Watch you don't soaked at the sea-side!

Li:   大家好欢迎收听BBC英语教学节目你问我答。我是杨莉。    嗯，多亏BBC 的音响资料库。 我又回到了我的玫瑰园里，欣赏着灿烂的阳光。这里只有我个人, 为玫瑰花喷药浇水，多么惬意啊…只有小鸟陪伴…   还有飞来飞去的蜜蜂….
 
  我现在来到了我的玫瑰园来思考一下我们的听众Cici 提出的英语同义问题。他是这样写的  - The differences between the meaning of the following  words often confuse me: spray, shower, spatter, splatter, splash  and slosh. 
 
Ah! 瞧，我的搭档柯·威廉也赶到了，手里还提着一大瓶饮料。
 
William:   Do you want some lemonade, Li?
 
Li:   Oh yes, thank you! Just what I need! Thank you.
 
William:   Now this question from Cici… did you notice what the lemonade was
doing while I carried it? It was sloshing around in the jug.
 
Li:   是的, 柠檬汽水在瓶子里经过摇晃发出的溅泼声. The lemonade was
sloshing around in the jug. 所以to slosh around 就是液体在容器中充满
了泡沫时发出的溅泼声…
 
William:   Exactly.
 
Li:   好了，那Cici 提出了其它几个词呢, William?
 
William:   Well what were you doing at the start of the programme, Li?
 
    Yes, that! What are you doing now?
 
Li:     我在给玫瑰花喷药啊，以防虫害! 
 
William:   You are spraying your roses.

Li:     That’s right, I am spraying my roses. Spray喷洒
 
Oh no!
 
William:   What’s the matter?
 
Li:     Did you feel that? A spot of rain!
 
William:   Oh I think you’re right, Li. I think it’s going to shower.
 
Li:   看上去要下雨 – It’s going to shower. 不过William, to shower 也可以用
于其他场合对吧？
 
William:   That’s right Li, it can be used in different situations. The most
common situation is in your bathroom - you shower or you take a
shower in the morning.
 
Li:     To take a shower – 洗个淋浴。 Well William, I have already had my
shower this morning and I don’t want to get wet again! 我看咱们俩最
好到我的温室里躲一躲吧!
 
William:   Let’s go!
 
Hmm… I love the smell of tomatoes!
 
Li:    是啊我也很喜欢番茄藤的清新味道，还有，你知道吗我还特别喜欢听雨点落在
这玻璃房顶上的滴滴嗒嗒的声音。
 
William:   Yes, in English we would say that the rain is spattering on the glass
roof. 
 
Li:   雨滴滴嗒嗒落在玻璃房顶上。 The rain is spattering on the glass roof.
 
William:   We can also say that the rain is splattering on the glass.
 
Li:   To splatter 就是在 P 的后面加上 L. Spatter 和  splatter – 这两个词的发

音很接近是不是, William? 
 
William:   Yes, and both words sound a bit like the thing that they’re
describing. Spat splat spat splat…
 
Li:   Hey William 哎，你瞧，天晴了，我们快走吧?!
 
William:    Back to the studio? OK, let’s go!
 
Oh Li, watch out for –   Oh dear.
 
Li:   Oh no! 糟了, 我的裙子被溅湿了!
 
William:   The car splashed you.
 
Li:   讨厌的汽车开得也太快，这下我的新裙子可添彩喽！The car splashed me! 
 
William:   Or we could say, it spattered you or splattered you with… muddy
water.
 
Li:   It splattered my new dress with muddy water. It splashed me! I’m
miserable!
 
William:   Well Li, at least we’ve answered Cici’s question. Shall we have a
quick recap?
 
Li:   你随便吧我可顾不上那么多了.
 
William:   Oh come on Li. It’s only… mud on your new dress. It’ll come off…
maybe. Now, what did you do to your roses?
 
Li:   I sprayed my roses.
 
William:   And what about the lemonade? 
 
Li:   It sloshed around in the jug.
 
William:   And the rain? 
 
Li:   It showered, and spattered and splattered on my greenhouse!
 
William:   And the car splattered mud on your new dress. 
 
Li:   没错。我也可以说, it splashed my new dress.

 
 
William:   Yeah I am sorry about that. But at least it’s brightening up again
now!
 
Li:   Isn’t it typical British weather, changing all the time? No wonder I’m
advised to always take my umbrella. 好了我去换衣服然后继续干一会园
丁。不好，柯·威廉，我觉得音响资料库出问题了，怎么我的玫瑰不见了？
 
William:  I do hope that we have answered your question today Cici. and if
you’re listening and you have a question you can email us on
questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk and we might very well tackle your
query on air! 

Li:   谢谢收听下次节目再会。
 
William:  再见!  

This week we join Li in her imaginary rose garden as she tackles a question from Cici about water synonyms. But there's a storm brewing...

Listen to the programme to hear some Chinese equivalents of the six words that Cici mentions.

But you might be able to work out their meanings by looking at the sentences before. Can you see how the usage of these similar words varies?

You should spray roses to prevent disease.

Lewis Hamilton sprayed his fans with champagne.

The weather forecast was fine, but I think it's going to shower.

In the summer I like to shower before going to bed.

On her 80th birthday Lillian was showered with presents.

The rain spattered on the window.

The rain splattered on the window.

She accidentally spattered food on her new top.

She accidentally splattered food on her new top.

She accidentally splashed food across her new top.

Just before my interview a bus came past and splashed me. I was soaked!

As I carried the bottle, I could hear the wine sloshing around inside.

Put the lid on that jug in case the lemonade sloshes over the sides!

If you have a question about English, email it to questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk. We might answer it on this programme.

Glossary

synonyms 同义词

there’s a storm brewing 一场暴风雨要来了

equivalents 相对应的

varies 变化

weather forecast 天气预报

top 上衣

soaked 湿透了

jug 敞口冷水瓶