VOA词汇掌故2023 举起红旗

Raise a Red Flag

举起红旗

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning¹ English.

现在，《词汇掌故》，来自美国之音学习英语。

Red is nature's color of warning³. Animals and plants with bright red colors are sometimes dangerous for other animals to eat.

红色是大自然的警示色。鲜艳红色的动植物有时对其他动物来说是危险的。

Many Western countries also use red color for warnings⁴. Red lights at train and road crossings warn² drivers to stop. Red, as well as yellow, road signs tell people to be careful in dangerous areas.

许多西方国家也使用红色作为警告。火车和十字路口的红灯警告司机停车。红色和黄色的路标告诉人们在危险区域要小心。

And if you see a red flag on an ocean beach, that means⁵ the water is too dangerous for swimming.

如果你在海滩上看到一面红旗，那意味着水对游泳来说太危险了。

That brings us to today's expression: a red flag.

这就引出了今天的表述：红旗。

If we say something is a red flag, that means we think it will likely cause problems or lead to danger. Let's hear how this expression is used in conversation:

如果我们说某件事是红旗，那意味着我们认为它可能会引发问题或导致危险。让我们来听听这个表达式是如何在对话中使用的：

A: Did you know that Mary has a new boyfriend?

A： 你知道玛丽有了新男友吗？

B: Yes, but I'm kind of surprised at her choice.

B： 是的，但我对她的选择有些惊讶。

A: Why?

A： 为什么？

B: Well, he doesn't have a job, for one thing. And he was dismissed⁶ from his last two jobs.

B： 首先，他没有工作。他被解雇了最后两份工作。

A: Ooo. That seems like a red flag.

A： 哦。这似乎是一个警示。

B: It is a red flag, if you ask me!

B： 如果你问我，这是一个警示！

In this example, the speakers think the boyfriend's work experience should be a warning to Mary.

在这个例子中，对话者认为男朋友的工作经历应该给玛丽一个警告。

We can also say something is a bad sign to mean the same thing as a red flag.

我们也可以说某个东西是一个坏信号，意思和红旗一样。

Many states in the United⁷ States have laws that try to prevent dangerous people from having guns. These laws are commonly called red flag laws.

美国许多州都有法律试图防止危险人群拥有枪支。这些法律通常被称为红旗法律。

When someone expresses concern or a warning over something, we say the person raises a red flag. For example, if people worry that a leader is making bad decisions, they might say those decisions are raising red flags.

当有人对某事表示担忧或警告时，我们说该人举起了红旗。例如，如果人们担心某位领导人做出了错误的决定，他们可能会说这些决定会引发危险。

As you can see, we use the expression red flag in many situations.

正如您所看到的，我们在许多情况下都使用红色标志。

We use it mainly to warn about other people's behavior rather than natural dangers.

我们主要使用它来警告他人的行为，而不是自然危险。

Unless you are at the beach. In that case, a red flag means you should stay out of the water!

除非你在海滩。在这种情况下，红旗意味着你应该远离水！

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 warn   

vt.警告，注意，远离；vi.提醒

参考例句：

• I must warn you that my patience is almost at an end.我必须警告你我已经没有耐心了。
• If you warn me in advance,I will have your order ready for you.你若预先通知我，我就能给您准备好了。

3 warning   

n.警告，告诫，训诫，警戒，警报

参考例句：

• The other side paid no attention to our warning.对方不重视我方的警告。
• He realized that his doctor was warning him off drink.他意识到医生在告诫他戒酒。

4 warnings   

n.发出警告( warning的名词复数 )；征候；（解雇、辞职等的）预先通知；可引以为戒的事（或人）

参考例句：

• Early warnings of rising water levels prevented another major catastrophe. 提前发出的洪水水位上涨警报防止了又一次的重大灾害。
• Warnings were issued to people living downwind of the fire to stay indoors. 已经向住在火势下风处的人们发出不要出门的警告。

5 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

6 dismissed   

v.解雇( dismiss的过去式和过去分词 )；（使击球员或球队）退场；使退去；驳回

参考例句：

• Vegetarians are no longer dismissed as cranks. 素食者不再被视为有怪癖的人。
• He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。

7 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。