大家可能还记得Michael 这个美国学生以往几次考试都考糟了,这一次情况可大不相同。今天他和他的中国同学李华约好了在图书馆见面。李华会学到两个常用语,一个是:to ace;另一个是:peanuts。 5 }9 ]1 Q2 _ u6 v0 W1 Z ) M" h% w" _. H) V. T7 O" E6 m aL: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样?9 R& L. t b+ D$ r o4 i; \
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M: Not bad! I aced today's history test!2 Z1 n8 K3 F+ {; Z. O$ q9 ~
, w+ I Y: o& V- C+ h5 g4 HL: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴! ; c! n' n2 h7 \% F - y# F% n P/ q/ ~" U4 d# C1 JM: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it! ' [. ^, x& x; c- w! y1 g 0 L) E# D% N9 h" G/ @- s3 vL: 你考得很好,那太好了,Michael!最近你每天都到图书馆来念书, 我知道你会考得比以前好的。你刚才用的是哪个字啊?' [0 O' m; d) M3 g
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M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense.% |. u2 ^/ Q7 p. y/ Z9 T9 e
/ _, X& A* Z. c1 J, F# fL: 噢,在这里,ace是个动词,过去时就是在后面加一个字母 "d",变成 了aced。这个字是不是和扑克牌里的那张牌A,或者叫"尖子"的那 张牌一样的呢?7 V& Y# B1 y* K
! W6 K/ z! s9 I0 QM: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well. " g% m0 J' Z# ^2 J4 n1 a/ z3 M6 ^8 X4 W; O! M9 N4 J
L: 对,在玩扑克的时候ace往往是价值最高的一张牌,所以ace就是 指某件事做的很好。那ace作为动词还能用在什么场合呢? 1 R3 z }& i5 B+ m% Z% q 8 I2 ]. K( P. `- o+ |# yM: Usually we can use "ace" to describe how we did on a test, or on things similar to tests. For example, I can say I aced my last job interview.& C( K: i* x% K. g' Y- C
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L: 噢,一般都用在和测验考试之类的情况,你上次找工作去面谈谈 得很好也能用"ace" 这个词。再说一遍你刚才说的那句话,好 吗? 0 g3 R4 K" O3 q3 d / V: v! A' _7 S) P9 I. e1 g; |M: I aced my last job interview.) z8 Z \" l/ @0 `% M
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L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。. p w0 g; r( l( h# d: U% u( [
2 s7 n; ]. @6 [( lM: That's right. Li Hua, if someone is very good at something, we can call him an "ace". I can say, for example, you are an ace at taking tests. # Q+ _. D8 e0 c$ g/ b1 F r1 D: k , b9 v5 u, \6 I. A$ LL: I'm an ace at taking tests, 你说我非常会考试!这也不见得,我考糊 的时候也有的。不过,比你少一点就是了。) X( ?$ }% ?8 r$ y% H! O8 |5 [( D
) u- P4 y* J9 q$ g* VM: Yes, you're right! - B2 k6 X) c7 S n T" G; L9 N( J% V$ Q
L: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗?+ |6 p4 a. D0 D
7 H( U4 s3 q5 ~$ r: CM: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking?. l* ^0 g( {- Y+ l. P' c
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L: 你当然不在意你问我赚多少钱。 当助教的工资很低,才8美元一 小时。0 x5 B4 G2 D0 j+ Q
' {0 J& O$ k) z. o3 Z" ?M: Eight dollars? That's peanuts! 5 ?% P1 c: X- U: Z9 o4 q& G3 H* B% N2 R
L: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀? & m: g) ~0 @: C, I1 U$ d : Q' }. e3 ^) kM: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"!" E2 m% a8 ~5 V1 J' V
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L: 原来你的意思是我的工资很低。你说的peanuts是不是和我们吃的 花生一个字吗?/ ~, c( _! c' P
, z& `9 P8 I9 t. t# I* ^# qM: That's right. 9 a# T: d. w) U$ i& p4 f( y6 E# R1 `+ K8 F0 e; y! Q7 m
L: 我在想另外找个工作呢。我的同学王燕在图书馆工作,一个小时 就有十美元。0 C( i2 R8 B7 Z4 R% z+ K
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M: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant.- b* X: S3 F1 S0 R6 l. V
' x3 ], C. O9 B) M+ bL: 哟,你一个小时赚13美元呐! 真不公平,你赚那么多钱,而我 只赚peanuts. % l0 ^; V9 R$ u # r3 A: [( B3 xM: I don't see how you can live on so little money., `8 X g7 b g0 l
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L: 赚那么点钱是怎么过的日子呀?我还有奖学金呐,每个月给我四 百美元生活费。 U* d: _) F' ~6 p
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M: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those.../ b, H, \5 q t
- E; \; G1 X. F# T0 rL: 你真想要我赚花生,靠吃花生过日子呀。Michael, 你真废话! 9 L7 O8 g2 l6 p6 V/ K2 N. z1 q: l9 r9 m & ?! K/ | S& `2 QM: I'm just kidding!& W: M; {; I m+ F( L s