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。- c' ~9 u+ L2 S+ L8 _' f
( l6 M! t6 _; w3 iL: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样?+ U5 s9 D9 Y5 y5 K( n' Y. U1 s
8 k( O0 k; a# d5 c2 K9 FM: Not bad! I aced today's history test! " C G1 M$ R9 Z7 \% a( p/ z$ ?) n
L: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴! 6 T) G( V! [" i/ W ~+ ^ V. u 9 z: t" f8 g! p- W$ \ mM: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it! 2 g% D$ m! v+ _3 x( h ( m7 A- G5 u$ {2 ?, k: F1 F0 |. bL: 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? & [( y w3 g# `) y! D5 p' e8 T2 \( F3 L% o+ l
M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense.: r6 J6 D4 R+ ]0 Z: T6 P
' |! l, I1 n. L8 r U5 u- D7 K! 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?# A3 c& T7 y& K& O
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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. 4 E4 V- @' ~. e, `1 g! O ! i4 g0 w7 P% F; z' P* ^) D" nL: 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? ; a4 U5 u W( h6 e; v9 k4 y7 X5 W& E3 O# _% a, ^- o
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.4 {4 U7 O* ~/ t
: I4 |4 U$ s: R# r0 i# |- J9 xL: 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? m1 y0 f0 R& A) Q% _3 u8 J" Z
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M: I aced my last job interview.4 O5 {, w; E7 v1 H
4 t& `( @% q$ N/ L, H `L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。 6 b, B% l) S0 k0 [0 f) @7 F; S* i' j, q/ _& `! X9 A8 |3 S
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.9 m. H+ P1 V+ M% M
. s: Z! Q4 I4 v9 ]/ H |- 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。 $ Q) k0 i# @8 _6 M; F2 |* b' j5 s/ |& V
M: Yes, you're right! - p, z/ u$ B! L 7 l- b- P: G9 q9 @L: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗?6 _8 q v: i0 @; U- n( c/ ~8 m9 n
2 }9 H* a; Y4 Z9 J3 I- B; X- \M: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking?9 c, U3 q; H: s; R5 v; Z
0 d9 B$ |: K8 p4 RM: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"! ( i3 `2 M3 P2 U* J, D + h7 ^* g8 O: |' F* J- lL: 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?" ]2 x2 U! J* ? H( y* [" C
% [, n) V- N! lM: That's right.5 E' e* b7 C5 Q, k1 n1 ~* l
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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。5 p4 b$ X1 r5 q3 m6 `; T) A! `
- S4 }9 n6 h9 H* KM: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant. . O0 S m7 B" W; w. N ^) {/ t& I$ |7 Z9 `7 k2 U4 l7 e
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. 9 V* x; D) v! a3 D( P+ D u Q4 b; ~ 2 K7 v9 I' Z2 G9 ^1 ~; B6 JM: I don't see how you can live on so little money.& Q6 E) \6 E' q