文化面面观：钻石为什么昂贵
考考你：小试牛刀
本片段剧情：Ben和他的广告竞争对手打赌他能让任何一个正常的单身女人爱上他，此时Spears发现了在酒吧寻找“十天”男友的Andie，于是她故意指定Andie为Ben的追求目标，并把这次钻石广告当作赌注。
影片对白
Green: Selling a diamond to a woman is like making her fall in love. She has to feel giddy, desirous, adventurous, and desperate.
Spears: Take a look around this room, Phillip. Most of the women in this bar are looking for just that.
Ben: Exactly. The skills required to market diamonds are the same as those needed to make a woman fall in love, yes.
Spears: I'm not talking about lust. A woman in lust wants chocolate. A woman in love...wants diamonds.
Ben: Yeah, I'm not talking about lust, either, ladies. I'm talking about deep, meaningful, head-over-heels, his and her towels, Iet's grow old together, L-O-V-E. Look, I love women. I do. Whether they're four, 40, or my 88-year-old grandmother, I respect women, all right? And I also listen...to women, and that's why I can sell myself to any woman, anywhere, anytime.
Spears: Make a woman fall in love with diamonds, Benjamin...or with you?
Ben: Eh, either one.
Ben’s boss: Well, that's cocky, Ben.
Ben: No, not cocky--confident.
Spears: I'd like to see you prove that.
Ben: You would?
Spears: The agency's cohosting a party for the DeLauers at the Astor Museum. The party's a week from Sunday. Do you think you could make a woman fall in love with you by then?
Ben: Ten days?
Green: Any woman, anywhere, anytime?
Ben: Any single, available, straight woman--yes.
Spears: Yes. I'm not trying to trick you, Ben. In fact, we'll choose a woman right here, right now, in this bar, and then you decide.
Green: Ooh.
Ben: So, who's the lucky girl?
Green: Okay...Let's see here. Ooh, there's that blonde babe in the leopard print.
Ben’s boss: Whoa, ho, ho!
Green: She looks like fun.
Ben: Be nice, ladies.
Green: Or... wow, Miss Babylon Five. Now, she's on the prowl.
Spears: No. Her.
Ben: Her who?
Spears: Her, in the gray dress. Blonde hair. Pretty smile.
Green: Her?
Ben: Done.
Spears: What?
Ben: Done.
Ben’s boss: Done.
Andie: See the guy next to the horrible guy in the green shirt that I would never even consider? Okay?
Jeannie: Hmm! Very cute.
Andie: Right?
Jeannie: Good.
Andie: All right? Here I go!
Ben: Okay, you're on. But here are the stakes. After I win this bet, this pitch is mine.
Spears: Agreed.
Ben: Phil?
Ben’s boss: Agreed. You come to that party with a girl that's really in love with you, Ben...you can make the pitch to the DeLauers.
Green: But, Phillip, you can't...
Ben’s boss: I've made up my mind. To the DeLauers.
Ben: To the DeLauers.
Spears: Cheers.
Ben’s boss: Cheers.
Green: Cheers.
妙语佳句 活学活用
1.giddy: 晕眩的，眼花的。影片中Green是指恋爱会让一个女人失去理智，头脑不清。giddy也可以指身体感觉到的晕眩。例如：It makes me giddy to go on a merry-go-round.（我骑旋转木马要头晕。）giddy也可以指“轻率的，轻佻的，轻浮的”，例如：a giddy young girl（轻佻的年轻姑娘）。
2. lust: （强烈的）性欲。影片中Spears认为充满性欲的女人想要的是巧克力，但是坠入爱河的女人想要的却是钻石。lust还有“渴望，欲望”的意思。例如：an insatiable lust for personal power（对个人权利贪得无厌的欲望）。
3. head-over-heels: 是词组head over heels的形容词形式。
head over heels: <口>完全地，深深地，非常。例如：be head over heels in debt（债台高筑）。也可以说成heels over head。影片中Ben强调他所谈论的是深深的爱情，而非性欲。
head over heels还有“头朝下的，颠倒的”的意思。例如：He fell head over heels into the gully.（他一个跟斗跌进了沟里。）
此外，head over heels还可以表示“纷乱地，鲁莽地，匆促地”。看一下例子：
The children all tried to come in the door at once, head over heels.
孩子们推搡着，想一下子拥进屋来。
4. cocky: 骄傲自大的，过于自信的。
5. print: 印花布服装。
6. on the prowl: 躁狂地寻求性伴侣。影片中Green看到一个女人正在酒吧里来回穿梭，寻找男性伴侣。on the prowl还有“潜行，四处巡觅，徘徊”的意思。例如：an investor on the prowl for profits（四处寻求利润的投资者）。
prowl一词作为动词既有“潜行，搜寻”的意思，也有“徘徊，闲逛”的意思。请看例子：
Many wild animals prowl at night.（许多野兽夜出潜行觅食。）
I prowled around a farmer's field admiring the bridge.
我在一片农田里流连徘徊，对那座桥赞赏不已。
文化面面观：钻石为什么昂贵
考考你：小试牛刀
