PETS－2语法讲解(117)

　　Let the teapot stand for a few minutes.
　　对话
　　Frank: Teach me how to make a pot of tea.
　　Brian: Well, first of all you need a china teapot. Tea doesn't taste so good from a metal one.
　　Frank: What next?
　　Brian: Rinse out the teapot with very hot water to make it hot.
　　Frank: Then boil the kettle?
　　Brian: That's right. Then put two or three teaspoons of tea into the teapot,take the kettle to the pot and pour the boiling water over the tea.
　　Frank: Can you drink it straight away?
　　Brian: No, you have to let the teapot stand for a few minutes and then the tea will be ready to drink.
　　法郎克：教我怎样沏茶吧。
　　布赖恩：啊，你首先要有个瓷茶壶。用金属茶壶，茶的味道会差一点。
　　法郎克：然后呢？
　　布赖恩：用热水涮茶壶一次，把茶壶热热。
　　法郎克：然后煮一壶水？
　　布赖恩：不错。跟着，把两三匙茶叶舀进茶壶里，然后提起水壶到茶壶处，把沸水倒在茶叶上。
　　法郎克：可以马上喝了吗？
　　布赖恩：不可以。你得放着茶壶不动几分钟，然后茶就可以喝了。
　　布赖恩说，沏茶的步骤之一，是Rinse out the teapot with very hot water。Rinse即‘用清水冲洗’，常指洗去肥皂，例如：The dishes must be rinsed thoroughly（碗碟必须用清水彻底冲洗）。Rinse something out则有两个意思，一是‘把……冲洗掉’，一是‘冲洗整个器皿/口腔’，例如：(1) I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair（我洗去发上的洗发剂）。(2) She rinsed out her mouth（她漱口）。留意She rinsed her mouth也是说‘她漱口’，但rinsed out强调‘把水或漱口药水(mouthwash)含在口里滚动冲洗’。沏茶的另一步，是Boil the kettle。Kettle或teakettle即‘水壶’，put the kettle on是‘把水壶放在炉子上，开始煮水’。The kettle is boiling等于The water in the kettle is boiling（壶里的水开了）。英文有一句成语：A watched kettle never boils，直译是‘看着水壶，水永远不会煮沸’。换言之，你要是心急等待结果，时间就似乎过得特别慢。例如：His heart operation took four hours, but to me it seemed much longer: a watched kettle never boils（他的心脏手术做了四小时，但对我来说，时间似乎长得多：你心急的时候，一分钟都很难过）。布赖恩最后说：Let the teapot stand。Stand一字常见于食谱，指放着一些液体、制品等不动，例如：Let the cake stand and mature for two days before serving（在吃之前，把蛋糕放着两天，待其成熟，滋味变得醇厚）。