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。% E- w% ]) k7 h9 w5 d0 ]: x
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L: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样? + c5 H9 t' _& }+ Y3 i9 G8 o" M- a! x
M: Not bad! I aced today's history test!4 |9 [+ m; @! z2 ^4 \* s
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L: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴! $ l. D/ o: [4 @% ^1 H4 z& L( O" y7 \
M: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it! % o# @5 l; @% M; A/ H9 i) P- {: r5 q1 Z
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? 4 O9 t, C7 A y. {4 _( O, q/ I. Y3 j. h& I$ E1 E' P2 J, k2 t
M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense. " I0 v+ m) V5 u; A* _ / W( t- V% T' H+ }9 yL: 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?1 f+ a! z5 E5 c
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M: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well." N5 d9 e" a. A+ @
( G& |5 V0 A4 \8 F' P, E4 d, XL: 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? 8 l; H4 v$ g& y1 B8 y/ f2 j5 B* @! U& I: W5 Y2 y
M: 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. 9 i+ b. W O/ ~( D $ k3 l, P) p. |2 HL: 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? r1 k+ u3 z: b, T! L
& z( W+ \! ]- m0 |" {M: I aced my last job interview. 0 K. `, d: ^) W% f, | ) G! G$ n( Q1 @% Z3 fL: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。7 A, [3 v. I+ J3 U" X- n/ u# W
$ k" n/ D' i4 b0 T5 s- S7 TM: 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.! F; u/ E2 P T! q5 M1 l( f
/ s/ y2 ]6 g \M: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking? . o/ u3 t( X9 O: f% X; \$ D; g1 i b8 i+ h* p! V5 S
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。 ( g/ r5 l) }; P$ A9 f7 A5 n# r s' `3 [2 {
M: Eight dollars? That's peanuts! ' X) n8 v2 o6 u) s* S* ?$ d 1 ?$ U2 F! p. Q- Y- Q. s) ZL: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀?; x' i& u$ N4 Q' y) ]
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M: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"!# C0 c* ~9 t* q% L: y& l
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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? / P4 D+ p' p8 }# P* w2 T . \/ W6 Z- a n& `M: That's right. 8 Z" [6 D9 Y6 ]/ M" T3 [2 H! i s * J. E. }; ~$ N# s. U- u( eL: 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。 * c8 X+ W* ^2 X% u 4 \6 P+ I$ N+ ]3 y0 s$ h" UM: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant. 5 V0 t' F" s+ ?" S, w \. d4 h9 y% u- p- s; t! t
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.0 q( {# ^; I4 r- o6 M+ t
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M: I don't see how you can live on so little money.+ \* _7 v" Y1 I# B4 C. @ B
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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。 ' V: i$ o" I4 o6 j. ^& h) L% Y; F/ G; k6 B
M: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those.../ a. a* B/ i# ? v' W