Michael Chugani 褚简宁 - Didn’t know one iota.｜又中又英

When I was a young reporter with TVB I was assigned to interview the winner of the station’s Miss Hong Kong Pageant the morning after the contest. I had to quickly think of questions because I didn’t know one iota about beauty pageants. They don’t interest me at all. I have not sat through even one beauty pageant. But last week TVB’s Miss Hong Kong contest piqued my interest. I was not interested in the contest itself but in the squabble between TVB and Helen Yu Lai Ching-ping, a member of the Independent Police Complaints Council. She criticized TVB for making the contestants wear tiny bikinis while answering questions and accused the pageant host Eric Tsang Chi-wai of staring at the bikini-clad contestants. TVB has threatened to take legal action.
If you don’t know one iota about something it means you know very little about it. To sit through something means to watch or stay until the end. If something piques your interest it means you are interested or curious about it. A squabble is an argument about something unimportant. Even though beauty pageants don’t interest me, they interest many other people. To each his own, which means other people are free to like different things that you don’t like. TVB’s Miss Hong Kong Pageant has a long history. This year’s contest marked its 50th anniversary.

Yu Lai Ching-ping’s criticism of TVB piqued my interest because many countries have beauty pageants. Contests such as the Miss World Pageant have a global audience. If she considers such pageants as immoral she should not have only criticized TVB.
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当我还年轻在无线电视当记者的时候，被指派在电视台香港小姐竞选的翌日早上，去采访比赛的冠军。我必须迅速想好问题，因为我当时对于选美比赛一窍不通（didn’t know one iota）。我对选美比赛从来不感兴趣，也从未试过完整地看过（sat through）任何一个选美比赛的节目。但上星期无线电视的香港小姐竞选却激起了我的兴趣（piqued my interest）。我感兴趣的并非比赛本身，而是无线跟监警会委员余黎青萍之间的争吵（squabble）。她批评无线要参赛佳丽在问答环节中穿很少布的比坚尼泳衣，又指控比赛司仪曾志伟瞪眼盯着穿比坚尼的参赛者。无线已威胁要采取法律行动。

若你don’t know one iota about something，意即你对某事物所知皮毛，或一点儿也不知道。 To sit through something是指观看整个节目或留到节目结束。若某事piques your interest，意即你对它很感兴趣或它激发了你的好奇心。A squabble即就某件不重要的事情争吵、口角。即使我对选美比赛不感兴趣，它们仍能吸引很多人的兴趣。正所谓to each his own，意思就是人各有所好，人有自由去喜欢你所不喜欢的物事。无线的香港小姐竞选有悠久的历史，今年的竞选就迎来了它的五十周年。
  余黎青萍对无线的批评引起了我的兴趣（piqued my interest），因为许多国家也有选美比赛。诸如世界小姐的选美比赛就吸引全球各地的观众收看。若她认为这样的选美比赛是不道德的，那她不应该单单批评无线啊。中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁