castles in the air

空中楼阁

A rich man asked an architect to build a three-story house for him.

有一个富人让一位建筑师为他建造一个三层楼的房子。

When the first story was finished, the rich man said to the architect: "I want only the third story; not the first and second stories."

当第一层建造好的时候，富人对建筑师说：“我只想要第三层楼，不要第一、第二层。”

The architect asked, "But without the first and second stories, how can I build the third story?"

建筑师说：“但没有第一、第二层，何来第三层呢?”

Shaking his head, he packed up his things, and left.

建筑师于是就摇了摇头，收拾东西离开了。

This idiom indicates an unrealistic or impractical plan or theory.

这个成语现在比喻不现实或者不可行的计划或者理论等。

【文化链接】

英文中“空中楼阁”可以说成“castles in the air”，基本就是直译了，所以不难理解哦~

英文解释是“plans or hopes that have very little chance of happening”，也就是指“发生机会微乎其微的计划或者希望”。

我们来一起看几个例句吧~

She tells me she's planned out her whole career, but as far as I can see it's all just castles in the air.

她告诉我她已经有了整个职业计划，但是就我看来其实只是“空中楼阁”而已。

Before you start building castles in the air, just think how much all this is likely to cost.

在你开始建立“空中楼阁”之前，不如先想想你需要付出多少代价。