[ti:Not All Mother Expressions Are As Nice As Mom]
[ar:Anna Matteo]
[al:Words and Their Stories]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.
[00:08.18]Each week at this time, we tell about everyday expressions
[00:13.08]in American English and how to use them.
[00:16.56]In the United States, Mother's Day falls on the second Sunday in May.
[00:22.38]It was back in 1908 when a woman named Anna Jarvis
[00:27.57]created this unofficial holiday to honor mothers.
[00:31.96]However, Ms. Jarvis would later criticize Mother's Day.
[00:37.13]She said it had become too commercial -- too much about spending money.
[00:44.18]She had a good point.
[00:45.92]Traditionally, children and husbands celebrate mothers
[00:50.45]of all ages by buying flowers, cards and other gifts
[00:55.82]or taking them to dinner in a nice restaurant.
[00:59.17]But today, you will not need any money at all.
[01:03.09]We instead will talk about some expressions that use the word "mother."
[01:08.82]To start with, most mothers give birth.
[01:12.26]So, your motherland is where you were born
[01:15.65]and your mother tongue is your native language.
[01:19.38]Some cultures believe Mother Earth
[01:22.39]gave birth to everything that exists on our planet.
[01:26.47]In Greek mythology, a goddess named Gaia was the great mother of all.
[01:32.58]She was said to have created the Earth and the Universe.
[01:36.90]Mother Nature is a little different.
[01:40.05]This term relates to the natural world as if it were a woman.
[01:45.68]It has been said that there is nothing as great as a mother's love.
[01:51.76]Some mother expressions mean just that.
[01:55.59]The mother lode comes from mining.
[01:58.74]It means the place where the largest amount of gold,
[02:02.68]silver, or anything else of value can be found.
[02:06.56]But now, the term mother lode means a rich supply of anything.
[02:12.19]We often use the word "strike" with this expression.
[02:16.52]For example, you might say,
[02:18.97]"She just graduated college and struck the mother lode with her new job!"
[02:25.15]In other words, the woman's new job is making her rich!
[02:30.04]When we call something "the mother of all,"
[02:33.42]this means it is the biggest or best of something.
[02:38.25]Here is an example: "We are going to throw
[02:43.29]the mother of all parties this weekend. So you have to come!"
[02:48.01]Naturally, the word "mother" can be used to mean to give birth,
[02:53.40]even to something you cannot touch, such as an idea or wisdom.
[02:59.18]The saying "necessity is the mother of invention"
[03:03.43]means that when people really need to do something,
[03:07.46]they will find a way to do it.
[03:10.25]And "experience is the mother of wisdom"
[03:13.48]means that people learn from what happens to them.
[03:17.42]You might think all expressions about mothers are sweet and loving. Not so.
[03:25.35]A boy who is "tied to his mother's apron strings" is controlled by his mother.
[03:31.83]We can also call him a "mama's boy."
[03:35.06]Both of these terms are even more insulting
[03:39.93]if you are talking about a man, not a young boy.
[03:43.87]It can be a huge mistake for a woman to marry a "mama's boy"
[03:49.15]who is still "tied to his mother's apron strings."
[03:53.24]A show about mothers would not be complete
[03:57.22]without talking about the very popular but mysterious Mother Goose.
[04:02.56]The short poems and songs that Mother Goose supposedly wrote
[04:08.30]are very much a part of growing up in the United States.
[04:12.73]Real or not, you could say
[04:15.66]Mother Goose is the mother of all nursery rhyme writers.
[04:21.43]We do know that writer Robert Louis Stevenson was real.
[04:26.13]He is famous for such stories as "Treasure Island,"
[04:30.20]and "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
[04:34.23]He also wrote this poem titled, simply, "To My Mother."
[04:39.36]You too, my mother, read my rhymes
[04:43.26]For love of unforgotten times,
[04:46.10]And you may chance to hear once more
[04:49.14]The little feet along the floor.
[04:52.09]To all mothers of all types around the world,
[04:55.77]we here at VOA Learning English wish you a very Happy Mother's Day!
[05:02.55]I'm Anna Matteo.
[05:03.84]更多听力请访问51voa.com
END OF TRACK. "END OF TRACK." The two men bowed. "Whoever was that person you were talking to?" she enquired, as soon as they stood together. The took of triumph faded from her eyes, she had grown worn and weary. The roses were wilting on the walls, the lights were mostly down now. Hetty, looking in to see if anything was wanted, found herself driven away almost fiercely. I only saw Master Jervie once when he called at tea time, The year 1747 was opened by measures of restriction. The House of Lords, offended at the publication of the proceedings of the trial of Lord Lovat, summoned the parties to their bar, committed them to prison, and refused to liberate them till they had pledged themselves not to repeat the offence, and had paid very heavy fees. The consequence of this was that the transactions of the Peers were almost entirely suppressed for nearly thirty years from this time, and we draw our knowledge of them chiefly from notes taken by Horace Walpole and Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. What is still more remarkable, the reports of the House of Commons, being taken by stealth, and on the merest sufferance, are of the most meagre kind, sometimes altogether wanting, and the speeches are given uniformly under fictitious names; for to have attributed to Pitt or Pelham their[112] speeches by name would have brought down on the printers the summary vengeance of the House. Many of the members complained bitterly of this breach of the privileges of Parliament, and of "being put into print by low fellows"; but Pelham had the sense to tolerate them, saying, "Let them alone; they make better speeches for us than we can make for ourselves." Altogether, the House of Commons exhibited the most deplorable aspect that can be conceived. The Ministry had pursued Walpole's system of buying up opponents by place, or pension, or secret service money, till there was no life left in the House. Ministers passed their measures without troubling themselves to say much in their behalf; and the opposition dwindled to Sir John Hinde Cotton, now dismissed from office, and a feeble remnant of Jacobites raised but miserable resistance. In vain the Prince of Wales and the secret instigations of Bolingbroke and Doddington stimulated the spirit of discontent; both Houses had degenerated into most silent and insignificant arenas of very commonplace business. "It certainly will be. Miss Widgeon," answered Maria, with strictly "company manners." "One who has never had a brother exposed to the constant dangers of army life can hardly understand how glad we all feel to have Si snatched from the very jaws of death and brung back to us." "Just plug at 'em as you would at a crow, and then go on your way whistlin'?" persisted Harry. "Hurroo!" echoed Hennessey; "that's the ticket." "Come forward, keeper," continued the baron, "and state how these arrows came into your hands!" "Yes." HoMEJULIA京香2018下载
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