“高处”有朋友
Friends in high places
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Feifei…
哈喽，欢迎来到BBC地道英语，我是菲菲……
…you are, and I'm Rob.
……你来了，我是罗伯。
Rob, a question – is it right you have a friend who lives on top of a mountain?
罗伯，我有个问题——你是不是有一个住在高山之巅的朋友？
Errr no.
呃……没有。
What about a friend who lives in La Paz – one of the highest cities in the world?
那有没有住在世界上最高的城市——拉巴斯——的朋友？
Strange question, but no.
奇怪的问题，不过我没有。
OK, how about a friend who lives at the top of a very tall tower block?
好吧。那有没有住在超级摩天大楼顶层的朋友？
Definitely not. Why are you asking about my friends anyway?
绝对没有。你为什么这么关心我的朋友们？
Well, someone in the office said you have friends in high places –
好吧，是因为办公室里有人说你有“friends in high places”——
and I just wondered why it was useful to know people who lived high up.
所以我很好奇为什么认识住在高处的朋友就很有用。
OK, well if you have friends in high places it has nothing to do with their physical location –
好吧，如果你有“friends in high places”，那并不是说他们住的地理位置比较高——
they are people you know who are powerful and in an important position and are able to help you.
而是说你认识比较有权利、职位比较重要，而且能够帮助你的人。
So these are useful people to know then?
所以他们都是比较有用的人？
They certainly are. Let's hear some examples of other friends in high places…
当然。我们来听一些有关“friends in high places”的其他例子吧。
Wang managed to get a promotion but I'm sure it's only because he knows people in high places.
王升职了，不过我敢肯定这肯定是因为他认识上头的人。
Thanks to his friends in high places, my boyfriend managed to get tickets for the sold-out rock concert. Yeah!
多亏了他那神通广大的朋友，我男朋友终于买到了已经售罄的摇滚音乐会门票。太棒啦！
Despite failing her exams, Jane still managed to get a place at university – I'm sure she has friends in high places.
虽然简没通过考试，但她还是被大学录取了——我肯定她认识一些位高权重的人。
This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English and we're talking about the phrase 'friends in high places'.
这里是BBC地道英语，我们正在讨论短语“friends in high places”的用法。
These are powerful and important people we know and might be able to help us in some way. So Rob, you know some very important people then?
这个短语指那些我们认识的位高权重，且能帮助我们的人。所以说，罗伯，你认识这样的人吗？
Well, yes a few – although not the Queen. Why do you want to know?
好吧，我认识几个——虽然不包括女王。为什么你想知道这个呢？
Well, I have to renew my passport and I need someone important to witness my application.
哦，我的护照需要续签，所以我得找人给我的申请书作证。
Oh come on Feifei, you know I could do that.
哦，拜托，菲菲，你知道我就可以的。
Err sorry Rob. You may be a friend but you're not in a high enough position to do this!
呃，不好意思，罗伯。你或许是我的朋友，但你的身份不够呀。
Look, it needs a doctor, lawyer or policeman to sign it.
你看，我需要找个医生、律师或者警察来签字。
Great! So how high am I?
“说的好”！那我的身份有多“高”？
About this high.
大概……“这么高”。
That low. Oh dear. Time to make some new friends. Bye bye.
那么低。好吧，亲爱的，我们该去认识点新朋友了。拜拜`
Bye.
拜~