A：I’m attaching three files. Could you refer to the attached files? B：OK! So, could you please teach me how to open these files? A：Sure! First, after downloading the compressed files, you have to unzip them. B：Compressed files? Unzip? Oh no! What do you mean? Can you dumb it down a little bit?
A：I can’t understand what you are saying! B：Really? Should I dumb this down for you? A：Yeah. In short, you dumped him?
A：我聽不懂你在說什麼。
B：真的嗎？要我說得簡單一點嗎？
A：好啊！總之，你甩了他對嗎？
A：I’m afraid that I can’t see the lectures at the academic meeting. B：Don’t worry. They are going to dumb them down for everyone. A：Are you sure? Where did you get that information?
B：Come on! I’m also going to give a lecture. A：Wow! I didn’t know that. I was very relieved to hear that.
A：我怕我聽不懂學術研討會的演講內容。
B：別擔心。他們會把內容簡化到一般人都能理解的程度。
A：真的嗎？ 你怎麼知道的？
B：欸！那是當然的啊！因為我也是其中一位講者。
A：哇！我原本不知道這件事，不過聽你這樣說就安心多了。
A：How was the class? B：It was not easy enough to understand. So, could you dumb the story down for me?
A：上課還好嗎？
B：對我來說有點難以理解，可以請你幫我用簡單一點的方式再解釋一次嗎？
Researcher：Professor Armstrong, I think we need to dumb this experiment down. Professor Armstrong：I have no choice. OK then, please get this done as soon as possible.
研究員：阿姆斯壯教授，我認為我們必須把這個實驗流程簡化一點。
阿姆斯壯教授：看來也只能如此。好吧！那請你盡快完成。
Teacher A：Most students’ records were so bad this year. I think our textbooks might be too difficult. Teacher B：Yes, I think so, too. We have to dumb them down.
老師A：絕大部分學生今年的成績都很差，我認為可能是因為課本內容太難了。
老師B：我也這麼認為。我們應該要把課本的難度降低。
也可以把「dumb」變成「dumbing」的動名詞形式來造句，請參考以下例句用法。
A：Prices have been rising since last year. B：On the other hand, I had to take a pay cut. This change brought about the dumbing down of society.
A：從去年開始物價就不斷上漲。
B：而且我的薪水反而還變少，這些改變只會讓社會進入惡性循環（讓社會的穩健程度降低）。
補充：「請對方簡單說明」的英文表達方式
接下來讓我們看看除了「dumb it down」以外，還有什麼其他方式可以表達「請對方用簡單方式說明」的意思。
它們和「dumb it down」的概念都很類似。不過相對於「dumb it down」屬於俚語用法，以下介紹的替代說法則可以適用於更多不同情境。
簡單說明：explain simply
Student：Would you please say it again? Teacher：OK! I will explain simply.
學生：可以請您再說一次嗎？
老師：好的。我會簡單說明一次。
Staff：This is all for my presentation. CEO：Great job with your presentation. By the way, could you explain the present situation to me simply again?
員工：以上就是我的報告。
總裁：很好。不過，可以請你再簡單說明一次現在的情況給我聽嗎？
盡量明確並易於理解：as clearly and comprehensibly as possible
Voter：I don’t understand your policy. Candidate：I will provide explanations as clearly and comprehensibly as possible.
投票者：我不了解你提出的政策是什麼意思。
候選人：我會盡量說明地更加清楚易懂。
說得更白一點：To speak in plain language
Colleague A：What was going on? You look pale. Colleague B：To speak in plain language, the project failed.
同事A：發生什麼事了嗎？你的臉色好蒼白
同事B：簡單來說，我的企畫失敗了。
說明得更直接一點：explain it more straightforwardly
Salesperson：May I help you? Shopper：Yes. There are so many computers. I can’t decide which one I should choose. I need someone to explain it more straightforwardly to me. Salesperson：No problem! Let me explain. Shopper：Thank you. That is very helpful.
店員：請問需要什麼協助嗎？
顧客：是的，這邊的電腦種類太多了，我不知道該買哪一台。我需要有人幫我清楚說明一下。
店員：沒問題。讓我為您做介紹。
顧客：謝謝你，幫了我一個大忙。
最後介紹一個有趣的用法。
for dummies：懶人包
我們已經知道「dumb it down」是表示「簡化內容」，讓對方更容易了解意思，這個概念很類似於中文裡面常說的「懶人包」，也就是指「不管是誰都看得懂的解釋方式」。
A：I recently started watercolor painting. Do you know any good textbooks? B：“Watercolor Painting For Dummies” is good!
A：我最近開始練習畫水彩。你有沒有什麼不錯的教學書籍可以推薦？
B：『快速上手水彩畫』這本書還不錯。
總結
以上就是「dumb it down」的完整說明，它可以表示「簡單說明」，或是「降低難度」，不知道各位是不是都學起來了呢？
另外，我們也介紹了和「dumb it down」意思接近的其他用法，希望各位都能夠搭配例句多加複習。
