Nightmare 噩梦

Neil: Hello, welcome to Real English from BBC Learning¹ English, I’m Neil.

Helen: 大家好，我是 Helen.

Neil: In Real English we look at words and phrases people use all the time, but you probably won’t find in your dictionary.

Helen: 希望您在今天的地道英语节目中能学到在词典里可能找不到的常用英语表达。Are you ok, Neil? You seem out of breath.

Neil: Oh, my train was cancelled, so I had to get a bus to work but it was packed with people and really slow because of the traffic.

Helen: Oh dear! 他的火车班次被取消了，结果他得坐公共汽车，在路上还堵了很久，所以上班迟到了。

Neil: What a nightmare²!

Helen: A nightmare – 噩梦。

Neil: In English, a nightmare is a scary dream, but we can also use it to mean a bad experience or event.

Helen: A nightmare 是一个噩梦, 它也可以用来形容一段可怕的经历。

Example

A: Oh I’m glad that exam’s over. It was alright, wasn’t it?

B: Really? I thought it was a nightmare.

Neil: He thought the exam was a nightmare. It was too difficult for him and the experience was bad.

Helen: 对他来说，考试简直就是一场噩梦 a nightmare. 太难了，整个经历的感觉都不好。

Neil: Anyway Helen, how are you at the moment?

Helen: I’m alright, though I have got my in-laws staying at my house for six months.

Neil: Oh really, that sounds like an absolute³ nightmare!

Helen: 我的公公婆婆搬到我家来住6个月，Neil 觉得听起来就是麻烦，特别可怕的噩梦，an absolute nightmare.

Neil: Well at least a bit of a nightmare…

Helen: 一点点可怕，a bit of a nightmare.

Neil: If you want studying English to be less of a nightmare, go to our website www.bbcchina.com.cn.

Helen: 我们的网址是 www.bbcchina.com.cn. 今天的节目就到这儿，我们下次再见。

Neil: Bye!