And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.

现在是美国之音慢速英语单词故事节目。

Are you feeling overworked?

你觉得工作过度了吗?

Are you so concerned with moving up in your career that you feel stressed and unhappy?

你是否因为太过关注自己的职业发展而感到压力和不开心?

If so, maybe it is time for you to stop and smell the roses.

如果是这样的话，也许是时候让自己停下来，忙里偷闲，闻闻玫瑰花香，看看沿途的风景享受生活。

People who need to stop and smell the roses should stop working so hard.

那些需要停下来闻闻玫瑰花香享受生活的人应该停止这么辛苦地工作。

They need to slow down and take time to appreciate the many things that life has to offer.

他们需要放慢脚步，花时间去欣赏生活所给予的许多东西。

Often this means enjoying the wonders of nature – looking at stars in the night sky,

通常这意味着享受大自然的奇观——仰望夜空中的星星，

feeling the wind blowing your hair, smelling flowers growing near a busy street.

感受微风吹拂过头发，闻一闻生长在繁忙街道附近鲜花的花香。

But the flowers do not have to be roses.

但这些花不一定是玫瑰。

While this expression relates to roses, it can be anything rather small or even commonplace.

虽然这个表达和玫瑰有关，但它可以是任何细小的，甚至是普通的东西。

These things may seem small but they can give us great joy.

这些东西可能看起来微不足道，但它们能给我们带来巨大的快乐。

The thing that you stop to watch could be an old married couple holding hands,

你停下来驻足观看的可能是一对牵手的老夫妻，

a child jumping in a puddle or a musician performing by your bus stop.

一个跳进水坑的小孩，或者是在公交车站表演的音乐家。

These are the things -- simple but beautiful things --

这些事物—简单但美丽—

that we often walk by in a hurry to get to our next appointment.

可我们经常会因为赶赴下一个约会而匆匆走过忽略掉。

Very ambitious, highly driven people often need to stop and smell the roses.

雄心勃勃、干劲十足的人经常需要停下脚步闻闻玫瑰花的香味，享受一下生活。

We sometimes call this kind of person Type A.

我们有时把这种人称为a型人。

Such people often do not know when to sit back and stop working.

这种人往往不知道什么时候该坐下来休息，停止工作。

So, they may have a hard time slowing down and doing something as simple as smelling flowers.

所以，他们可能很难放慢脚步，做一些像闻花这样简单的事情。

But you know, maybe for a Type A person, the best thing in the world might be working.

但是你知道，也许对于a型人来说，世界上最好的事情就是工作。

In that case, stopping to smell the roses may give them no joy at all.

在这种情况下，停下来闻闻玫瑰的香味，忙里偷闲可能根本不会给他们带来快乐。

Maybe smelling flowers gives them an allergic reaction.

也许闻花会让他们产生过敏反应。

Maybe the person has many mouths to feed at home and does not have time to stop and smell the roses.

也许这个人家里有很多人要养活，没有时间停下来闻闻玫瑰花的香味，享受生活。

People and their situations are complex.

人们和他们的处境都是复杂的。

Now, we turn to another "rose" expression: Every rose has its thorns.

现在，我们来看另一个关于“玫瑰”的表达:每朵玫瑰都是带刺的。

Roses come in many colors and many are beautiful.

玫瑰有很多颜色，很多都很漂亮。

Also, some of the flowers give off a wonderful smell.

此外，一些散发出一种美妙的气味。

No one can argue with that.

没有人能否认这一点。

But most roses have something that is not very nice – thorns.

但是大多数玫瑰都带有一些不太好的东西—刺。

Thorns stick out from the stem of the plant.

刺从植物的茎中伸展出来。

They can cut into the skin and make you bleed. They hurt!

它们会划破皮肤，让你流血。它们会伤到人!

Every rose has its thorns means that everything usually has a bad side – even beautiful things.

每朵玫瑰都带刺，这意味着任何事物都有不好的一面——即使是美好的事物。

This expression can also mean that a thorn does not take away from a rose's beauty.

这个表达也可以表示有刺并不会有损玫瑰的美丽。

Are the thorns unpleasant when they cut us? Well, yes.

刺扎我们的时候，会不会不舒服?嗯,是的。

But is the rose still beautiful and worthwhile to have? Again … yes!

但玫瑰是否依然美丽，值得拥有?再一次……是的!

We need to respect the beauty of roses and the thing that can hurt us – the thorn.

我们需要尊重玫瑰的美丽和其伤害我们的东西——刺。

Thorns help protect the plant from plant-eating animals.

刺有助于保护植物免受食草动物的伤害。

So, they serve a purpose.

所以，它们的存在也是有目的的。

Maybe flowers are as complex as we are.

也许花和我们人类一样复杂。

Which expression best describes your feelings right now:

现在哪种表达方式最能描述你的感受：

to stop and smell the roses or every rose has its thorns?

停下来闻闻玫瑰的香味，还是每朵玫瑰都有刺?

And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.

以上就是本期单词故事节目的全部内容。

Join us again next week as we explore more expressions in American English.

下周再和我们一起学习，我们将探索更多美式英语的表达方式。

Until next time … I'm Anna Matteo!

我们下次再见，安娜·马特奥为您播报。