 | | | Think you've heard it somewhere before? |
Vicki: Hello and welcome to Real English, where you can find out about English words and expressions that might not be in your dictionary. I’m Vicki. Helen: 大家好，我是 Helen。Vicki, do you know my friend Jack Smith? Vicki: No, the name rings a bell but I don’t think I’ve met him. Helen: It rings a bell? Vicki: Yes, that’s an expression that means that something sounds vaguely familiar to you. Helen: 虽然这个表达直接的翻译是铃铛响了，它实际上是说让人回想起什么事，好像听说过那樣的。 Vicki: You use that expression when you don’t know much about the person the other person is talking about, but you have heard of them before. Helen: 那这个表达只适用于说人吗？ Vicki: No, you can use it with all sorts of things – here are some examples. Example 1 A: I love that new song by the Plain White Tees – do you know it? B: Not really, the name rings a bell but I can’t remember the song. A: It’s called Hey There Delilah. Example 2 A: Does anybody know where Faversham is? B: Yeah, it rings a bell – isn’t it somewhere in Kent? Example 3 A: I’m thinking of writing an article about book clubs – have we done anything on that before? B: It doesn’t ring a bell – I don’t think so. Helen: 我们刚才听到了品牌，城市还有作文的题目。看来这个铃铛响了的表达可以在很多情况下使用。 Vicki: You can use it to talk about anything that you remember hearing about before, but you don’t know very much about it. Helen: 这个表达还可以作为一个否定语来用，意思就成了从来没听说过这个人，或者这回事儿。 Vicki: It doesn’t ring a bell. That means you’ve never heard of it. Helen: 大家记住了吗？ 今天我们学到的表达是: Vicki: It rings a bell. Helen: 意思就是好像听说过某个人或者某件事。就像如果你听到过某人的名字，但是从来没见过这个人，你就可以用这个表达了。 Vicki: Anyway, join us next time for more Real English. Bye. Helen: 我們下次節目再见。 | 
