容易误译的英语[最终版]

第一篇：容易误译的英语[最终版]

容易误译的英语

1.Kirk never has words with his neighbors.[原意] Kirk从不与他的邻居中吵嘴.[说明] have words with sb 是习惯用语,意为与某人吵嘴;have a word with sb 才是与某人说话的意思.2.Rebecca is a woman of the town(street).[原意] Rebecca是个娼妓。

[说明] woman of the town(street)是习语，意思“娼妓”。

3.He did business without return.[原意] 他做生意没赚到钱。

[说明] without return 意为“赚不到钱”，“无利可图”。

4.Jenny was with child when she left Guangzhou.[原意] Jenny离开广州时已怀孕了。

[说明] with child 是习语,意为“怀孕”。若在child前加个不定冠词a,即with a child ,意思就变成“带着孩子”了。

5.The chairman of the board of directors did not receive Walker yesterday because he was a walk-in.[原意] 董事长昨天不接见沃克,因为他是未经预约而来的。

[说明] Walker 是姓氏“沃克” ,若是步行者其前应有冠词且不大写.而walk-in(N)意为“未经预约而来的人”。

6.Bert passed the spoken language exam with the skin of his teeth.[原意] Bert 差一点就没地通过口语考试。

[说明] with /by the skin of one's teeth是源典故的口语（介词短语），意为“差一点没”，“险些没”，“好不容易才”，“侥幸”。

7.Why did Kent attack Leo with a vengeance a few days ago?

[原意] 为什么肯特日前激烈地攻击利奥?

[说明] with a vengeance 是习语(口语)，意为“激烈地”，“猛烈地”，“极度地”，“彻底地”。

每日一句英译汉复习（2008年8月）

1.He tried to fool her, but she was from Missouri.【关键词】from Missouri 【误译】他想欺骗她，但她是（美国）密苏里州人。【原意】他想欺骗她，但她不轻信。

【说明】from Missouri是美国俚语，意为“存疑的”，“怀疑的”。“不轻信的”。

2.It is the fact acknowledged from China to Peru.【关键词】from China to Peru 【误译】这是中国、秘鲁双方承认的事实。【原意】这是举世公认的事实。

【说明】本例的from China to Peru是习语，意为“举世”，“遍天下”，“到处”。

3.Mr.Paris took a French leave.【关键词】French leave 【误译】帕里斯先生离开了法国。【原意】帕里斯先生不辞而别。

【说明】French leave（合成名词）意为“不辞而别”，“悄悄离开”。

4.Mr.Brown is known as a free loader.【关键词】free loader 【误译】布朗先生是个人所共知的自由装货工。【原意】布朗先生是个人所共知的喜欢揩油的人。【说明】free loader是美国口语，意为“揩油的人”。

5.Mr.Lodge will give Miss King a free hand in preparing the dance.【关键词】free hand 【误译】洛奇先生将腾出手来帮助小姐筹备舞会。【原意】洛奇先生将让金小姐以全权筹备舞会。【说明】free hand（合成名词），意为“全权”。

6.Are your parents free with their assistance? 【关键词】free 【误译】你的双亲肯帮助别人争取自由吗？ 【原意】你的双亲慷慨助人吗？

【说明】本例的free意思不是“自由”，而是“不吝啬的”，“用钱大方的”。用作此意时与with连用。

7.He took a fox-sleep when we were talking.【关键词】fox-sleep 【误译】我们在谈话时他采用狐狸式的姿势睡觉。【原意】我们在谈话时他假装睡觉。【说明】fox-sleep（名词）意为“假寐”。

8.Theron always scolds his servant with the four-letter words.【关键词】four-letter word 【误译】西伦总是用四个字母拼成的短词来骂他的仆人。【原意】西伦总是用下流话骂他的仆人。

【说明】four-letter word（可数名词）是婉语，意为“粗话”，“下流话”（通常由四个字母拼成，如fuck）。

9.He was Shanghai's four hundred.【关键词】four hundred 【误译】他在上海排名第400。【原意】他是上海的名流。

【说明】本例的four hundred是美国习语（也可写成400），意为“（某一地区的）名流”、“名士”。

10.He took forty winks.【关键词】forty winks 【误译】他眨眼40次。【原意】他小睡了一会儿。

【说明】forty winks是口语，意为“小睡”。

11.He was reduced to tears by a foreign body in the eye.【关键词】foreign body 【误译】他见到外国人就减少流泪。【原意】眼中的异物使他流泪。【说明】foreign body意为“（进入体内的）异物”。reduce one to tears是习语，意为“使某人流泪”。12.I can't go back on your friends for the life of me.【关键词】for the life of me 【误译】为了我的生命，我不能背弃你的朋友。【原意】无论如何，我不能背弃你的朋友。【说明】for the life of me是习语，用于否定句，意为“无论如何”“即使要我的命也，（不）……”。

13.Robin is the man for my money.【关键词】for my money 【误译】罗宾只是为了我的钱。【原意】罗宾正合我意。

【说明】for my money是美国俚语，意为“正合我意”。

14.He wouldn't stop drinking for all the tea in China.【关键词】for all the tea in China 【误译】他不愿停止喝所有中国茶。【原意】无论如何，他不戒酒。

【说明】for all the tea in China是口语，一般用于否定句，意为“不管怎样（也）”，“无论如何（都）”。15.The footballer can afford to foot the bill.【关键词】foot the bill 【误译】这个足球运动员能踢出足够多的钞票。【原意】这个足球运动员有足够的钱付账。【说明】foot the bill是口语，意为“付账”，“负担费用”。

16.We took achievements as a foot in the door for further progress.【关键词】foot in the door 【误译】我们把成绩看成在门外继续前进1英尺。【原意】我们把成绩看作继续前进的开端。【说明】foot in the door为习语，意为“进步”，“迈向成功的开端”。

17.This is a fond plan.【关键词】fond 【误译】这是个令人喜欢的计划。【原意】这是个愚蠢的计划。

【说明】本例的fond（形容词）意为“愚蠢的”。

18.Mr.Wu flew in the face of his mother's advice.【关键词】fly in the face 【误译】吴先生扑到他母亲的脸上去劝告他。【原意】吴先生悍然不顾他母亲的劝告。

【说明】fly in the face [teeth] of 是习语（动词短语），意为“悍然不顾”，“公然反抗”，“不加理睬”。

19.Why is your fly often undone?

【关键词】fly 【误译】为什么你经常不打苍蝇？

【原意】为什么你裤子的拉链经常没有拉上？

【说明】fly是指裤子等的拉链或纽扣的遮羞布。undone是形容词，意为“打开的”，而不是“未做”。本例也可写成Why is your fly often open?还可以写成Why is your fly often unzipped? open也是形容词，unzipped则是动词的过去分词，起形容词作用，作表语，而不是被动语态。

20.Sports can fix you up.【关键词】fix up 【误译】运动能安排你（的时间）。【原意】运动能治好你的病。

【说明】本例的fix up是美国口语（动词短语），意为“为……治愈疾病”。

21.Why not fire away at the engineer?

【关键词】fire away 【误译】为什么不在远离工程师的地方点火？ 【原意】为什么不向工程师提出问题？ 【说明】本例中的fire away（动词短语），意为“连续提问”。

22.I'll have a fine.【关键词】fine 【误译】我要一件精美的东西。【原意】我要一杯法国白兰地酒。

【说明】本例的fine[fi:n]（名词）是法语，意为“法国白兰地酒”。

23.Rudy found himself a father at thirty.【关键词】find oneself 【误译】鲁迪30岁那年自己找到了父亲。【原意】鲁迪30岁那年做了父亲。

【说明】find oneself...是习语，意为“不知不觉地自己成了……”。

每日一句复习

1.Let's just get out of the movie.The plot is as dull as dishwater.别看这部电影了，剧情真是很没劲。

2.You can count on me because I always deliver the goods.你完全可以相信我，因为我总是信守诺言。

3.Although he would never admit it, deep down he always loved her.尽管他不承认，但在内心深处，他却一直爱着她。

deep down是个副词短语，在句子中常作状语，其意思是从内心里；在内心深处，有虽然表面上······但在内心深处却·······的含义。

4.They are working like hell to meet next Thursday's deadline.他们拼命工作，希望在下星期四最后期限之前完成。

5.Our team has never won even one game before, so we are really a dark horse after winning the grand final.我们队连一场都从未取胜过，因此这次我们取得了总决赛的胜利可谓爆了一个大冷门。

6.He is a daredevil and never afraid of anything.他是个胆大妄为的人，从来不怕任何事。

7.How about cutting the shop at the dinner?

晚饭时不谈公事好不好？

shop除了有商店、购物等通常的意思外，还有公事、正事、工作和职业上的事的意思。talk shop就是指就是指谈论公事、谈论正事，也就是说行话，三句不离本行。与talk shop相反，cut the shop自然就是不谈公事、不谈正事了。

8.For those watchers in the office, you should cut the knot by firing them all.对于办公室里那些磨洋工的职员，你应该快刀斩乱麻，把他们统统解雇掉。cut the knot源自古希腊神话。传说农民哥帝尔斯被选为小国弗里吉亚的国王时用树皮绳巧妙的打了一个复杂的结，以试天下英雄。并且承诺凡能解开此结者，便是整个东方之王，结果亚历山大一世一剑就把那个结斩开了。以此比喻果断迅速的解决难题。和中文里的快刀斩乱麻不谋而合。

9.She cut it fine when she got to the airport only three minutes before the plane took off.她把时间卡的很紧，到达机场还有三分钟飞机就起飞了。

10.I'm happy to live a C—Street life because there's a lot of fun in it.我对目前的平民生活很满意，因为平民生活一样有很多乐趣。

11.Since it's our first time to do business, I'd like to make it COD.由于这是我们第一次做生意，我希望能够现金交易，一手交钱，一手交货。

COD是商务术语cash on delivery的首字母缩写，意思是“见钱发货、钱货两讫”，或者“一手交钱，一手交货”。总之是指送货人收到了现金后才交货或发货。

12.Tom is a typical bullhead——every time when I try to tell him something he always chops logic with me.汤姆真是顽固不化——每次我跟他讲些道理的时候他总是强词夺理！

13.Have we met before, beautiful?

我们见过吗，美女？

想要去认识一个陌生人并且和他聊天，英文说pick someone up,也就是中文的搭讪。如果有人频频向你的方向望去，对你显示兴趣，则可以说She is coming to me.（她对我有意思）。如果对方朝你抛了一个媚眼或一个笑容，则可以说She is making a pass at me.其中，a pass在这里的意思是一个动作，代表任何可以表达自己情感的手势或肢体语言，中文可以简单的理解为她对我抛媚眼。

14.What a coincidence!

好巧哦^_^

15.Tony has become a chimney since his G.F dumped him.托尼自从被女友甩了后，变成了一个大烟鬼。

chain smoker：烟鬼

16.Could you just shut up? You are chewing my ear off!

你可不可以闭嘴！你啰啰嗦嗦把我的耳朵都要咬下来了！

17.I've seen the world so I can't be used as a cat's paw of anybody.我可是见过世面的人，所以我才不会成为别人利用的工具呢。

18.The terrible performance of that ham actor got him a lot of cat calls.那个蹩脚的演员的糟糕表演招来一片喝倒彩的嘘声。

19.Watch him!He is a card shark!

看紧点，他是个老千！

card，牌，扑克；shark,鲨鱼。鲨鱼臭名昭著，是残暴、贪婪、狡诈的代名词。

card shark也不例外，他们就是我们常说的老千，靠在牌局里使小花样赢钱。他们堪称玩纸牌高手，甚至有些还以赌纸牌行骗为生。又可写作card sharp.

第二篇：从“专家组”一词误译说起

龙源期刊网 http://.cn

从“专家组”一词误译说起

作者：胡加祥

来源：《浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版)》2003年第03期

[摘 要]根据《争端解决谅解协议》规定，世贸组织成员之间若发生贸易纠纷，有关各方既可以自行协商解决，也可以通过世贸组织争端解决机构来解决。该机构的职能由世贸组织总理事会行使．从严格意义上讲，世贸组织争端解决机构只是一个准司法机构，因为上沂机构所作的裁决，最终还得由总理事会表决通过。尽管如此，争端解决机构在处理贸易纠纷时，具有一套严格的程序规定。中国在加人世贸组织之后遭遇的第一场贸易纠纷就是中国的钢铁产品在美国被征收高额关税。在双方协商未果的情况下，中国政府于2002年5月正式向世贸组织提出建立“评审团”的请求，希望通过世贸组织争端解决机构来解决双方的纠纷。但是，国内媒体在报道中美钢铁贸易纠纷时，将“评审团”误译成“专家组”，这涉及一个概念错误。因为前者是世贸组织争端解决机制中一个不可缺少的程序，而后者只是评审团和上诉机构在审理案件时一个任意选择的程序。

[关键词]专家组；评审团；上诉机构

[中图分类号]F740

[文献标志码]A

第三篇：关于菜单翻译中的误译现象的调查报告

关于菜单翻译中的误译现象的调查报告

前言

中国在世界上享有“烹饪王国”和“美食之国”的美誉。中国烹饪经过数千年的创造、探索、积累经验形成了深厚的历史积淀，是中华古老文明一个有机的组成部分，这也正是中国菜在世界各地广受欢迎的原因所在。但是丰富多彩、千变万化的中文菜名让在中国就餐的“老外”伤透了脑筋。在菜单上，老外们经常会发现一些家常菜被翻译成稀奇古怪的名字，甚至很多名字让他们大倒胃口。

调查目的： 通过对餐厅菜单翻译的情况进行调查，了解中餐菜谱的翻译情况以及深入学习正确的菜单翻译方法。

调查时间： 2014年5月24日 至6月6日 调查对象： 餐厅菜单 调查方法： 资料法及观察法

一、现状及事例

通过调查发现，各大餐厅的中英文误译现象普遍存在，这些不规范的菜单翻译给外国人带来了极大的不便。有的看似只是一个小小的错误，但却有损餐厅的文化氛围，甚至让外国人大跌眼镜。此外，还搜集了许多中国菜英文误译的资料，分类总结出以下几种误译现象：

1.拼写错误： 有的餐馆提供的不是“Fast Food”（快餐），而是“Fart Food”（屁餐）；“豌豆汤”（Pea Soup）错写成“Pee Soup”（小便汤）;这看似是很小的错误，却丑化了原本的意思，实在让人不敢恭维。

2.直译: 不少菜单把“铁板牛肉”翻译成“Corrugated Iron Beef”（有皱纹的铁牛肉）；“宫爆鸡丁”翻成“Government Abuse Chicken”（政府虐待鸡）；“红烧狮子头”译成了“Red Burnt Lion Head”（烧红了的狮子头）；而“生鱼块”成了“Chop the Strange Fish”（砍那陌生的鱼）；“干锅牛蛙”为“Fuck a Bullfrog”（占牛蛙的便宜）。这种直译的方法或是有明显的语法错误，或是严重歪曲原名的意思，使外国人读后感到一头雾水，不知所云，这不能达到通过翻译进行交流的目的。

3.硬译：这些菜更是让人哭笑不得：“四喜丸子”是“Four Glad Meatballs”（四个高兴的肉团）；“童子鸡”成了“Chicken without Sexual Life”（还没有性生活的鸡）；“麻婆豆腐”是“Bean Curd Made by Women with Freckles”（满脸雀斑的女人制作的豆腐）这些菜莫说去吃，听听都让人百思不得其解呀。

4.表达不一，让人糊涂

在中国饮食文化翻译中，往往会看到一些用词不一致的现象。由于不同的英语单词，它所指代的事物，表达的意思都是有所差别的。这个问题主要出现在对点心类的翻译上。如： 把“馒头”译成：steamed bread;steamed bun

把“汤圆”译成：pudding，dumpling，ball

把“粥”译成：gruel，soft rice，porridge。一个食品竟然派生出好几样不同的东西来，确实让人费解。

一、分析原因及建议

通过上面的几个事例我们不难发现，如今，餐厅菜单的误译无疑会影响到餐厅营业，更重要的是会让外国朋友对中国菜的印象大打折扣。那么，为什么会出现这些菜名英译的笑话呢？通过分析发现，原因主要有两个：

（1）中国菜种类繁多，全国各地不同风味的名菜有8000多种，所用各种配料也有600多种，各种基本的烹饪方法也有50多种，不像西餐种类相对较少；（2）与欧洲的菜肴不同，中餐华丽的菜名并不告诉食客一道菜究竟是怎么做的。

因此，如果要对每一种菜名都给出恰如其分的英文译文，特别是那些具有丰富中国文化底蕴、浓郁地方特色的菜名，绝非易事。就是运用意译法，给菜名加以解释性的说明，也未必能表达出中国菜的“风味”。

作为一个英语专业的学生，从掌握的专业知识和对西方饮食文化的了解来看，我认为菜谱翻译的核心内容应该是菜用什么原料做成，因为外国人在餐桌上最关心的是吃什么东西。其次要讲清楚的是菜的用料、刀法和烹调方法。通过查阅菜单方面的翻译资料，在这里给出以下几种菜单翻译应采取的方法：

1.以主料开头的菜名

可以采用直译法，中间加连词and或以原料为中心词，加上用介词with或in与作料构成的短语即可。前面提到的“宫爆鸡丁”就可译成Diced Chicken with Peanuts，Pepper and Scallion，“海米白菜”可直接翻译成主料白菜和辅料海米，Chinese Cabbage and Dried Shrimps 或Chinese Cabbage with Dried Shrimps。再如：

鱼香肉丝 Shredded Pork and Garlic Sauce或Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce

白灵菇扣鸭掌 White Mushroom and Ducks Web

青椒牛肉Beef with Green Peppers 2.以烹制方法开头的菜名

中国菜的烹制方法至少有50种，但大体不离炖、烩、煎、爆、炸、水煮等。这些菜的烹制方法是中国所特有的，在国外是不存在的，翻译时可以采用烹制方法的相应动词，再加上菜肴采用的主料。如：

炒鸡丁 Stir-Fried Chicken 葱爆羊肉 Quick-Fried Lamb with Scallion in Ginger Sauce 清蒸桂鱼 Steamed Mandarin Fish

红烧蹄筋 Braised Pork Tendon in Brown Sauce 水煮鱼 Fish Filets in Hot Chili Oil 凉拌海蛰 Jellyfish in Soy Sauce

炖牛肉 Stewed Beef。3.以口感开头的菜名

这类菜翻译时以介绍菜肴形状或口感以及主配料为原则，有时可以进行合理想象。如：

糖醋里脊 Sweet and Sour Pork

香酥鸡 Crisp Fried Chicken

脆皮鱼 Crisp Fish

怪味鸡 Multi-flavored Chicken

辣味烩虾 Braised Prawns in Chili Sauce

酸辣黄瓜 Hot and Sour Cucumber 4.以人名或地名命名的菜肴

这类菜名直接以菜肴的创始人或发源地的拼音加主料来表示。比如：“麻婆豆腐”便可以直接以“麻婆”和“豆腐”的汉语拼音组合成英文菜名Mapo Tofu（当然也可以译成Spicy and Hot Bean Curd）。再比如：

东坡肉 Dongpo Pork

方蜡鱼 Fangla Fish

北京烤鸭 Peking Duck

广东龙虾 Cantonese Lobster

西湖醋鱼 Xihu Sour Fish

扬州炒饭 Yangzhou Stir-Fried Rice 5.含有喻意、夸张等含义的菜名

这类菜名大多有典故，描述菜的来历与色香味，翻译时可以采用以“实”对“虚”法。也就是舍去中菜名里的喻义、夸张等说法而用平直、明白的英语译出。如：

蚂蚁上树Vermicelli with Spicy Minced Pork（肉末粉丝）四喜丸子Diced meatballs braised with soy sauce（红烧肉丸）彩凤喜迎春 Baked Chicken and Fried Quail Eggs（烤鸡鹌鹑蛋）

全家福 Happy Family——A combination of shrimps，pork，beef，chicken，lobster and mixed vegetables with brown sauce（小虾、猪肉、牛肉、鸡肉、龙虾和蔬菜红烧做成的大杂烩）

6.具有中国特色并且也被外国人接受的传统食品

对这类传统食品，本着推广汉语和中国文化的原则，宜全部使用汉语拼音，另外，具有中国特色的并且也被外国人接受的，但使用的是地方语言拼写或音译拼写的菜名，也保留其拼写方式。这样的菜名有“馄饨”、“饺子”、“锅贴”、“油条”、“粽子”、“汤圆”、“佛跳墙”等。

用这些译法来译某些菜名基本符合西方人讲究吃的“实质与内容”;关心菜的原料和烹调方法的饮食文化心理,较易接受与理解。此外，中华饮食文化博大精深，要把所有菜名都准确地翻译出来绝非易事，尤其需要注意的是，中餐菜谱的英译一定不能拘泥于硬译、死译，而是要顺从读者的文化习惯与接受能力，真正做到简洁、易懂，最终达到交际的目的。

三、总结

中华饮食文化有着浓厚的历史渊源。随着中国国际交流的深度与广度的提高,中餐菜单翻译越来越受到人们的关注。对于在中餐馆吃饭的外国客人来说,一份翻译得当的中餐菜单是他们了解中国和中国饮食文化的窗口和桥梁。菜单的结构简单,但内涵却十分丰富。要在空间有限的菜单上传递复杂的信息并非易事，所以，要想把中国菜用英文活灵活现的表现出来，在翻译过程中应该遵循以下原则：

1、实用性。菜名是就餐者点菜的依据，从菜名上尽量要体现出菜肴的食材是什么，这样才不会误导就餐者。

2、文化性。中国菜肴博大精深又蕴涵了丰富的中国文化，所以在译名中尽量体现出文化特色和烹饪技法。

3、时代性。随着时代的发展，菜名作为一种语言也在不断的进化和改变，并且随着中餐越来越多的走进外国人的生活中，青年人对词语的敏感性和良好的接受性，必将是中国菜菜名的音译名更多的被外国人所接受和喜爱。

4、规范性。对中国菜随意乱定英文名称会造成对中国名菜的形象、内涵和声誉的不必要的损失，实行中餐菜谱英译名的规范化，使原信息能在英语翻译中得到准备无误的传达，有助于更好的弘扬我国的饮食文化。

总之，无论采用何种方法，遵循什么样的翻译原则，菜名翻译的目的无外乎要尽可能实现菜名的几大基本功能。而且根据不同的场合和情境，一个菜名也可以有不同的译法，应该根据具体的情况选择恰当的翻译策略和翻译方法。每一个菜名背后代表的不仅仅是一道制作精巧，美味可口的佳肴，更有这么多年文化的积淀传承与不同民族其独特的思维模式。而译者，更应该承担起两种文化交流的责任，让不同文化背景的人们，在用味蕾品尝中华美食的同时，也能用心灵欣赏博大精深，绚烂独特的中华饮食文化。

参考文献 ： 黄芳< 中餐菜单译法研究>［J］.中国科技翻译, 2007,(1).刘琪.< 论中式菜名英译>［D］.上海外国语大学, 2006.王伟娟.<从目的论角度谈中餐菜单的翻译>［J］.高等函授学报(自然科版), 2006 ,(S1).

第四篇：TED英语演讲稿：如何让选择更容易

TED英语演讲稿：如何让选择更容易

简介：面对商场里五花八门的商品，你的选择恐惧症又犯了吗? 美国哥伦比亚大学商学教授sheena iyengar研究如何让你在做选择时更容易。为了让你的选择省时省力，商家又会有哪些诀窍呢?

do you know how many choices you make in a typical day? do you know how many choices you make in typical week? i recently did a survey with over 2,000 americans, and the average number of choices that the typical american reports making is about 70 in a typical day.there was also recently a study done with ceos in which they followed ceos around for a whole week.and these scientists simply documented all the various tasks that these ceos engaged in and how much time they spent engaging in making decisions related to these tasks.and they found that the average ceo engaged in about 139 tasks in a week.each task was made up of many, many, many sub-choices of course.50 percent of their decisions were made in nine minutes or less.only about 12 percent of the decisions did they make an hour or more of their time.think about your own choices.do you know how many choices make it into your nine minute category versus your one hour category? how well do you think you're doing at managing those choices?

today i want to talk about one of the biggest modern day choosing problems that we have, which is the choice overload problem.i want to talk about the problem and some potential solutions.now as i talk about this problem, i'm going to have some questions for you and i'm going to want to know your answers.so when i ask you a question, since i'm blind, only raise your hand if you want to burn off some calories.(laughter)otherwise, when i ask you a question, and if your answer is yes, i'd like you to clap your hands.so for my first question for you today: are you guys ready to hear about the choice overload problem?(applause)thank you.so when i was a graduate student at stanford university, i used to go to this very, very upscale grocery store;at least at that time it was truly upscale.it was a store called draeger's.now this store, it was almost like going to an amusement park.they had 250 different kinds of mustards and vinegars and over 500 different kinds of fruits and vegetables and more than two dozen different kinds of bottled water--and this was during a time when we actually used to drink tap water.i used to love going to this store, but on one occasion i asked myself, well how come you never buy anything? here's their olive oil aisle.they had over 75 different kinds of olive oil, including those that were in a locked case that came from thousand-year-old olive trees.so i one day decided to pay a visit to the manager, and i asked the manager, “is this model of offering people all this choice really working?” and he pointed to the busloads of tourists that would show up everyday, with cameras ready usually.we decided to do a little experiment, and we picked jam for our experiment.here's their jam aisle.they had 348 different kinds of jam.we set up a little tasting booth right near the entrance of the store.we there put out six different flavors of jam or 24 different flavors of jam, and we looked at two things: first, in which case were people more likely to stop, sample some jam? more people stopped when there were 24, about 60 percent, than when there were six, about 40 percent.the next thing we looked at is in which case were people more likely to buy a jar of jam.now we see the opposite effect.of the people who stopped when there were 24, only three percent of them actually bought a jar of jam.of the people who stopped when there were six, well now we saw that 30 percent of them actually bought a jar of jam.now if you do the math, people were at least six times more likely to buy a jar of jam if they encountered six than if they encountered 24.now choosing not to buy a jar of jam is probably good for us--at least it's good for our waistlines--but it turns out that this choice overload problem affects us even in very consequential decisions.we choose not to choose, even when it goes against our best self-interests.so now for the topic of today: financial savings.now i'm going to describe to you a study i did with gur huberman, emir kamenica, wei jang where we looked at the retirement savings decisions of nearly a million americans from about 650 plans all in the and what we looked at was whether the number of fund offerings available in a retirement savings plan, the 401(k)plan, does that affect people's likelihood to save more for tomorrow.and what we found was that indeed there was a correlation.so in these plans, we had about 657 plans that ranged from offering people anywhere from two to 59 different fund offerings.and what we found was that, the more funds offered, indeed, there was less participation rate.so if you look at the extremes, those plans that offered you two funds, participation rates were around in the mid-70s--still not as high as we want it to be.in those plans that offered nearly 60 funds, participation rates have now dropped to about the 60th percentile.now it turns out that even if you do choose to participate when there are more choices present, even then, it has negative consequences.so for those people who did choose to participate, the more choices available, the more likely people were to completely avoid stocks or equity funds.the more choices available, the more likely they were to put all their money in pure money market accounts.now neither of these extreme decisions are the kinds of decisions that any of us would recommend for people when you're considering their future financial well-being.well, over the past decade, we have observed three main negative consequences to offering people more and more choices.they're more likely to delay choosing--procrastinate even when it goes against their best self-interest.they're more likely to make worse choices--worse financial choices, medical choices.they're more likely to choose things that make them less satisfied, even when they do objectively better.the main reason for this is because, we might enjoy gazing at those giant walls of mayonnaises, mustards, vinegars, jams, but we can't actually do the math of comparing and contrasting and actually picking from that stunning display.so what i want to propose to you today are four simple techniques--techniques that we have tested in one way or another in different research venues--that you can easily apply in your businesses.the first: cut.you've heard it said before, but it's never been more true than today, that less is more.people are always upset when i say, “cut.” they're always worried they're going to lose shelf space.but in fact, what we're seeing more and more is that if you are willing to cut, get rid of those extraneous redundant options, well there's an increase in sales, there's a lowering of costs, there is an improvement of the choosing experience.when proctor & gamble went from 26 different kinds of head & shoulders to 15, they saw an increase in sales by 10 percent.when the golden cat corporation got rid of their 10 worst-selling cat litter products, they saw an increase in profits by 87 percent--a function of both increase in sales and lowering of costs.you know, the average grocery store today offers you 45,000 products.the typical walmart today offers you 100,000 products.but the ninth largest retailer, the ninth biggest retailer in the world today is aldi, and it offers you only 1,400 products--one kind of canned tomato sauce.now in the financial savings world, i think one of the best examples that has recently come out on how to best manage the choice offerings has actually been something that david laibson was heavily involved in designing, which was the program that they have at harvard.every single harvard employee is now automatically enrolled in a lifecycle fund.for those people who actually want to choose, they're given 20 funds, not 300 or more funds.you know, often, people say, “i don't know how to cut.they're all important choices.” and the first thing i do is i ask the employees, “tell me how these choices are different from one another.and if your employees can't tell them apart, neither can your consumers.”

now before we started our session this afternoon, i had a chat with gary.and gary said that he would be willing to offer people in this audience an all-expenses-paid free vacation to the most beautiful road in the world.here's a description of the road.and i'd like you to read it.and now i'll give you a few seconds to read it and then i want you to clap your hands if you're ready to take gary up on his offer.(light clapping)okay.anybody who's ready to take him up on his offer.is that all? all right, let me show you some more about this.(laughter)you guys knew there was a trick, didn't you.(honk)now who's ready to go on this trip.(applause)(laughter)i think i might have actually heard more hands.all right.now in fact, you had objectively more information the first time around than the second time around, but i would venture to guess that you felt that it was more real the second time around.because the pictures made it feel more real to you.which brings me to the second technique for handling the choice overload problem, which is concretization.that in order for people to understand the differences between the choices, they have to be able to understand the consequences associated with each choice, and that the consequences need to be felt in a vivid sort of way, in a very concrete way.why do people spend an average of 15 to 30 percent more when they use an atm card or a credit card as opposed to cash? because it doesn't feel like real money.and it turns out that making it feel more concrete can actually be a very positive tool to use in getting people to save more.so a study that i did with shlomo benartzi and alessandro previtero, we did a study with people at ing--employees that are all working at ing--and now these people were all in a session where they're doing enrollment for their 401(k)plan.and during that session, we kept the session exactly the way it used to be, but we added one little thing.the one little thing we added was we asked people to just think about all the positive things that would happen in your life if you saved more.by doing that simple thing, there was an increase in enrollment by 20 percent and there was an increase in the amount of people willing to save or the amount that they were willing to put down into their savings account by four percent.the third technique: categorization.we can handle more categories than we can handle choices.so for example, here's a study we did in a magazine aisle.it turns out that in wegmans grocery stores up and down the northeast corridor, the magazine aisles range anywhere from 331 different kinds of magazines all the way up to 664.but you know what? if i show you 600 magazines and i divide them up into 10 categories, versus i show you 400 magazines and divide them up into 20 categories, you believe that i have given you more choice and a better choosing experience if i gave you the 400 than if i gave you the 600.because the categories tell me how to tell them apart.here are two different jewelry displays.one is called “jazz” and the other one is called “swing.” if you think the display on the left is swing and the display on the right is jazz, clap your hands.(light clapping)okay, there's some.if you think the one on the left is jazz and the one on the right is swing, clap your hands.okay, a bit more.now it turns out you're right.the one on the left is jazz and the one on the right is swing, but you know what? this is a highly useless categorization scheme.(laughter)the categories need to say something to the chooser, not the choice-maker.and you often see that problem when it comes down to those long lists of all these funds.who are they actually supposed to be informing?

my fourth technique: condition for complexity.it turns out we can actually handle a lot more information than we think we can, we've just got to take it a little easier.we have to gradually increase the complexity.i'm going to show you one example of what i'm talking about.let's take a very, very complicated decision: buying a car.here's a german car manufacturer that gives you the opportunity to completely custom make your car.you've got to make 60 different decisions, completely make up your car.now these decisions vary in the number of choices that they offer per decision.car colors, exterior car colors--i've got 56 choices.engines, gearshift--four choices.so now what i'm going to do is i'm going to vary the order in which these decisions appear.so half of the customers are going to go from high choice, 56 car colors, to low choice, four gearshifts.the other half of the customers are going to go from low choice, four gearshifts, to 56 car colors, high choice.what am i going to look at? how engaged you are.if you keep hitting the default button per decision, that means you're getting overwhelmed, that means i'm losing you.what you find is the people who go from high choice to low choice, they're hitting that default button over and over and over again.we're losing them.they go from low choice to high choice, they're hanging in there.it's the same information.it's the same number of choices.the only thing that i have done is i have varied the order in which that information is presented.if i start you off easy, i learn how to choose.even though choosing gearshift doesn't tell me anything about my preferences for interior decor, it still prepares me for how to choose.it also gets me excited about this big product that i'm putting together, so i'm more willing to be motivated to be engaged.so let me recap.i have talked about four techniques for mitigating the problem of choice overload--cut--get rid of the extraneous alternatives;concretize--make it real;categorize--we can handle more categories, less choices;condition for complexity.all of these techniques that i'm describing to you today are designed to help you manage your choices--better for you, you can use them on yourself, better for the people that you are serving.because i believe that the key to getting the most from choice is to be choosy about choosing.and the more we're able to be choosy about choosing the better we will be able to practice the art of choosing.thank you very much.(applause)

TED英语演讲稿：科技如何帮我阅读

Ted英语演讲稿:Be an Opportunity Maker机会创造者

TED英语演讲稿：四种影响我们的声音方式

TED英语演讲稿：我们为什么快乐？

Ted英语演讲稿：How I held my breath for 17 minutes如何憋气17

TED英语演讲稿: 如何在社交网络溅起水花

TED英语演讲稿：坠机让我学到的三件事

TED英语演讲稿：解密爱情与出轨

TED英语演讲稿：我们为什么要睡觉

TED英语演讲稿：如何跟压力做朋友

第五篇：使用考研英语作文容易陷入哪些误区？

2018年的硕士研究生入学初试还剩下两个多月的时间了，相信很多考生都已经开始把复习的精力转移到比较容易得分的题型上。

而对于英语来说，最容易提分的部分就是写作了。

经过多年与英语作文的斗智斗勇，可能还要加上丰富的中文作文写（tao）作（yong）经（mu）历(ban)的加持，很多学生都认为只要考前背诵一些范文和模板就能考出不错的分数，但事实并非如此。

历年来考生在使用写作模板这个问题上存在很大误区，经常出现各种各样的问题。下面给大家归纳了几个用模板时候容易出现的错误，并提出了改进的建议，希望大家能在平时的练习中多加注意和运用。以下为纯干货，大家一定要用心看完。易犯错误一：模板中的句型套用不正确，不完整

我们在书信结尾的时候会说I am looking forward to hearing from you.而学生却把这句话写成了I am looked forward to hear from you.这种现象非常普遍，可见，学生的写作态度并不是很认真，平时的练习中没有积累正确的用法，所以大家要善于总结固定搭配的用法。

要记得英语的时态很重要，会影响整个句子中动词、系动词等的形态。大家可千万不要一步错，步步错。

易犯错误二：模板中的句型和实际写作内容不匹配

有的图画作文第二段要求根据图画所表达的含义进行深层次的论证，而学生套用的句型却是第二段写对比的句型，显然是没有正确理解句型使用的语言背景。再比如：小作文的摘要，是要根据汉语文章归纳出中心内容进行英语写作，这个一般都是客观的描述，而学生却用了一个写图画作文的模板，通篇都是“我”认为，这如何又能得高分呢？

这样的错误会出现，不客气地说，就是没有好好动脑子，模板一背就上考场了。易犯错误三：模板套用千篇一律，没有新意

再好的模板，如果所有的学生都是用也就变成了一张白纸，没有任何亮点。而这个错误也正是急功近利的学生容易犯的。所以只背诵模板是不行的，一定要在考前总结出一套自己的“模板”，在考场上任意发挥。

毕竟，阅卷老师才是这个世界上见过模板最多的人，大家用的那些他们早就看腻了。

那么针对这些易犯错误，该如何改进，提高写作分数呢？ 第一，端正心态，保持认真的态度，强化英语基本功

作为一个考生，首先应该有端正的考试心态，答题一定要非常认真仔细，那么对于写作来说，就应该尽量避免我们常说的“低级错误”，比如：拼写错误，单词使用错误。

还有常见的搭配错误，如给某人提供某物，provide sb.with sth.这个介词with就不能换成of。

只有在平时注意积累，注意改正自己的错误，才会避免低级错误，才会运用正确的语法结构。

第二，重视动笔之前的审题和构思

动笔之前，一定要认真审题和构思，要尽量明确写作的形式，内容。比如，是写书信，还是通过图画表达含义等等，这些要弄明白。然后要注意看写作要求，这一点至关重要。比如，图画作文的第二段，有的要求用实例证明主题思想，有的要求深化主题，这两个不同的要求所体现出来的具体内容是不一样的，如果没有认真审题的话，见题就写，没有严谨的写作思路，很容易造成跑题，偏题，不符题意的错误，也就不能使模板中的句型和内容相匹配。

关于写作的思路这不是一天能练成的，还是建议大家早点准备这一块，哪怕你看到一个作文题目，先不用动笔，让自己先构思要写什么主题，再细分每一段写哪些内容。一般以3-5个小段为佳。

第三，学会活用模板，注重素材的积累，同时要适当加入自己的内容

我们在初练写作的时候套用模板是正常的事情，也是一个必经的过程，只有先试用别人的东西，才能学习和积累写作素材。模板要活学活用，不要一字不差的照抄无误，而是要根据自己所要表达的内容进行更改。

写作也不一定要字字句句都是难词，长句，而是要学会运用一些常见词的常见短语去表达，长短结合，这样才能真正显示写作的水平。这就要求学生在平时的学习中注意积累常用的短语或者词组，以备写作之用。而要想获得老师们的青睐呢，就要给自己的语言进行升级，用出彩的语言去给老师不一样的惊喜。大家可以入一本英语一用的张国静的《写作160篇》，（英语二用写作宝中宝）分类归纳了短文写作的核心词汇，有社会热点类的、文化交流类的等等，还能帮助你在经典模板的基础上升级语言和写作构思，很实用。

另外，关于写作素材，不仅仅指写作常用的词汇，句型或者语法结构，还要包括所用的事例。

比如：2001年的写作真题，要求写“爱心”，第二段要求用实例证明主题。有的考生见题就写“我考试面临很大的压力，我的朋友是如何帮助我排解压力的”，这显然就是素材贫乏造成的后果。题目中的“爱心”是指“大爱”，陌生人互帮互助的心态。如果写“汶川地震，希望工程”这类事例，显然非常符合题目要求，而且事例又广为人知，比写“朋友如何帮助我”更生动，更有说服力。因此，在平常的练习中要注意从阅读中积累素材，积累词句，而不要仅仅局限于模板之中。

这一点我觉得与中文写作是互通的，大家注意审题仔细，下笔不要跑偏。最后提醒大家，模板只是给了考生一个写作的思路和框架，但是要想获得高分，就要在框架之上填加自己的内容，把模板变成自己的东西，只有文章中有自己的内容，才会吸引判卷老师的眼球！祝大家取得好成绩。