Clean up your act 改邪归正

Clean up your act 改邪归正 Play audio file 内容简介 菲菲为什么一直在埋头打扫卫生？是不是因为她犯了什么错，被老板批评了？同事Rob又向她伸出了援助之手。听节目，学习一个和“自我改进”有关的表达。 

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Rob

Hello welcome to Authentic Real English from BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.

Oh hello，大家好。我是冯菲菲。

Rob

Err , what are you doing?

Cleaning… this place is so dirty… in fact Rob, have you got any soap I could borrow?

Rob

, this isn't like you. You don't normally take cleaning so seriously.

哎呀，我也是没办法。老板说让打扫卫生 clean up my act，我只能埋头苦干了。

Rob

Oh , you can put down that cloth – he didn't literally mean do the cleaning. He wants you to improve your behaviour or your performance. Have you not been working very hard?

Helen

Who me? I always work hard… although I have had a lot of things to do at home… and I did make a few mistakes last week… and when I get stressed I start to shout at people…

Rob

Oh yes, I did hear you. Well I'm sure I can help you clean up your act – if you're sure you know what that means?

Yes. 原来在英语中，to clean up your act 这个表达和打扫卫生并没有关系，它其实要表达的意思是让某人开始遵守规定或改掉坏习惯，改邪归正。咱们来听几个例句。

Examples

I used to drink a lot of alcohol but when I got ill, I decided to clean up my act and now I only drink cola!

He turned up late for work every day looking a real mess, so they told him to clean up his act or face losing his job.

那么也就是说我老板让我 clean up my act 并没有让我打扫卫生或者表演节目。

Rob

No – acting here means behaviour – although your acting on this programme is excellent! So come on then, when are you going to start cleaning up your act?

Right now. 我从现在开始就全身心投入工作，认认真真的，争取一个错误都不犯。

Would you mind checking this script for Authentic Real English?

Rob

Sure. Let's have a look… perfect! You can tell the boss you've started with a clean slate.

A clean slate 一块干净的石板 - what does that mean?

Rob

I'll tell you another time. Ooops, I've knocked my coffee over…

Oh dear Rob. It looks like you've got to clean up the studio. Do you need this cloth?

Rob

Thanks!