How to Be a Good Egg and the Salt of the Earth - 英语听力

[00:00.100]Now, the VOA
[00:12.310]Special English program
[00:14.600]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
[00:16.940]We present more
[00:18.280]expressions about food.
[00:20.420]They are from Elenir Scardueli,
[00:24.050]a listener in Brazil.
[00:25.750]My mother always told us
[00:28.490]there is no use crying
[00:30.880]over spilled milk.
[00:32.720]That means you should not
[00:35.160]get angry when something
[00:36.610]bad happens
[00:37.810]and cannot be changed.
[00:39.700]People said my mother
[00:41.890]was a good egg.
[00:43.430]She would always
[00:44.930]help anyone in need.
[00:46.720]We never had to walk
[00:48.710]on eggshells around her.
[00:50.650]We did not have to be careful
[00:52.650]about what we said or did
[00:54.690]because she never got angry at us.
[00:57.770]She also told us you have to
[01:01.460]break some eggs to make an omelet.
[01:04.300]This means you have to do
[01:07.090]what is necessary to move forward.
[01:09.680]My mother believed
[01:11.870]you are what you eat.
[01:13.860]A good diet is important
[01:16.550]for good health.
[01:17.790]She would always give us
[01:19.980]nutritious food.
[01:21.220]She liked serving us meat
[01:24.010]and potatoes for dinner.
[01:25.700]Meat and potatoes can also mean
[01:29.340]the most important part of something.
[01:31.680]It describes someone
[01:34.160]who likes simple things.
[01:36.000]Here is another expression
[01:38.440]about meat: one man's meat
[01:41.280]is another man's poison.
[01:43.170]In other words, one person might
[01:46.650]like something very much
[01:48.170]while another person
[01:50.210]might hate the same thing.
[01:51.900]My father was also a good
[01:56.030]and honest person.
[01:57.220]People said he was the salt
[02:00.170]of the earth.
[02:01.610]He would never pour salt
[02:03.650]on a wound, or make someone
[02:05.740]feel worse about something
[02:08.080]that was already
[02:09.630]a painful experience.
[02:11.270]However, sometimes
[02:13.960]he told us a story that
[02:16.540]seemed bigger than life.
[02:18.190]So we had to take it
[02:21.430]with a grain of salt.
[02:23.020]That is, we could not
[02:25.520]believe everything he told us.
[02:27.690]My husband has a good job.
[02:30.980]He makes enough money
[02:33.270]to support our family.
[02:34.910]So we say he brings home the bacon.
[02:38.990]He can cut the mustard,
[02:41.590]or do what is expected of him at work.
[02:45.520]It is easy to find my husband
[02:48.350]in a crowd.
[02:49.310]He stands almost two meters tall.
[02:52.440]He is a tall drink of water.
[02:55.430]I take the train to work.
[02:58.420]It is not a pleasant ride
[03:00.870]because the train
[03:02.310]can be full of people.
[03:04.100]It is so crowded that
[03:07.190]we are packed like sardines
[03:08.680]– just like small fish in a can.
[03:12.010]My supervisor at work
[03:16.390]is sometimes out to lunch.
[03:18.730]She is out of touch
[03:21.120]and does not always know
[03:23.610]what is going on in our office.
[03:26.300]Yet she is right about one thing:
[03:29.330]there is no such thing
[03:31.680]as a free lunch.
[03:33.670]Something may appear
[03:36.210]to be free of charge,
[03:37.900]but there may be a hidden cost.
[03:40.890]When we fail to see problems
[03:45.390]at work, my supervisor tells us
[03:48.880]to wake up and smell the coffee.
[03:51.820]We need to pay more attention
[03:54.660]and fix the problem.
[03:56.410]I once made a big mistake
[04:00.060]at the office and felt foolish.
[04:02.300]I had egg on my face.
[04:04.190]Over the weekend,
[04:06.180]my friend invited me to watch
[04:09.110]a football game on television.
[04:10.810]But I do not like football.
[04:14.100]It is not my cup of tea.
[04:16.690]We hope this program
[04:19.680]has given you food for thought,
[04:22.070]that is, something to think about.
[04:24.960](MUSIC)