VOA慢速英語又叫特別英語。節目的閱讀速度比普通VOA節目慢三倍，並且只使用約1500核心詞彙，是英語初中級學習者的良好聽力材料。潘之聲英語世界每周分享VOA慢速英語聽力節目。
譯文：Lynn 轉載請註明「潘之聲英語世界」
With the right marketing, you can get people to buy almost anything.
有了正確的營銷，你幾乎可以讓人們買任何東西。
This is especially true in Manhattan, where many wealthy New Yorkers live.
在曼哈頓尤其如此，那裡住著許多富有的紐約人。
In the new film The Sound of Silence, lead characters Peter and Ellen meet because she has paid him to "tune" her apartment.
在新電影《寂靜之聲》中，主角彼得和艾倫相遇，因為艾倫付錢讓他為她的公寓「調音」。
No, Ellen does not live inside a musical instrument.
不，艾倫可不是生活在樂器裡。
Peter, played by actor Peter Sarsgaard, is a "home tuner."
演員彼得·薩斯加德(Peter Sarsgaard)飾演的彼得是一位「家庭調音師」。
His especially strong sense of hearing enables him to hear small things that most others cannot.
他特別強的聽覺使他能聽到大多數人聽不到的小聲音。
They can include an ice maker, toaster or other simple machinery.
它們可以包括製冰機、烤麵包機或其他簡單的機器。
Rashida Jones plays Ellen.
拉什達·瓊斯飾演艾倫。
She is tense and sleepless.
她緊張而失眠。
Some friends suggest she turn to Peter for help.
一些朋友建議她向彼得求助。
The skill he brings to his work had been reported about in The New Yorker, a respected magazine.
受人尊敬的雜誌《紐約客》報導了他為工作中的技巧
Peter travels around New York City with his tuning devices and his headset.
彼得帶著他的調諧設備和耳機在紐約市穿街走巷。
He tests wind movements in parks and makes house calls.
他在公園裡測試風向，拜訪各家各戶。
At Ellen's place, he lies on her bed to try to recreate her usual mornings.
在艾倫家，他躺在她的床上，試圖重現她日常早晨。
Then, he explains the problem: her toaster.
然後，他解釋了問題所在：她的烤麵包機。
He advises her to get a new one.
他建議她買一個新的。
The Sound of Silence is based on a short film from the same writer and director, Michael Tyburski.
《寂靜之聲》改編自同一作家兼導演麥可·蒂伯斯基的一部短片。
Peter makes the lives of his customers better.
彼得使他的顧客生活得更好。
He helps them sleep better or improves their love relationships.
他幫助他們睡得更好或者改善他們的愛情關係。
He is more centered on helping others than seeking riches.
他更注重幫助別人而不是追求財富。
But, he longs for recognition in the academic world.
但是，他渴望在學術界得到認可。
He wants his scientific findings to gain wide acceptance.
他希望他的科學發現能被廣泛接受。
So, when a sharp businessman offers him the chance to join forces and make some real money, he is not interested.
所以，當一個精明的商人試圖聯合他，賺一些真金白銀時，他並不感興趣。
He does not want to sink that low.
他不想拉低自己的層次。
At the same time, Ellen is showing more interest in Peter, finding his intensity appealing.
與此同時，艾倫對彼得表現出了更大的興趣，感覺他充滿活力，很有魅力。
For a while, we do too, especially when he explains that Bach and Beethoven, no less, used neurological methods to affect their listeners.
有時候，我們大家都會如此認為，尤其是當他解釋說巴赫和貝多芬同樣使用神經學方法來影響他們的聽眾時。
But even Ellen questions Peter's expertise.
但就連艾倫也質疑彼得的專業水平。
She finds it hard to accept his claims that her home is producing the musical note of C Minor.
她發現很難接受他的說法，她的家正在發出C小調的音符。
He also tells her that unseen forces are governing her choices.
他還告訴她，看不見的力量正在支配著她的選擇。
However, he stops trusting in his expertise as his effort to help her fails.
然而，他對自己的特產也感到不自信了，因為他幫助她的努力失敗了。
And Ellen chooses to keep believing that she has some control over her life.
艾倫選擇繼續相信她能控制自己的生活。
The Sound of Silence is humor and seriousness combined.
《寂靜之聲》是幽默與嚴肅相結合。
There is a painful scene in which Peter meets an academic he greatly respects.
有一個痛苦的場景，彼得遇到了一位他非常尊敬的學者。
She is a leading specialist in the field of sound.
她是音響領域的頂尖專家。
When he asks her if she has seen the work he sent her, her answer is unkind, but honest.
當他問她是否看過他寄給她的作品時，她的回答並不友善，但很誠實。
Critics have been mixed on the success of The Sound of Silence.
評論家們對《寂靜之聲》這部電影的成就褒貶不一。
The Los Angeles Times calls the movie, "fascinating, original and, yes, deeply resonant."
《洛杉磯時報》(Los Angeles Times)稱這部電影「迷人、新穎，而且，是的，引起了深深的共鳴。」
The Hollywood trade magazine Variety, however, says the film feels "undernourished" in its new, long-version form.
然而，好萊塢商業雜誌《綜藝》(Variety)表示，這部電影的新長版本讓人感覺「營養不良」。
It calls The Sound of Silence "a deeply silly movie that takes itself incredibly seriously..."
該公司稱《寂靜之聲》是「一部極其愚蠢的電影，太把自己當回事兒了……」
The movie has been presented at several film festivals since the start of the year.
這部電影自年初以來已在多個電影節上放映。
It opened to the general public in limited release on Friday.
該片於上周五限量向公眾開放。
I'm Caty Weaver.
我凱迪韋弗。
The end
Lynn，英語專業畢業，在外企工作。喜愛文學+音樂+咖啡；參與潘之聲，只為重拾堅持英語學習的習慣。
編輯：Bob