说句公道话
To be fair
Welcome to The English We Speak:
欢迎收听地道英语，
I'm Neil.
我是尼尔。
And I'm Feifei.
我是菲菲。
You know what, Feifei, I just love living here in London.
菲菲，你知道吗，我真的很喜欢在伦敦生活。
I mean, the culture, the parks, the restaurants –
我是说，文化，公园，餐厅，
it's got everything.
这里什么都有。
Yeah, it's not bad,
对，伦敦确实不错，
though to be fair it's not the cheapest place to live.
但说句公道话，这里并不是最便宜的居住地。
You're right.
你说得对。
Though most world capital cities are quite pricey to live in, to be fair.
但说句公道话，世界上大多数首都城市的生活成本都非常高。
Actually, to be fair, I think there are a lot of reasons to move out of the big city –
实际上，说句公道话，我觉得有许多理由搬离大城市。
you know, more space, better air, fewer people, and… nature!
你知道的，更宽阔的空间，更清新的空气，更少的人，还有……大自然！
Feifei, I think we've given good arguments on both sides, to be fair!
菲菲，说句公道话，我觉得我们双方给的论点都非常好！
And I hope we've demonstrated today's phrase – which is: to be fair.
我希望我们已经向大家演示了今天的习语的使用方法，就是“说句公道话”这个习语。
It's a phrase you'll hear a lot, especially in British English.
你会经常听到这个习语，尤其是在英式英语中。
It's used when you want to explain more than one side of an issue.
当你要解释一个问题的多个方面时，你就可以用这个习语。
Let's listen to these examples:
我们来听这些例句：
We played well in the first half,
我们上半场表现很好，
but to be fair we were awful in the second half.
但说句公道话，我们在下半场非常糟糕。
Now, Luke.
好了，卢克。
We know that wasn't your best exam result,
我们知道那不是你最好的考试成绩，
but to be fair, you had very little time to prepare.
但说句公道话，你几乎没有时间去准备。
So – it's a phrase that we use to give balance in a discussion.
所以说，这是一个在讨论中，我们为了达到平衡而使用的习语。
And it comes just before or after making a point, or giving an opinion.
在我们给出观点，或表达意见之前或之后，可以用这个习语。
But these days, especially in spoken English,
但现在，尤其是在口语中，
people sometimes just use it when giving an opinion –
人们有时只是在表达意见时才用这个习语，
whether or not it's really about fairness.
而不管它是否真的是关于公平的。
Yes, for example:
对，举个例子：
To be fair, The Beatles were the best band of all time.
说句公道话，披头士一直都是最好的乐队。
I think Italian food is the finest there is, to be fair.
说句公道话，我觉得意大利美食是那里最棒的。
So be careful when listening out for this phrase –
所以听到这个习语的时候要留心，
sometimes it's just a 'filler' phrase,
有时它只是一个“填补说话空白”的小词，
something people say a lot with no real meaning.
也就是人们用得很多，但却不表达任何实际意思。
It might not always mean what you expect it to!
它可能不总是你所认为的那个意思。
To be fair, that's why we make these programmes –
说句公道话，这也就是我们为什么要做这些节目——
to help people understand real English.
为了帮助人们了解地道的英语。
And they are some of the best English learning materials available, to be fair.
说句公道话，这也是一些可以用的最棒的英语学习材料。
Though, to be fair, other programmes are available!
但是说句公道话，其它很多节目也可以用！
Bye for now.
再见啦。
Bye.
再见。