Words and Their Stories: Chickenfeed (second half)
My version:
Original VOA version:
Spy expert Henry S. A. Becket writes that some German spies working in London during the war also worked for the British. The British government had to make the Germans believe their spies were working. So, British officials gave them mostly false information. It was called chickenfeed.
The same person who protests that he is working for chickenfeed may also say, "I am working for peanuts." She means she is working for a small amount of money.
It is a very different meaning from the main one in the dictionary. That meaning is small nuts that grow on a plant.
No one knows for sure how a word for something to eat also came to mean something very small. But, a peanut is a very small food.
The expression is an old one. Word expert Mitford Mathews says that as early as eighteen fifty-four, an American publication used the words peanut agitators. That meant political troublemakers who did not have a lot of support.
Another reason for the saying about working for peanuts may be linked to elephants. Think of how elephants are paid for their work in the circus. They receive food, not money. One of the foods they like best is peanuts.
When you add the word gallery to the word peanut you have the name of an area in an American theater. A gallery is a high seating area or balcony above the main floor.
The peanut gallery got its name because it is the part of the theater most distant from where the show takes place. So, peanut gallery tickets usually cost less than other tickets. People pay a small amount of money for them.
一點BT小總結
本人現在是本譚馬同學鸚鵡教的，可能是大加拿“愛的忙蹲”Edmonton總舵的加州小分舵成員，目前小分舵僅俺一人，且處於自學自扣狀態 :)
那個啥，不管什麽教，什麽招，要是人講他/她的親身實踐，有理有據的俺都愛看。俺個人非常不喜歡亂七八糟，東貼西轉，自相矛盾的理論經驗。如果俺要向大家推薦一個東西，電影也罷，學習方法也罷，首先它要打動俺，俺也踹過了，有感覺了，俺把自己的想法和收益拿出來和大家分享，俺總嚼的這樣才有點說服力不是。俺總不能一臉大麻子的站街吆喝賣"去斑霜"不是？當然俺自己被自己感動的鼻涕眼淚一把抓，圍觀的人民群眾巋然不動的情況也是屢見不鮮。那是俺道行不夠，還要加強修煉力度的說, 可誠意俺總奉上了不是？
馬同學早先給俺傳鸚鵡教 - 一句一句跟讀的時候，俺把他當街頭賣大力丸的無異。俺覺的那樣太磨人，太慢，太初級。單詞的發音俺也湊合，音標俺也清楚，不想十天半月或更多時間的耗在一篇短文上。
可俺琢磨著但為什麽俺讀來讀去，還是老腔老調，或者說在大量的朗讀練習後，俺發現俺的錯誤沒改什麽，隻是犯的更流利了。 閱讀大家都知道有精讀和泛讀，朗讀中也有精讀和泛讀。俺這麽哈哈鏡一照的，發現自己的精讀作的太差了，幾乎沒有，所以很早就瓶頸了。
這段時間，俺別的什麽都沒讀，就在扣一篇VOA的chickenfeed，上次讀了一小半，這次把後一半完成了。俺隔幾天，就跟讀上大半個小時，時間不能太長，真的很想吐，俺真的不是一個有耐性的人。聽聽讀讀錄錄，再比較比較，最後正式錄的時候，俺是憑記憶整個念下來了。歸根到底你還是先要死記住這些調調的，否則用處不大。等模仿多的，就能擺脫這些條條框框，做到心中無劍勝手中有劍，揮灑自如了。
當然俺現在這點水平，把老虎模仿成老貓是不可避免的，但總比以前把老虎讀的象老鼠要強一點不是。所以俺對這個方法還是蠻推崇的。當然語音語調隻是學習英語的一部分，但好的英語是絕對離不開好的語音語調的。就學習語音語調來說，老老實實的跟讀真的是不可忽略的訓練。
俺在模範學習中，最明顯的感受是單詞在句中的那個拐調呀，是完全不同於單個單詞的發音，這就是為什麽你為什麽發的也是音標的音，讀出來的句子卻不是老美的那個味。
俺舉個上文中的例子:
It is a very different meaning from the main one in the dictionary. That meaning is small nuts that grow on a plant.
Demo: (click play button, please)
- 要拖長的單詞，俺會給它們上麵標個“—”，比如上麵的“main” “grow”這是俺自幾編的code，意思是“拖長符”
- 要重讀的音節，俺會標上“`”
- 要升的地方，標個上箭頭
- 要讀成一堆的詞組，把它們圈起來
- 特別拐的單詞，俺會寫上漢字，這點相當BT，俺並不是要發那個漢字的音，它隻是給俺提個醒，比如說上麵的“meaning”，俺會上它上麵注上“米寧”。當然俺是笨人銼招，您要是記性好悟性高，您可以不必這麽下三濫。這招對俺來說倒是最管用的，嘿嘿
以上都是俺的小抄抄。俺這人最大的毛病就是還沒自個還整出個什麽門道來，就抒發起來了。
俺娃說俺讀的象spanish, 估計是對俺給他的聖誕禮物不滿的發泄，就不跟小人計較了；老公考慮到吃飯問題，死扣著一個“好”字，後來在俺的嚴刑拷打和威逼利誘下，吐出一句“很有美國中部大農村的風味”。NND，俺容易嗎，大過年，家裏被埋汰不說，還出來丟人現眼的。。。
祝大家新年工作順利，英語學習更上一層樓 :))
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