文化面面观：Seminar
考考你：小试牛刀
本片段剧情：绝望的Carl来到了Yes!宣讲会，没想到很快就成了主讲人Terrence的目标。在Terrence的言辞轰炸和听众的狂热怂恿下，Carl被迫订立了一个契约，也就是对今后碰到的一切，不管是什么，都说Yes……
影片对白：
Terrence: Before we begin today, I'd like to welcome our new members. Who among you is new?
Nick: He is. This guy right here. He's new. Over here.
Carl: Please don't. Jesus.
Terrence: Come on up, future yes man.
Carl: That's okay, I'm just auditing.
Terrence: You can't audit life, my friend. Now get on up here.
Carl: No, thanks. I'm cool.
Terrence: I'm sorry? What was that you said?
Carl: I said, I'm cool.
Terrence: Before that.
Carl: Thank you.
Terrence: Back up just a little bit more.
Carl: No.
Crowd: No man. No man. No man. No man. No man. No man. No man...
Terrence: Okay. If the molehill won't come to Terrence, Terrence will come to the molehill. What's your name?
Carl: Carl.
Terrence: Let me guess, Carl. Someone talked you into coming here today, didn't they?
Carl: Yes.
Crowd: Yes!
Terrence: And you're not sure about this, are you?
Carl: No.
Crowd: No man. No man. No man. No man.
Terrence: You're dead, Carl. You say no to life, and therefore you're not living. You make up excuses to the people around you and to yourself. You're stuck in the same dead-end job you have been for years. You don't have a girlfriend. You don't have anything close to a girlfriend. And you lost the love of your life because she couldn't be with someone who didn't live theirs. And on most nights you're so bored and filled with ennui you can't even summon the enthusiasm necessary to masturbate. Am I right, Carl?
Carl: I have had some trouble.
Terrence: We're gonna make a covenant, Carl. Do you want to make a covenant?
Carl: Ugh...
Terrence: The word is "yes", Carl.
Crowd: Yes!
Carl: Yes.
Crowd: Yes!
Carl: Yes.
Crowd: Yes!
Terrence: Once you leave this building, every time an opportunity presents itself, no matter what it is, you will say yes.
Crowd: Yes!
Carl: Yes!
Crowd: Yes!
Carl: Yes!
Crowd: Yes!
Carl: Yes. What if I...say...the other word?
Terrence: You'll be making a promise to yourself. And when you break a promise to yourself, things can get a little dicey. What do you say, Carl? Are you ready to make a covenant?
Carl: Yes.
Crowd: Yes!
Carl: Yes.
Crowd: Yes!
Terrence: Again.
Carl: Yes.
Crowd: Yes!
Terrence: Say it again.
Carl: Yes!
Terrence: Make me believe it.
Carl: Yes, yes, yes.
Terrence: Yes!
妙语佳句 活学活用
1. audit: 旁听。请看例子：
On her lunch hour she audited classes.（她利用午饭时间去旁听课程。）
2. I'm cool: 我很好。Carl的意思是他不需要Terrence的“特别关照”。cool在日常生活中是很常见的口语，意思是“好的”，用于表示接受或同意某事。
3. molehill: 鼹鼠丘，鼹鼠洞；小障碍。make a mountain out of a molehill就是“小题大做”。Terrence把Carl称为molehill，是因为Carl在他眼中就是阻碍他宣扬Yes哲学的一个微不足道的小障碍物。
4. talk sb. into doing sth.: 说服某人做某事。看一下例子：
They talked me into going swimming with them.（他们说服我和他们一起去游泳。）
5. dead-end job: 没有发展前景的工作。dead-end还可以表示“不会有结果的，行不通的”，例如：a dead-end conference（毫无结果的会谈）；a dead-end plan（行不通的计划）。此外，dead-end还有“尽头的”和“贫民窟的”的意思。看一下例子：a dead-end street（死胡同）；a dead-end kid（贫民窟的小流氓）。
6. ennui: 厌倦，无聊。请看例子：
The endless lecture produced an unbearable ennui.
那没完没了的演讲使人产生难以忍受的厌倦之感。
7. summon: 在影片中是“唤起，使呈现出来”的意思。此外，summon还表示“鼓起（勇气），使出，振作（精神）”等意思。例如：summon (up) the nerve to do sth.（鼓起勇气做某事）；summon (up) all one's strength（使出全身力气）。
8. covenant: 契约。请看例子：
They have made their covenant with death.（他们已难逃一死。）
9. dicey: 危险的，不可预知的。例如：a dicey peace（岌岌可危的和平）。Terrence的意思是Carl如果不遵守诺言，情况就会变得不妙。
文化面面观：Seminar
考考你：小试牛刀
