眨眼之间
In the blink of an eye
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak.
大家好，欢迎收听地道英语。
I'm Helen and joining me today is Sian.
我是海伦，今天和我一起的是西恩。
Hi everyone.
嗨，大家好。
It’s nice to take things slowly after the weekend.
周末之后能够慢慢做事情真是太棒了。
Have you been running around a lot?
你是不是跑多了啊？
Well, I did a 10K charity run with my nephew for his school.
嗯，为了帮助我侄子的学校，我和他一起参加了一场10千米的慈善跑。
And how did it go?
怎么样啊？
Were you prepared for it?
你为这场慈善跑做好准备了吗？
I have to say the kids did much better than me.
我不得不说孩子们做得比我好多了。
I was almost the last one to finish the race.
我差不多是最后一个完成比赛的了。
And how long did that take you?
那这花了你多长时间啊？
Maybe six hours!
大概六小时！
Em.
呃。
That is slow.
那太慢了。
What about the young runners?
那些年轻的赛跑选手怎么样啊？
They were gone in the blink of an eye.
他们眨眼之间就不见了。
Do you mean they were fast?
你是说他们很快？
That’s right.
对。
When we say something happens in the blink of an eye,
当我们说某件事发生在“眨眼之间”时，
it means 'very fast', 'very quickly'.
意思就是说“非常快”，“非常迅速”。
It’s a common expression in English to give a sense of fast speed.
在英语里，这是给人以速度快的感觉的一种常用语。
Here are a few examples:
这儿有几个例子：
My new computer can download a large video in the blink of an eye.
我的新电脑眨眼之间就能下载一个很大的视频。
We were so tired after the party;
聚会之后我们太累了；
everyone was fast asleep in the blink of an eye.
每个人都在眨眼之间睡熟了。
Sarah couldn’t believe that the first two years of university went in the blink of an eye.
莎拉不能相信大学生活的前两年眨眼之间就过去了。
So this expression 'in the blink of an eye' doesn’t only refer to running speed,
所以说“眨眼之间”这个词不只指跑步速度，
it can also describe when time goes quickly.
它也可以描述时间过得很快。
That’s right.
对。
It’s often used when changes are happening very fast.
当变化发生得非常快时，经常会用到这个词。
And it can be shortened to 'in a blink'.
这个词也可以缩略为“一眨眼”。
A 70-story skyscraper just rose from the ground in a blink.
一座70层的摩天大楼一眨眼就拔地而起了。
I couldn't believe the transformation in Sarah;
莎拉的改变让我不敢相信；
she went from a shy sixteen-year-old with braces to an outspoken youth MP in a blink.
一眨眼，她就从一个戴牙箍的十六岁害羞女孩儿变成了一个坦率直言的青年国会议员。
Well, in the blink of an eye.
嗯，眨眼之间。
We’ve finished our programme.
我们的节目结束了。
That went really quickly.
进行得真是非常快啊。
Goodbye.
再见。
Goodbye.
再见。