Sam:

Hi, Jason. What’s up?

(嗨，杰森，怎么了？)

Jason:

Sam, I forgot to tell you we have a dinner party on Saturday night. Jess wants me to ask you whether you can come or not.

(山姆，我忘了跟你说星期六晚上有餐会，杰西要我问你会不会来？)

Sam:

Saturday night? No can do, man. Saturday night is the finale of America’s Got Talent.

(星期六晚上？没办法。星期六晚上是美国达人秀的决赛。)

Jason:

America’s Got Talent? What is that?

(美国达人秀？那是啥？)

Sam:

It’s an American talent show competition. It’s like American Idol, but more interesting. There’s a girl who performs with puppets. She’s incredible. You’ve got to see this clip. Here, I’ve just sent you a link.

(那是美国才艺表演竞赛，很像美国偶像，但是更有趣。有一个用布偶表演的女孩，真的很厉害，你一定要看这段影片，我刚寄给你连结了。)

A couple of minutes later. (几分钟之后。)

Jason:

Wow. The girl is amazing. She’s super talented. Are there many contestants like her in that show you’ve mentioned?

(哇！那个女孩太惊人了！她真的很有天赋。你刚提到的那个节目，也有很多像她那样的参赛者吗？)

Sam:

Not really. You see, there’s an open audition around the country. People who think they’ve got talent audition before a panel of judges. If the judging panel think the contestant makes the cut, they’ll press their buzzers. But mostly you see people embarrass themselves and get eliminated. Only a few get selected and make it to the next round.

(没有耶。全国各地会先办海选，觉得自己有天赋的人，在一群评审小组前表演。如果评审小组觉得这名参赛者符合标准的话，便会按铃。但大部分的时候，你会看到人们出糗，海选时就被淘汰了，只有一些人会入选，挤进下一轮。)

Jason:

So, the girl you’ve just shown me, did she get selected?

(那刚刚你秀给我看的那个女孩，她有入选吗？)

Sam:

Of course! So far, she’s aced it at every competition. And this coming Saturday is the finale. I think she can walk away with the first prize.

(当然啰！到目前为止的每场比赛，她都顺利通过。这个星期六是决赛，我觉得她可以轻松赢得头奖。)

Jason:

What is the first prize?

(头奖是什么？)

Sam:

$1 million and a headlining performance in Las Vegas!

(一百万美元和在拉斯维加斯担纲表演。)

Jason:

ONE MILLION DOLLARS! I think I need to brush up on my belly dance. Do you think I stand a chance?

(一百万美元！我觉得我需要温习一下我的肚皮舞了。你觉得我有机会吗？)

Sam:

Well…what is it that you’re calling again?

(嗯…你刚刚说你打来是要讲啥？)

a panel of judges

judging panel