单词 “surface（表面）” 不但可以指 “某样东西的表面”，比如地面或者海面等等，还可以指 “某个抽象事物的表面”。表达 “scratch the surface” 的意思就是 “只触及事物表面”。我们可以用这个表达来暗示 “对某事了解得非常浅显，不够深入”。听节目，跟主持人菲菲和 Georgie 学习这个表达的用法。
（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）
Feifei
Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English, where we explain expressions used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too! I’m Feifei, and I’m joined by Georgie. How are you?
Georgie
I’m very well, thank you, Feifei. How are you?
Feifei
Quite stressed actually! I’ve got so many things on my to-do list, and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface.
Georgie
Oh, that’s a rubbish way to start the week. Well, ‘scratch the surface’ is the phrase we’re looking at in this programme. What does it mean, Feifei?
Feifei
Well, let me paint a picture in your mind. Imagine you want to dig a deep hole in the ground. I arrive five minutes later, after you start, see you haven’t made much progress, and say, “You’ve barely scratched the surface!” What am I telling you?
Georgie
Well, in other words, I’ve only broken up the surface of the ground and I’ve still got a long way to go if I want to dig a deep hole!
Feifei
Right. Now, that’s a very literal way of thinking about this phrase. We mostly use it metaphorically. If you’ve only scratched the surface of a subject or a problem, you’ve dealt with it only in a very superficial way, without going into it deeply.
Georgie
That’s right. Let’s hear some more examples from our BBC Learning English colleagues.
Examples
I’m supposed to clean the flat in time for a dinner party tonight. I’ve hardly scratched the surface. I’ve got loads to do.
I’ve been researching a holiday for next year. I want to go somewhere hot and sunny, but I’ve just scratched the surface so far. I’ve got lots more places to look at.
I went to a talk last night on climate change in Australia. It’s such a big topic and I feel like they barely scratched the surface.
Feifei
你正在收听的是 BBC 英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。刚刚我们一起学习了表达 “scratch the surface” 的用法。“Scratch the surface” 的字面意思是 “抓了表面”，实际意思是 “只触及了一个事物的表面”，人们往往用它来比喻 “仅仅完成或理解了事物的一小部分，不够深入”。
Georgie
Yes, and if you want to exaggerate and express that you haven’t made much progress at all, you can use the words ‘barely’ or ‘hardly’. Like you said at the beginning, you’ve barely scratched the surface on all those tasks on your to-do list.
Feifei
注意在使用这个表达的时候，我们可以通过搭配表示程度的副词，比如 “barely” 或者 “hardly”，来强调 “刚刚开头做一件事情” 或者 “只理解了某件事情的一小部分”。
Georgie
OK, let’s recap. We learnt ‘scratch the surface’ which means to deal with a topic or problem only in a superficial way.
Feifei
Thanks for joining us. Bye!
Georgie
Goodbye.
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