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And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。
Today, we talk about burning and the effects of extreme heat.
今天，我们来谈论燃烧和极端高温的影响。
There is a special word for this.
这里有一个特别的词。
Scorch is a damaged area or mark that is caused by burning.
“Scorch”的意思是由燃烧造成的受损区域或痕迹。
Scorch is also a verb.
“Scorch”也是动词。
When we scorch something, we burn it.
我们把某个东西“scorch”，意思是说，我们把它烧焦了。
But scorch sounds more serious than a burn.
但“scorch”听起来比“burn”更严重。
For example, I would not say I scorched dinner. I would say I burned it.
例如，当我说我把晚餐烧糊了，我会用“burned”而不会用“scorched”。
Sometimes we use it to describe a verb meaning to produce extreme heat.
有时我们把它用作动词，意思是产生极端的高温。
For example, the sun scorched the bare earth.
例如，太阳把光秃秃的土地烤焦了。
And that brings us to today's expression—scorched-earth.
那我们就此提到了今天的短语——scorched-earth。
Scorched-earth describes a kind of policy or way of doing something.
“Scorched-earth”指的是一种做某事的政策或方式。
For example, it is a kind of military policy.
例如，它是一种军事政策。
This policy makes sure that all resources—houses, food crops, factories, vehicles—are destroyed before an enemy can use them.
这项政策确保所有资源——房屋、粮食作物、工厂、车辆——在敌人使用之前被摧毁。
You destroy all things of value so that they cannot be used against you.
你摧毁了所有有价值的东西，这样它们就不能被用来对付你了。
A scorched-earth approach is also used in the world of business.
焦土战术也被用于商界。
It is similar to the military policy.
这与军事政策类似。
A scorched-earth approach is when a company gets rid of the best parts of its business during a hostile takeover.
焦土战术指的是一家公司在敌意收购期间除掉其业务中最好的部分。
This is to make it less appealing to another company that might want to buy it.
这是为了降低它对另一家可能想要收购它的公司的吸引力。
In both military and business, a scorched-earth approach is often a last-ditch effort.
无论是在军事上还是在商业上，焦土战术往往都是最后一搏。
We turn to a last-ditch effort when everything else has failed.
当其他一切都失败时，我们就只能做最后的努力了。
Everything. Once everything is destroyed...there is no going back.
所有的一切。一旦一切都被摧毁了……就没有回头路可走了。
It is a "point of no return."
这是一条“不归路”。
Burning bridges is a related expression.
“Burning bridges”是一个相关短语。
We wrote about this in an earlier Words and Their Stories.
我们在往期的《词汇掌故》节目中提到过这个短语。
This expression is often used in personal relationships.
这个短语经常用于人际关系中。
If you burn your bridges, you destroy your relationships.
如果你破釜沉舟，你就毁了你的人际关系。
Again, there is no going back and saying you are sorry.
再说一次，没有回头路，也没有道歉的余地。
However, when you burn bridges, relationships with others is the only thing you are destroying.
然而，当你破釜沉舟时，你唯一破坏的是与他人的关系。
So, these two expressions—burning bridges and scorched-earth are not interchangeable.
所以，“burning bridges”和“scorched-earth”这两个短语是不能互换的。
But they have a similar goal—destruction.
但它们有一个相似的目标——毁灭。
Let's say a friend of mine, Georgina, was a talent agent.
假设我的一个朋友乔治娜是一名人才代理人。
She represented many successful writers, artists and musicians in a large city.
她在一个大城市给许多成功的作家、艺术家和音乐家做代理。
When the business got too big, she opened an agency with her friend, Stephanie.
当生意做得太大时，她和她的朋友斯蒂芬妮开了一家代理公司。
They grew the company, and it was very profitable.
她们的公司不断扩大，利润非常丰厚。
Georgina had all the contacts, but Stephanie knew how to oversee a company—maybe too well.
乔治娜拥有所有的人脉，但斯蒂芬妮知道如何监管公司——也许应该说是非常擅长。
One day, Georgina arrived to the office to find herself locked out!
一天，乔治娜来到办公室，发现自己被锁在外面了！
Her "friend" had tricked her into signing away her rights to the company.
她的“朋友”骗她签字放弃了她对公司的权利。
Georgina was out. She found that legally there was nothing she could do.
乔治娜出局了。她发现在法律上她无能为力。
So, she did the only thing she could do.
所以，她做了她唯一能做的事。
She took a scorched-earth approach.
她采取了焦土战术。
Georgina knew the most valuable things the company owned were the contacts she had.
乔治娜知道公司拥有的最有价值的东西是她拥有的人脉。
So, she burned all her bridges and destroyed the relationships with all those contacts.
因此，她破釜沉舟，毁掉了和那些联系人的关系。
It took her awhile. But, in time, the agency failed.
这花了她一段时间。但是，随着时间的推移，这家代理公司倒闭了。
Stephanie is still looking for work.
斯蒂芬妮还在找工作。
But Georgina moved to a beautiful island and opened a restaurant.
但乔治娜搬到了一个美丽的小岛，开了一家餐馆。
And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories! Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.
以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。下次见……我是安娜·马特奥。
