程度副詞

I'm just going to play a brief video clip.

基礎被動語態

On the fifth of December 1985, a bottle of 1787 Lafitte was sold

1985 年 12 月 5 日，一瓶 1787 年拉斐特紅酒

for 105,000 pounds -- nine times the previous world record.

以 10 萬 5 千英鎊，以先前世界記錄 9 倍的高價售出

son of one of the most flamboyant millionaires of the 20th century.

他的父親是 20 世紀最豪奢的百萬富翁之一

The original owner of the bottle turned out to be

one of the most enthusiastic wine buffs of the 18th century.

Château Lafitte is one of the greatest wines in the world,

拉斐特堡是全世界最頂級的佳釀

Benjamin Wallace: Now, that's about all the videotape that remains of an event

好了，這大概是這個事件現存的全部影像資料

that set off the longest-running mystery in the modern wine world.

從此開啟了當代酒界歷史最悠久的懸案

And the mystery existed because of a gentleman named Hardy Rodenstock.

懸案的始作俑者名叫哈迪‧羅斯塔克

In 1985, he announced to his friends in the wine world

that he had made this incredible discovery.

Some workmen in Paris had broken through a brick wall,

and happened upon this hidden cache of wines --

apparently the property of Thomas Jefferson. 1787, 1784.

正是湯瑪士‧傑佛遜的藏酒，年份 1787、1784

He wouldn't reveal the exact number of bottles,

he would not reveal exactly where the building was

and he would not reveal exactly who owned the building.

The mystery persisted for about 20 years.

It finally began to get resolved in 2005 because of this guy.

直到 2005 年，終於因為這個人有了一線曙光

Bill Koch is a Florida billionaire who owns four of the Jefferson bottles,

擁有 4 瓶傑佛遜藏酒的佛州億萬富翁比爾‧寇克

And he ended up spending over a million dollars and hiring ex-FBI and ex-Scotland Yard agents to try to get to the bottom of this.

最後他花了超過 100 萬美元雇用前 FBI 和前蘇格蘭警場探員找出真相

There's now ample evidence that Hardy Rodenstock is a con man, and that the Jefferson bottles were fakes.

現在已經有足夠的證據證明羅斯塔克是個騙子，所謂的傑佛遜藏酒根本就是假的

an unbelievable number of really eminent and accomplished figures in the wine world were sort of drawn into the orbit of these bottles.

有好些聲譽卓著的酒界人士被這些酒吸引，為之癡迷

I think they wanted to believe that the most expensive bottle of wine

我想，他們想相信世上最貴的酒

in the world must be the best bottle of wine in the world,

must be the rarest bottle of wine in the world.

I became increasingly, kind of voyeuristically interested in the question of

我對此越來越有興趣，甚至抱著些窺視的心態

you know, why do people spend these crazy amounts of money,

我想知道，為什麼有人花這樣驚人的金錢

不只在買酒，還有其他許多事物上？

and are they living a better life than me?

另外，這些人的人生是不是比我還美好？

With the generous backing of a magazine I write for sometimes,

和我合作了一段時間的雜誌社則給我慷慨的支持

I decided to sample the very best, or most expensive, or most coveted item

我決定體驗最頂級、昂貴、最令人渴望的事物

which was a very grueling quest,  as you can imagine.

正如大家所想的，這個旅程真累人

A lot of the Kobe beef that you see in the U.S. is not the real thing.

大家在美國看到的許多神戶牛肉都不是真的

but it's not from the original, Appalachian Hyogo Prefecture in Japan.

但產地卻不是日本兵庫縣和歌山脈

There are very few places in the U.S. where you can try real Kobe,

美國很少有地方可以吃到真的神戶牛肉

and one of them is Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, Cut, in Los Angeles.

其中之一就在洛杉磯，渥夫康‧帕克的餐廳 CUT

I went there, and I ordered the eight-ounce rib eye for 160 dollars.

我在那點了 160 美元的肋眼牛排

And then I took a bite, and I wished that it was tinier, because Kobe beef is so rich.

然後我吃了一口，真恨不得它能再小一點，神戶牛排實在是太肥膩了

It's like foie gras -- it's not even like steak.

Now, the photographer who took the pictures for this project

for some reason posed his dog in a lot of them,

不知道為什麼在很多照片上放了他的狗

so that's why you're going to see this recurring character.

Which, I guess, you know, communicates to you

that I did not think that one was really worth the price.

One of the most expensive luxury foods by weight in the world.

To try this, I went to a Mario Batali restaurant

為了體驗，我到 Mario Batali 餐廳

The waiter, you know, came out with the white truffle knob

服務生拿著白松露和削刀走到面前，

and his shaver, and he shaved it onto my pasta and he said, you know,

削了一些到我的義大利麵，然後問

And the charm of white truffles is in their aroma.

It's not in their taste, really. It's not in their texture.

These white pearlescent flakes hit the noodles,

那些白色珍珠光澤的薄片落到麵上

this haunting, wonderful, nutty, mushroomy smell wafted up.

一股吸引人、美妙、帶點堅果、蘑菇香的氣味飄上來

And then I was left with these little ugly flakes on my pasta that,

只剩下那些醜醜的小碎片在意大利麵上

and so I'm afraid to say that this was also a disappointment to me.

而我，恐怕得承認自己滿失望的

There were several -- several of these items were disappointments.

The magazine wouldn't pay for me to go there.

And this hotel suite is 4,300 square feet.

It was designed by the architect I.M. Pei.

It comes with its own Rolls Royce and driver.

It comes with its own wine cellar that you can draw freely from.

When I took the tour, it actually included some Opus One, I was glad to see.

逛的時候我還真看到裡面有一些美國名酒 Opus One，不錯！

This is soap that's made from silver nanoparticles,

I washed my face with this this morning in preparation for this.

今天早上準備到這裡的時候，我就是用它洗臉

And it, you know, tickled a little bit and it smelled good,

has complimented me on the cleanliness of my face today.

目前為止還沒人讚美我的臉好乾淨

But then again, nobody has complimented me on the jeans I'm wearing.

但是，也沒有人讚美我的牛仔褲

快樂要用多少錢才能換到?或是說，快樂的價值要如何來衡量?這是世人心中普遍存在的問題。是美酒、美食，還是取之不盡用之不竭的錢，能讓人獲得最極致的快樂?讓我們來看看名記者、作家Benjamin Wallace怎麼說。學這些英文用法：TED,橄欖油,年份,馬桶,笑聲,讚美,神戶,體驗,世上,好喝,美元,牛排,富翁,品嚐,牛肉,事物,公路,味道,奢華,日本,餐廳,製造商,科技,曼哈頓,牛仔褲,氣味,清潔,廁所,供應,傳奇,建築物,駕駛,高速,洛杉磯,迷人,郵件,自動,加州,咖啡,失望,研究,美國,松露,任務,電子,口感,探員,酵素,橄欖,染料,曼尼,公布,使用,喝到,窺視,衛生紙,意大利麵,陽台,光澤,珍珠,買家,高爾夫,棉花,服務生,徽章,花招,快樂,零售商,爐子,肥皂,香味,帕克,溫和,歡愉,傻子,保全,峽谷,氣流,切換,產出,製片,不錯,堅果,播放器,紅酒,義大利麵,稱讚,傳給,吃完,日本人,史丹佛,檢測,果實,世界,蘇格蘭,時速,開到,甜美,面積,王子,蘑菇,景觀,平方,口味,瓶子,騙子,樹林,大事,比較,慷慨,看到,海岸,氧氣,實際,雇用,缺點,物理學家,聞到,大師,時尚,檢驗,粒子,有趣,太平洋,巴黎,攝影師,比爾,閃亮,踏上,短片,大叫,標價,球具,白松露,酒界,酒莊...