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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。
If you live in a part of the world that is experiencing winter right now, it might be snowing.
如果你生活在世界上正在经历冬天的地区，那里可能正在下雪。
But even if you do not live in a snowy climate, try to image cold, snowy weather.
但是，即使你不生活在下雪的气候中，也要试着想象寒冷、下雪的天气。
Imagine having a snowball fight with your friends.
想象一下和你的朋友打雪仗的情景。
A snowball is, of course, a ball of snow.
snowball当然指的就是一团雪球。
But not all snow makes good snowballs.
但并不是所有的雪都能做成好雪球。
If the snow is too light and dry, it will not hold together.
如果雪又轻又干，它就不会粘在一起。
It is powdery.
它是粉状的。
Wetter snow makes for great snowballs.
更潮湿的雪能做成大雪球。
You can pack it into a tight ball, which is great for throwing.
你可以把它做成一个紧实的雪球，这非常有利于投掷。
A snowball might hurt a bit, but it would not cause a lot of damage.
被雪球砸到可能会有点疼，但不会造成太大的伤害。
But imagine that snowball rolling down a hill.
但想象一下，从山上滚下来的雪球。
As it rolls, it picks up more and more snow.
随着它不断滚动，它会累积越来越多的雪。
It gets bigger and bigger until it crashes into something and causes damage!
它变得越来越大，直到它撞到什么东西并造成损害！
And that gives us "snowball" as a verb.
由此我们就有了“snowball（滚雪球般迅速增大）”这个动词。
Dictionary.com defines the verb "snowball" as becoming "larger, greater, more intense..." very quickly.
Dictionary.com对动词“snowball”的定义是：以非常快的速度“变得更大”。
If something like a project, campaign, or business snowballs, its progress rapidly increases and grows.
如果诸如项目、活动或业务之类的事情不断扩大，意思是进展迅速。
For example, after a photographer posted a picture on Instagram of a monkey protecting a human baby, her followers snowballed to over 1 million within a week!
例如，在一位摄影师在Instagram上发布了一张猴子保护人类婴儿的照片后，她的粉丝数量在一周内滚雪球般增加到100多万！
However, when we use this expression the ending results are usually not good.
然而，当我们使用这个短语时，最终的结果通常不太好。
Something that snowballs in a bad way goes downhill quickly.
以不好的方式迅速扩大的事物每况愈下。
For example, when we do not take care of small problems, they can snowball into bigger ones.
例如，当我们不注意小问题时，它们可能会像滚雪球般变成更大的问题。
Now, let's hear an example using the verb "snowball."
现在，我们来听一个使用动词“snowball”的例子。
I have a friend who lied about knowing sign language on her resume.
我有个朋友在简历上谎称会手语。
She thought no one would ask her to actually prove she knew sign language.
她认为没有人会真的要求她证明自己懂手语。
But her boss asked her to.
但她的老板要求她证明。
In fact, he set up a big meeting with the deaf community and assigned her to act as translator.
事实上，他与聋人社区召开了一次大型会议，并指派她担任翻译。
She lied about why she could not attend the event.
她谎报了自己不能参加活动的原因。
But her boss surprised her with an unplanned meeting.
但她的老板出乎她意料地开了一次计划外的会议。
That is when he found out that she did not know how to sign.
就在那时，他发现她不知道如何打手语。
Her lie on her resume quickly snowballed into a workplace drama that got her fired from her job.
她在简历上的谎言迅速演变成一场职场闹剧，导致她被解雇。
Next, let's talk about the expression snowball effect.
接下来，我们来谈谈“雪球效应”这个短语。
A snowball effect is a situation where one action or event causes many other similar actions or events.
“雪球效应”是指一个行动或事件导致许多其他类似的行动或事件发生的情况。
And these actions or events grow and grow bigger and more problematic – just like a snowball rolling down a hill.
这些行动或事件变得越来越大，越来越有问题——就像雪球从山上滚下来一样。
A snowball effect is similar to a chain of events.
雪球效应类似于一连串事件。
However, with a chain of events, one thing leads to another.
然而，随着一连串事件的发生，一件事导致另一件事发生。
But these events do not necessarily intensify or grow bigger.
但这些事件并不一定会加剧或扩大。
And that's the end of this Words and Their Stories.
以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。
Hopefully, using resources on VOA Learning English is having a snowball effect on your English studies ... in a good way!
希望使用美国之音慢速英语的资源会以一种好的方式对你的英语学习产生雪球效应！
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！
