees and Mark was intrigued 2.  

Y: 对，Intrigued就是产生兴趣的意思。  

J: Right. So Mark pestered 4 his neighbor long enough ...  

Y: 等一等， "pester 3" 不是麻烦，打扰的意思吗?  

J: Right. To pester means to bother somebody. So, Mark pestered his neighbor to teach him about bee keeping and it worked.  

实录2: Mark: I started when I was about 17. I knew a guy a couple farms over from us that had bees and I was pretty intrigued by it. I pestered him long enough for him to show me what to do. And I got my own bees when I was about 18. And I’m 48 now so, that’s about 30 years.  

Y: 有意思，Mark 想学养蜂，就缠着附近农场的一个人教他， 那个人最后不厌其烦只好帮助他。嗯，pester这个办法不错.  

J: Sometimes you have to pester, pester, pester, pester somebody to get what you want.  

Y: 没错，Mark说他养蜜蜂到现在已经有30年历史了。 对Mark来说养蜜蜂虽然是他的兴趣，可是养蜂也有淡季和旺季，对吧？  

J: Exactly. Bee keeping is definitely seasonal 5 because, of course, bees need flowers and in the dead of winter there are no flowers. 

实录3: Mark: It’s a seasonal job in that bees are only really working when flowers are in bloom and in the dead of winter there’s no flowers.  

Y: 到了冬天他就得找点别的事做。  

J: Mark goes on to say that bee keeping keeps him going in the summertime. During the winter he finds other things to keep him going. 

实录4: Mark: Ahh, it’s interesting. It keeps me going in the summer time. You know, I find other things to keep me going through the winter.  

Y: Mark 说的keeps him going 就是维持生计的意思。我们知道西维吉尼亚冬天很冷，他能找什么工作呢？  

J: To keep himself going through a winter in West Virginia Mark does something very interesting.  

Y: 我们来听听是什么。  

Mark: I raise donkeys also.  

Y: 什么？毛驴？我没有听错吧？  

J: You heard it right, Yang Chen! Mark also raises donkeys to give people rides on the trails through the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. 

实录5: Mark: Yes, I have donkeys that I take out on trails and this is a good area to come for that. (laughter)  

Y: 骑着毛驴沿着西维吉尼亚的山路欣赏风景，听起来很不错，如果我下次要到西维吉尼亚旅游，我一定会去找Mark。  

J: Good idea! And also look for Mark if you need any honey or a radio host or a steel guitar player or whatever other wonderful job Mark does. Thanks for joining us today at American Cafe!  

Y: 我们下次节目再见!