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。 : p' N% L5 M$ j 9 L1 c; P& k* Y% E6 f6 S$ cL: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样? ( Q1 I! k9 b0 e0 K) U + J. X3 }+ ?9 c6 m0 S }' i( cM: Not bad! I aced today's history test!; x. [( O# W: B: j* E% Y
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L: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴! 3 r- x N7 ?: U" ^6 Q 6 N% I$ Y1 m+ O. C" r( pM: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it! 4 l- i3 H! m6 U1 x. H* G5 K. L }: S7 x$ k
L: 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? , ~ S. l" e9 p4 V0 y7 `/ M+ A6 a$ n8 F- E- ?2 H' c- E3 N
M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense." u/ V$ {( H$ j( j& f: a, Q
1 l* U$ Z# Q$ \" C' I5 pL: 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? ! a* i) ?, ^- P) L- q; O3 m( T7 J. p+ k. {2 i# ~% _
M: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well.% U0 H( X0 W8 G
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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? 7 j7 H+ t2 {5 g4 N : d/ ` E, {& [6 M! DM: 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. 8 c9 G. a, G+ M7 c( A8 w$ d6 M' T+ y2 x9 m. U* ?7 @* \% G
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? ( Y3 t7 k* ~" y4 R2 {# B; G& I. N4 c0 y- e5 L! d6 C7 R
M: I aced my last job interview.8 a5 c1 y% a; x% T" J. R
- I& Y$ k6 F1 uL: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。 : T f- K' e$ B9 C9 k4 f9 M# y - Y: T/ I3 _8 M; `, {M: 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. 5 q2 s6 t* A: v 2 B; G' r3 E" p. gL: 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, }+ G3 g; E1 O9 h6 F2 Q
" \9 q8 i" ]& q4 ]! ?; e3 k% aL: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗?3 R* u: G9 W; [
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M: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking? $ i! N9 n2 b' [, j " M5 K3 U1 }* V' ?4 xL: 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。 4 M t' P s( w ]+ @8 Q6 y! D1 ]" V7 OM: Eight dollars? That's peanuts!3 }. N' ~! h7 o4 X" d
& ?& q8 ]0 D# Y; HL: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀? 8 M4 P, }7 `$ c9 S. T# E4 G0 j* p3 U, H
M: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"!" m8 V8 Z! E& B0 T0 _! d! }
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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?# o& n$ q" C3 |! k% |$ C
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M: That's right.9 E$ t _+ ~( [9 l& n
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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 W, i& ~# _4 R2 _5 v3 l
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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. ) d0 c" E7 b, P7 H/ v ( ?) J; N0 R! n6 X% n& F$ w3 \( qL: 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. ' _9 [* B. n% O& P' ]+ y D 3 g7 M9 N3 t# KM: I don't see how you can live on so little money. 3 {* g9 C! ?/ x: v - G% S0 P$ D! j" U0 ^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。 , W. Z3 ?4 C; D3 N. l9 Z6 y. M; x
M: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those...( l9 i& H! E1 u