名人教英文：这正好显示
it just goes to show
这正好显示
imogen: i had a real scare when i was on holiday last week.
伊莫金﹕上星期我放假，遇上一件惊险的事。
chloe: you went to the seaside didn't you? lucky you, the weather was lovely.
克洛伊﹕你不是去了海滨吗？你幸运，当时天气很好。
imogen: it was, but i could have been in trouble when i went walking along under the cliffs.
伊莫金﹕不错，但我到悬崖之下走走的时候，差点就陷身险境。
chloe: was the tide out?
克洛伊﹕潮水当时退了吗？
imogen: well it was coming in, but still a long way out. i asked somebody if it was safe to walk and they said yes.
伊莫金﹕当时正在涨潮，但离岸还很远。我问人家说，到悬崖之下走走，安不安全，他们都说安全。
chloe: so what happened?
克洛伊﹕后来怎样？
imogen: the tide came in so fast i just managed to scramble up the cliff path before it cut me off.
伊莫金﹕潮水涨得很快，我及时爬到悬崖小径上，才没有被潮水包围 。
chloe: it just goes to show you can't believe everything people tell you. you should have checked the tide tables before you started.
克洛伊﹕这正好证明，人言不可尽信。你动身之前，应该先看清楚潮汐表。
it goes to show是成语，意思是「这可以证明」或「这足以显示」，例如﹕the government refuses to explain its unpopular decision, which just goes to show that a government not democratically elected tends to ignore the concerns of the public（政府不肯解释其不符众望的决定，这正好显示，非民主选出的政府，通常不理会民情）。
留意lucky you这说法。英文常在lucky之后，用you、him、me等受格代名词，表示某人走运，例如﹕i did not arrive till after the shoot-out. lucky me（我真幸运，枪战之后才到达）。
潮水涨退，英文除了说the tide is in/out，还有几个其他说法。i watched the tide rise and fall / come in and go out / flow and ebb即「我望着潮涨潮退」。ebb and flow这个词，还常用来比喻人生、事业等的盛衰，作名词、动词都可以，例如﹕(1) you cannot foresee the ebb and flow of your fortunes in the same way as you can foresee the ebb and flow of the tide（人生的起伏，不能像潮水涨退一样预知）。(2) popular support for capital punishment has ebbed and flowed over the years（历年来，民众对死刑的支持时增时减）。
此外，说事情衰落，英文常用at an ebb或at a low ebb这个比喻，例如﹕my career was then at a low ebb, and i was looking for a way to make ends meet（我当时事业上很不得意，想找个办法避免入不敷出）。