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。4 g \$ Q0 P" C9 X' }) j9 r
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L: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样? , K! ^3 G; ~* R, S9 L* W1 h4 ~; U9 |; Z2 x" i( R, A: r5 l# ]- B
M: Not bad! I aced today's history test!3 u' Q, S4 L; I1 i* U
: b8 _! y" i+ v# n* u+ AL: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴!/ U* n, v2 ^- y# I v4 ?/ x
$ }/ K4 H8 z+ Q/ Y+ @; aM: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it!' `/ d* L' k% `; D+ j6 V
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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? 9 K) t/ j- F: w' @- R% d7 v+ S; l1 C& u1 p" F! E% n0 ?/ K
M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense.4 x1 Z+ d9 ?/ k0 y+ X! ~
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L: 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? 4 w; Y9 `" J) u* K7 f* C' W' {- _. y# l& {; _+ S2 H( a
M: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well. 3 v5 H3 d( }9 r9 e; F& X+ M1 \ $ u& b/ D6 J) ^ V6 OL: 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? : H9 w# ?- b# m 1 l$ C5 x/ ]" D. e( n1 O% q1 nM: 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.& y2 x* b/ L# g- f
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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?! O% \* X0 |( M1 Y4 c
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M: I aced my last job interview. : k! }% }( R; _ ^' ^# J! z. ? \" ^% l1 y- a0 o1 f
L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。0 n; u. X1 Q) w! I; ]2 p; x
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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. ! ]1 Q+ g7 r! m. O# [6 j% L( L5 }" F! f1 ^8 B2 M# H( S* x& V
L: 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。 + W; z0 o( T" y ' S1 B$ X& H( OM: Yes, you're right!; `2 j. c1 y G
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L: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗? 4 @, S2 J9 P+ {9 Y2 e5 E" d# t3 C/ I+ f# X! J
M: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking? 7 _1 v! P! Y7 g. D- d6 U0 i! c / f4 e4 b m7 z* ?4 L& j" A7 n7 dL: 你当然不在意你问我赚多少钱。 当助教的工资很低,才8美元一 小时。 4 @3 \+ D; ^5 a0 ?- g) Z- `, ?: b# D3 j l. l* K5 S
M: Eight dollars? That's peanuts! 6 p; J0 h7 |" [. X ! c2 n' [3 j$ p# K" |L: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀? U# `. e8 a1 D1 H7 H 8 r, U' o1 O t9 D- y$ lM: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"!" _0 G4 q7 }% q2 H
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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?% u4 ~% ~4 T! z o3 D. K/ c! d
\6 l5 l5 [# Q8 [6 U. [M: That's right.( H4 G; P: o4 S/ w, Z* i3 h
# ^6 u5 i+ [$ N$ d! D. p) wL: 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。 4 w! V6 G7 F B1 q1 y2 d & L' L2 a. S1 I. `0 lM: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant. & n7 }2 ?2 o9 E ! J5 A# p( Q7 N2 [L: 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. ; I8 d: W" E% {8 H4 l2 \. { ' I% q7 R. p+ o- v5 }/ EM: I don't see how you can live on so little money.. C8 r( y) z3 ~/ Z
! O: E( h/ i# XL: 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。3 P% ]# s) P. ]! Z
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M: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those..." w- K9 e) m' |