读读《肖申克的救赎》的原著
电影确实经典，豆瓣点赞最高的短评写道“忒经典的东西，我要带去我的坟墓”。有人从中看到了友谊，有人感受到希望与自由，不同阶段再看一遍，总会有新的解读和收获。
关于看电影学英文，我的一个心得是遇到心爱的电影就要“物尽其用”。
看电影前可以读读英文网站上的介绍（比如 IMDb，Rotten Tomatoes），看的时候可以练听力、模仿发音、拿小本本或者截图学表达，看完之后可以读读英文影评，了解一下演员信息和娱乐新闻，读剧本或者原著。这样做看起来比较辛苦，但是若是真的喜欢便会享受其中乐此不疲。
《肖申克的救赎》改编自 Stephen King 的 Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption，是短篇小说集 Different Seasons 中的一篇，只有一百多页 。如果你喜欢这部电影，恰好也喜欢英文，读一读它的原版小说吧。换个方式看故事，找“彩蛋”（比如书中并没有那幕经典的“圣经藏锤”），顺便还能学点儿英文。
挑了 五个表达和两段话，一起学学。
1. He had gotten drunk that afternoon—"I took on a double helping of Dutch courage" is how he put it—before taking on Linda.
Dutch courgage 可以理解为“酒壮怂人胆”，有关 Dutch 的表达都很好玩，比如 Dutch uncle/wife。
2. I think it's possible that lie could have passed a lie detector test with flying colours.
pass xxx with flying colours 非常实用。临近期末，May you pass all the tests with flying colours。
3. With words like those I could understand how he had gotten a reputation for being the snobby sort, the kind of guy who likes to put on airs—but I sensed a tiny thread of humour in his question.
snobby 和 put on airs 都有“装腔作势”的意思，想表达某人喜欢“装x”，就可以用 xx likes to put on airs。
4. He probably knew it too, but he wasn't kowtowing or sucking up to me, and I respect him for that.
kowtow 本意是“磕头”，可以理解为“跪舔”“唯命是从”；suck up to someone 就是“拍马屁”。书中还出现了类似的表达“humour”，表示“迎合”，也是个实用的表达。
5. Whether you turst her or not is immaterial.
我们都熟悉 material 是“材料”的意思，其实它还可以作为形容词表示“重要的”，因此 immaterial 就是“不重要的”，我们可以用它替换动词 matter/count 等。顺便说，materialize 也是个好词，可以用来替换 happen。
整本书中印象最深的是这段话：
I think Andy may have been wrestling with that tiger—that institutional syndrome—and also with the bulking fears that all of it might have been for nothing.
理论上说，Andy 可以提前八年越狱，为什么没有呢？Red 分析说其中很重要的原因可能是 Andy 害怕了，万一失败了怎么办？反正都习惯了监狱的生活，就继续熬着呗？于是便有了上面这段话。
这让我想到了《老人与海》中的一段：
It was too good last, he thought. I wish it had been a dream now and that I had never hooked the fish and was alone in bed on the newspapers.
“But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
老人虽然勇猛，但也怀疑过动摇过: 干嘛不好好的过日子非得出来作？但是既然选择了，那就来吧，死而无憾。他也曾迷茫过，面对一轮又一轮的鲨鱼，他开始胡思乱想，好在他强大到可以控制自己的大脑，他命令自己:
Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.
承认自己的软弱、恐惧，hope 才能开花结果，给你勇气和信念。
Remember that hope is a good thing, Red, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.
读英文原版书刊
学立刻就能用的地道英文
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