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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 being in a good place.
今天我们谈论的是身处一个好地方。
And we begin with an old American pop singer.
我们从一位老美国流行歌手开始。
When Karen Carpenter sings about being "on top of the world," she describes feeling happy, thankful, and being in a great place.
当卡伦·卡朋特唱“on top of the world（《世界之巅》）”时，她描述的是快乐、感激和处于一个很棒的地方的感觉。
If you are on top of the world, you are in a great position.
on top of the world的意思是你处于一个很棒的位置。
You are happy with life.
你对生活很满意。
When things are really going your way, you can also say you are sitting pretty.
当事情真的如你所愿时，你也可以说sit pretty。
Sitting pretty, means you are in a very favorable situation.
Sitting pretty的意思是你处于非常有利的位置。
You love your job.
你热爱你的工作。
You have a nice home.
你有一个不错的家。
And your finances are in good order.
你的财务状况也很好。
This expression can also mean you are in a good, safe, and secure position.
这个短语也可以表示你处于一个很好的、安全的、稳定的位置。
You don't need to worry about the future.
你不需要担心未来。
It can also mean you are in an advantageous position.
它也可以表示你处于有利位置。
For example, when a friend of mine bought property, she found herself in a price war with another buyer.
例如，当我的一位朋友购置房产时，她发现自己与另一位买家陷入了价格战。
However, she was sitting pretty for several reasons: She offered a big down payment and a flexible move-in date.
然而，她处境优越，原因如下：她提供了一大笔首付和灵活的入住日期。
This example shows how sitting pretty can have a little difference in meaning than other similar expressions.
这个例子表明，sitting pretty与其他类似的短语在意思上有一点儿不同。
It can suggest that you are in a good situation, especially when others are not.
它可以表示你的处境很好，尤其是当其他人处境不好的时候。
As we said, we have other expressions that mean about the same thing as being on top the world and sitting pretty.
正如我们所说的，我们还有其他短语，意思和on top the world和sitting pretty相同。
If you are in a great situation and have a favorable position, you can also say you have it made.
如果你的处境很好，处于有利的位置，你也可以说you have it made。
You are ahead of the game.
你处于领先地位。
You are going places.
你可能获得成功。
If you feel great about your life and just feel great in general, you might say you are on cloud nine.
如果你对自己的生活感觉良好，总体上感觉良好，你可以说你乐不可支。
The origin of this cloud expression comes from the field of agriculture.
这个短语起源于农业领域。
The Farmer's Almanac explains that scientists wanted to make recording cloud observations easier.
《农民年鉴》解释说，科学家们想让云的观测记录变得更容易。
So, they rated clouds zero to nine.
因此，他们把云层分成10级（0-9级）。
Zero represented the lowest clouds and nine the highest clouds.
零代表最低的云，九代表最高的云。
Word experts say this is where the expression to be on cloud nine probably comes from.
词汇专家表示，这可能就是be on cloud nine这个短语的由来。
If you're on cloud nine you'll be very high up which may also describe your feelings.
be on cloud nine表示非常兴奋，这个短语也可以描述你的感受。
And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.
以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。
When it comes to your English studies, we hope all of you are on cloud nine.
谈到你们的英语学习，我们希望你们都非常兴奋。
Until next time … I'm Anna Matteo.
下次见……我是安娜·马特奥。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
