介绍:
Today we will be talking about an animal —the rat.
今天我们要谈论一种动物——老鼠。
英语中，有关rat的表达，真的每一个是好的！因为，如果你想表达最近经常发生的不好的事情，直接说一个“Rat！”就好了！而且这个词相对于F或者C开头的那些词，来的普遍和礼帽哦！
不过，说某人是Rat，意思就是说，这个人是个不忠诚、不守信的人，往往指背叛者或者告密者。比如，I smell rat.可以表示“我感觉自己被背叛了”的意思，或者表示“我有不祥的预兆！”
rat用作动词是，一般会说：To rat on someone（告发某人），意味着背叛你所爱的人，朋友或你认识的人。
If you rat on someone，that will makes you a rat， or worse——a rat fink！
如果你告密，那你就成了背叛者，或者加上一个fink，就更严重——表示你是一个卑鄙小人或者下贱的人！
好了，一下是英文全文！
It’s the truth. None of our rat expressions means anything good.
这是真的。我们所有和老鼠相关的表达都没有什么好东西。
The simplest way we use this word is to simply say, “Rats!”Americans often use this expression when something goes wrong.
这个词最简单的用法就是简短地说:“Rats!”美国人经常在发生一些不好的事情时使用这个短语。
The term is common and polite -- unlike some of our other expressions we might use when we are angry.
这个词很常见也属于礼貌性用语，并不像我们在生气时可能会用到的其他表达方式。
As we said earlier, rats have a good sense of smell. But smelling a rat isn’t good.
就像我们之前说过的，老鼠的嗅觉很敏锐。但是闻到老鼠的气味就不好了。
When we say, “I smell a rat!” we suspect that something is wrong.
当我们说:“我闻到了老鼠的味道!”（有不祥的预感）这意味着我们怀疑有什么不对劲。
If you feel that someone has betrayed you, you can say that you smell a rat.
如果你觉得有人背叛了你，你可以说你闻到了老鼠的味道。
A pack rat is not good, either. This is a person who keeps useless things.
a pack rat 也是一个贬义词，它意为（收藏的东西都是自己不需要的）垃圾收藏家，
And worse, they live with all the stuff they have collected.
更糟糕的是，他们和收集的所有东西生活在一起。
So, calling someone a "rat" is never an expression of respect or affection.
所以，称某人为“rat”（背叛者）从来都不是一种尊重他人或充满情感的表达。
When describing people, a “rat” is someone who is not loyal or cannot be trusted.
在描述人的时候，“rat”是指不忠诚或不可信的人。
A rat snitches on someone to an authority figure – a parent, a teacher, a police officer.
上位者经常告密如向家长，老师或警察。
As a verb, the word "rat" isn’t good either.
即使用作动词，“rat”这个词也不好。
To rat on someone means to betray a loved one, friend or someone else you know.
To rat on someone（告发某人）意味着背叛你所爱的人，朋友或你认识的人。
When you rat on someone, you tell on them.
当你背叛某人时，就相当于你告发了他们。
Let’s say you know that your brother ate the last piece of cake when he wasn’t supposed to.
假设你发现你的兄弟吃了最后一块他不应该吃蛋糕。
You rat on him to your parents.
你向父母告发了这件事。
Or maybe you rat on a colleague at work.
或者可能你在工作中会背叛你的同事。
Ratting on people, or tattling on them, will not win you friends.
背叛他人，或在他们背后打小报告，都会让你的朋友与你渐行渐远。
It just makes you a rat. Or worse -- a rat fink.
它只会让你变成一个背叛者。更糟的是，变成一个卑鄙，下贱之人（尤指告密者）。
The words tattling and tattletales are often used for children.
tattling和tattletales这些词经常用于儿童之间。
But ratting someone out or snitching on them can be for any age.
但是 ratting someone out （出卖某人）或 snitching on them（告发他们）可以用于任何年龄段。
No matter what your age, nobody likes to be called a rat, a snitch or a tattletale.
不管你多大，没有人喜欢被称为老鼠、告密者或搬弄是非的人。
However, it is a little different when the police are involved.
然而，当事情与警方相关的时候，情况就有所不同了。
Let’s say you have information about a crime.
假设你有关于罪犯的消息。
When the police begin asking questions, you decide to keep that information to yourself.
当警察开始讯问时，你决定隐瞒这些信息。
You may feel you don’t want to rat on someone else.
你可能是不想出卖别人。
However, nobody would blame you for sharing information with the police if it helps them catch a criminal.
但是，如果你把你知道的犯罪信息告诉警察，帮助他们抓住罪犯，没有人会责怪你的。
Well, another criminal might not approve.
好吧，另一个罪犯可能不会同意。
Most criminals have a different code of conduct among themselves: You don’t rat on fellow criminals to the police.
在大多数罪犯间，他们都不约而同的达成了一个共识:你不会将其他的犯罪分子泄露给警察。
In old police television shows and movies, you may hear one criminal criticize another who snitched to the police.
在以前的警匪电视剧和电影中，你可能听到一个罪犯批评另一个向警察告密的人。
They may say, "You dirty rat!"
他们可能会说:“你这肮脏的老鼠!”
You would not say that a hardened, possibly violent criminal tattled on another ... unless you were trying to be funny.
你不会说一个有暴力倾向的惯犯在向他人告密，除非你想搞笑。
So, when using the word “rat” in English know that the meaning is never a good one.
所以，在英语中使用“rat”这个词时，要知道“rat”这个词所代表的是不好的意思。
But in life, maybe we should take another look at rats and give them a chance.
但在生活中，也许我们应该再多看看老鼠，给它们一个机会。
And that brings us to the end of today's share.
今天的分享到此结束。
