Ah, that's better

 Li:  Hello everyone, I’m Yang Li. 大家现在收听的是《你问我答》节目。回答JJ 提出的
下列问题。
 
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Please tell me about the words neat, clean and tidy. What’s the difference? Thank you!
 
Li:  好，今天我们要对三个英语单词clean, neat and tidy进行比较。为了更地好解答这
个问题我的同事  Finn 和一位特别注重整洁的嘉宾进行了一番探讨。
 
Finn:  Hello I’m Finn and today we’re going to be talking to a very special guest.
I’d like to introduce Tidy Ted.
 
Ted:  Hello.
 
Finn:    Now Ted, you are a very tidy person 一个喜欢工整的人，aren’t you?
 
Ted:    Oh yes. I love things to be neat and tidy.
 
Finn:    So Ted, I imagine your house is very neat and tidy 干净整齐?
 
Ted:    Well actually, it’s not. It’s my daughter you see.
 
Finn:    Ah, your daughter – Messy Bessy?
 
Ted:  Yes, she just never tidies up! She leaves her things everywhere –
magazines, clothes, make-up, papers everywhere - she never tidies up.
It’s such a mess!
 
Finn:  Oh I see it’s a mess 又脏又乱。Ted, I can see you’re quite angry about this.
Have you tried telling her to tidy up 把东西整理好? Have you?
 
Ted:  Well I tell her but she never listens. (Cough).
 
Finn:  Are you alright there Ted? 
 
Ted:  Yes, just a little cough. 
 Finn:  Well Ted, we’re going to take a short break now, but after the break I’ll
have a very special guest for you too. Li, back to you.
 
Li:  Hello everyone. Finn 一直在和Tidy Ted 交谈。后者对他的女儿 Messy Bessy 不
注重洁净的态度很有意见。我们听到了 neat和  tidy两个词  – 意思很接近：tidy 意
思是工整的，neat 意思是整洁的，比 tidy更有条不紊和井井有序。在日常对话中这两
个词经常连在一起使用  neat 和  tidy 两个词都可以做形容词 – that’s very tidy, or
that’s very neat. 要说区别吗，那就是只有 tidy可以做动词  – go and tidy your
room! 但是neat 不可以，请记住这一点。 
 
好了我暂时说到这里，下面是我们的第二位嘉宾，猜猜是谁?
 
Finn:  It’s back to me Finn, and my guest Ted. Now Ted, you said you’re not
happy with Bessy’s attitude to tidying up.
 
Ted:  No. She never tidies up.
 
Finn:  Well Ted, I said I’d have a guest for you, and here she is. Everyone, meet
Messy Bessy!
 
Bessy:  Hello Finn. Hello Dad, I mean Ted.
 
Ted:  Hmm. Bessy. Cough.
 
Finn:  Now Bessy, Ted says you never tidy up your things.
 
Bessy:  Well Finn, I just want to say my room is always clean.
 
Finn:  Ted?
 
Ted:  It’s always a mess Bessy, and you know that.
 
Bessy:  You asked me to keep my room clean, and it is clean! I like my room to be
clean.
 
Ted:    But everything’s a mess. It’s so untidy. (Cough).
 
Bessy:  But the room’s clean. Everything in it is clean. 
 Ted:  Yes, but it’s not tidy!
 
Bessy:  But it’s clean!
 
Finn:    Ok – I think it’s time to hand back to Li, before they kill each other.
 
Li:  我看这是个明智之举，你们都消消气，让我来说几句吧！大家都听到了– Bessy 说 她
的房间很干净 clean. 不脏not dirty, Bessy 强调的是她他房间里的东西样样都很干
净  – 不过她父亲Ted不满意的是房间的不整齐untidy. 好现在我要提示大家第二个
语言点  – neat 和tidy 指外观上的整齐和井井有条，而 clean 这个词形容的是洁
净。嗯，说到这里，我倒想看看争论的双方能不能化解他们的分歧？ 
 Finn:  Ok, welcome back everyone. Today we’re talking to Tidy Ted, and his
daughter Messy Bessy. Now, Bessy – Ted’s not happy. What can we do
about this? Will you promise to tidy up?
 
Bessy:  Well Finn, there is one thing I’d like to say first.
 
Finn:  What’s that?
 
Bessy:  Well, I’m not happy with Dad’s, I mean Ted’s room. It’s always neat,
everything is neatly arranged, but it’s so dusty! 
 
Finn:  Ahh, I see, it’s dusty 布满尘土的。
 
Bessy:  It makes me cough when I go in there. (Cough). And you’re coughing too,
Ted.
 
Ted:  Well, er… that is true. Cough.
 
Finn:  So Ted – how about this – if you agree to clean your room – no more dust
不再有尘土的 then perhaps Bessy will agree to tidy her room?
 
Ted:  Ok then.
 
Bessy:    That sounds fair. 
 
Finn:  Right, perfect. If you could just sign your names on this form. Thank you.
Thank you. What neat handwriting, Bessy!
 
Bessy:  Oh thanks. I’m sorry Ted.
 
Ted:  (Crying) I’m sorry Bessy.
 
Finn:  Right, I think we have sorted out their problem there. Another happy
father and daughter. Let’s hope their house will be neat, tidy and clean
from now on! 
 
Bessy:  This studio’s a bit dirty…
 
 
Li:  哎呀，这场暴风雨终于过去了。不过希望以上对话帮助大家了解了几个易混的英语单
词：干净 clean.
 
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You ask me to keep my room clean, and it is clean.
 
Li:    And also tidy, and tidy up:
 
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She never tidies up! 
 Li:    And not forgetting neat and tidy:
 
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Oh yes. I love things to be neat and tidy.
 
Li:  如果大家对英语词汇有更多的疑问请随时给我们发电子邮件
questions@chinaelt.bbc.co.uk. Thanks for listening everyone. Now, I’ve got
to go back to my office and tidy up my desk. Bye for now.