《芭比》不單單只是回憶童年的電影，其提出生活中的性別平等（gender equality）、父權主義（patriarchy）等議題深入人心，劇中的芭比迷Gloria經歷進入社會、婚姻育兒之後對真人芭比的肺腑之言，反映出女性為了追逐社會期待，內心中的迷失感；這段獨白引起了大眾討論與認同，被評為奧斯卡等級（Oscar worthy）的發言，而透過這邊我們可以更以學習幾個很重要的TOEIC常用單字以及句型，我們一起看這段話學習多益英文。
From movie “Barbie:”
“It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.”
Photo courtesy of 123rf / 照片:123RF提供
“You have to be thin, but not too thin. ... You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. . . It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.”
literally 確實地
這個字裡頭包含字根lit-指「（閱）讀」、「文字」，常見的例子包含：literacy (識字率)、literature(文學)等等。
副詞literally 在這裡就是「強調某個敘述的事實性與精準性」，這樣的事實往往是超乎人們的預料的，請見例句：
It is literally impossible to be a woman.(當好一個女人確實就是不可能。)
Taiwan Music Festival is famous among young Taiwanese. There were literally millions of people participating in the festival this year.
(台灣祭在台灣年輕人中廣為流行，今年真的就有（字面上地）數百萬人參與這次的活動。)
另外 literally 還另一個語意就是「字面上的」，他通常會在跨語言翻譯中出現，例如：
The Chinese idiom ren shan ren hai, literally translated to “people mountain people sea”, is used to describe a place crowded with people. (人山人海這個成語字面上翻譯即是people mountain people sea，是用來形容一個地方擠滿了人。)
kill 使極度痛苦
kill 當動詞用除了「殺死」這個用法之外，他也可以用於形容某件事物造成人的激烈情緒起伏，請看以下例句：
It kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough.
(我實在心痛如絞，看著你是如此聰慧美麗卻（因他人外在期待）覺得自己不夠好)
I could hardly sleep last night because my back pain was killing me.
(我昨晚幾乎不能睡因為我的背痛讓我極度痛苦。)
kill 還有另一個顛倒用法，他可以用來指一件事物讓讓人覺得非常好笑，請看例句：
The stand-up comedy was so much fun. The comedian was killing me laughing.
(那次脫口秀真的好有趣，那個喜劇演員讓我笑得半死。）
suppose 應該
指的是「被大眾或是社會普遍期待或是要求」，用法上會特別跟社會上的規範有關聯，如對白中描述了女人要美貌端莊是為了應該維持各種關係上的禮貌。
You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood.（你應該要為了男人保持美麗，但同時不能太美，因為你會過度魅惑男人或者你會威脅到其他的女人的生存，你應該要好好維持跟其他女人的好姐妹關係。）
Stop telling your children what they are supposed to do. They are grown-ups and they should make choices on their own and face consequences.
(不要再告訴孩子應該要做什麼，他們已經長大，該自己作決定並承擔責任。)
suppose 是一個常見的意思是「猜想、假設」，他可以直接放於句首也可至於句中，後面接上that 所引導的名詞子句:
Suppose that you have a magic key that can open anything. What would you choose to open? ( 假設你有一隻能開任何物品的鑰匙，你會想開啟什麼呢？）
It is absurd to suppose that people in our lives are always trying to take advantage of us.
(一直假設生命中的每個人都要來占我們便宜，是很荒謬的一件事。）
contradictory 矛盾的
字根contra- 帶有「相反的」，例如contrary「相反的」，而另一個字根 -dict-「說」，例如dictator 「獨裁者（意指唯一發號施令的人）」，兩個字根組合在一起contradictory「矛盾的（兩邊說的東西相反）」，我們來看看更多延伸的例句：
When the police asked Linda where she was yesterday morning, she told the police she was home. However, her neighbor gave a contradictory statement, saying that he saw Linda leaving home with a huge suitcase at 8 a.m. yesterday.
(當警方問Linda 昨天早上在哪裡時，說她都在家。然而她的鄰居提供相反的證詞，說他看見Linda 在早上八點時就提著大行李箱出門了。)
其中一個需要釐清的概念是contradictary 跟 contrary 的差別，兩者某種意義上都有表示兩方說法不相同甚至是相反的意味，但是主要差異在於contradictary本身就假設了其中一個說法是對的，而另一個因為矛盾所以是錯誤的，如上面的例子中Linda跟鄰居的證詞，在這樣的敘述下，說這句話的人已經假設一定有一方是正確的，但contrary 則沒有這個假設，只是單純陳述兩的提議的討論方向不同。如以下例句，大家的看法並沒有所謂的正確或錯誤，只是單純跟說話者經歷的情況不同而已。
Contrary to what I have heard from most students, Prof. Lee treats me very well.
(跟我從大部分學生聽到的不同，李教授對我很好。）
【TOEIC模擬試題】
1. I feel confused when I received _____ advice from the same committee member.
(A) beneficial
(B) contradictory
(C) practical
(D) confidential
2. You _____ make a reservation earlier if you want to celebrate Father’s Day in that famous restaurant.
(A) supposed to
(B) suppose to
(C) are supposed to
(D) are supposing to
【解析】
1. 正解為(B)。本題為單字題，句意為「當我從同一位委員身上得到相反矛盾的意見時我很困惑。」各選項意思分別為(A) beneficial 有幫助的、(B) contradictory 矛盾的、(C) practical 實際的、(D) confidential 機密的，(B)最符合句義。
2. 正解為(C)。本題是文法題，句意為「如果你想在那間著名餐廳慶祝父親節，你應該要更早提前預約。」be supposed to 為固定用法表示「（大眾普遍認知的）應該」，故選(C)。
SOURCE: https://www.toeic.com.tw/info/article/toeic-power/news/barbiethemovie
文章由TOEIC Program Taiwan · Chun Shin提供：
www.facebook.com/ToeicProgramTaiwan
Historians are rethinking the way the Holocaust is being presented in museums as the world marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the last Nazi concentration camps this month. Shocking images of the mass killings of Jews were “used massively at the end of World War II to show the violence of the Nazis,” historian Tal Bruttmann, a specialist on the Holocaust, told AFP. But in doing so “we kind of lost sight of the fact that is not normal to show” such graphic scenes of mass murder, of people being humiliated and dehumanized, he said. Up to this
A ‘Dutch angle’ is a classic camera technique that has been used in filmmaking since the 1920s, when it was introduced to Hollywood by German Expressionists. Why is it called the Dutch angle if it’s actually German? In fact, it has no __1__ to the Netherlands. The term “Dutch” is widely believed to be a misinterpretation of “Deutsch,” which means German in the German language. In any event, the name stuck, and the Dutch angle remains a popular cinematic tool to this day. This technique involves tilting the camera on its x-axis, skewing the shot to create a sense of
When people listen to music today, they typically use streaming services like YouTube or Spotify. However, traditional formats like vinyl records have regained popularity in recent times. Vinyl records are circular discs that store music in grooves on their surfaces and are played on a turntable. As the turntable’s needle runs along these grooves, it picks up vibrations and translates them into sound. The history of vinyl records dates back to the late 1800s, but material and technological challenges delayed mass production until the 1950s. Despite early versions having short playtimes and poor sound quality, vinyl records introduced a new era
Dos & Don’ts — 想想看，這句話英語該怎麼說？ 1. 能做的事都做了。 ˇ All that could be done has been done. χ All that could be done have been done. 註︰all 指事情或抽象概念時當作單數。例如： All is well that ends well. （結果好就是好。） All is over with him. （他已經沒希望了。） That’s all for today. （今天到此為止。） all 指人時應當作複數。例如： All of us are interested in his proposal. All of us are doing our best. 2. 我們這麼做有益於我們的健康。 ˇ What we are doing is good for our health. χ What we are doing are good for our health. 註︰以關係代名詞 what 引導的作為主詞的子句，動詞用單數。如： What he said is true. 3. 大家都沿著步道跑。 ˇ Everybody runs along the trail. χ Everybody run along the trail. 註︰everyone 是指一大群人，但在文法上一般用單數。 4. 桌上有一本筆記本和兩支筆。 ˇ There were two
RSS