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。 Z2 y% G& }" n, B. n7 ?
7 I6 x; y, a( G8 g% j0 _L: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样?9 Q7 O5 Z: O2 F$ a
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M: Not bad! I aced today's history test! # g* u3 W7 A& T; o+ } . g2 g9 t! p8 h; m+ _; pL: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴! # _! f, k3 C$ b0 p6 i4 T4 P. H1 g4 e& K w, }) A: k) f
M: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it!0 K& V# D4 a6 b; |+ c% _7 R
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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?5 b- {/ D; l" q$ I
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M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense.. a- T8 _7 K1 |% K: b
+ G& e# y, {2 o! B: rL: 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?, l |# Z/ @2 ~$ d& G7 {
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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. Z B7 i9 _ } U: F
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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?. d6 }) ?5 I S) m" O
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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. ( \+ m3 g, o4 w, l$ K, w* e ' p7 v3 L7 s9 ML: 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? " O9 w. i7 r1 S. s! g6 X a' s) V# x9 L( u1 EM: I aced my last job interview. & v# b0 J a' J; K2 q; ~( ?- Q% K5 w' m" F
L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。 2 I7 J7 ?$ ]0 k6 M3 C" J6 Y( E* ` 2 b& g0 ^5 J" R8 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. . t( f5 \' c, k' D/ \7 {. n+ X: W. p. m( T
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。1 f& U0 z. b T4 {( H ]: F3 Y
, @; ]) R) o4 {! h- H: }$ hL: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗? 3 R& }% p+ }/ x1 c4 A4 v % `+ f7 ?' I' {' fM: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking?4 g* u( F4 ^- i- }8 |! s
0 Q$ h1 l7 n" _+ r5 |% gM: Eight dollars? That's peanuts!8 N" v7 {0 |# P; X, u1 u
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L: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀? ! j. [% P! J& f( j( q' ^! ~, R- v; S L# `
M: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"!' ]2 U, H( [9 A1 M# \" h
' C3 V# M9 D) K$ @! OL: 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? + ?' W5 V, `4 B) ]7 b' ^- t4 m( P # t2 P: ]! x* k! V2 iM: That's right.9 r- Y( o. z8 w! F+ P p
" T: D- Q$ N9 W* i% xL: 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。, B( f9 u0 w1 t; b q7 m ?) D
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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.+ |9 ?3 e0 X5 q9 k9 ^