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。 1 ~( C; a$ e. ]' d2 Q. t% z; z) K# |- A6 `8 |
L: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样?: |* m* H5 X3 U8 G
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M: Not bad! I aced today's history test! 9 B) l% Y' C3 p+ u5 M3 t/ G3 ^7 x7 o! z8 b2 @! G
L: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴!5 @- g7 O m2 z$ n; {0 U% N
& ]& j- w1 e$ {9 S: KM: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it! $ `* j2 b; _' C1 ]$ T1 x8 [" j) o' ]3 n$ R3 f1 Y
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? 1 R8 b( h2 R( W' w3 g+ ~' ^0 r+ L3 t3 k. f# |; E( S
M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense.+ W! Z, J; T5 J. H
J, `, x& @/ @* {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?6 ?& V. C0 {+ A
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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.6 p. T; W; p6 s' ~
0 p( U j# D, m" qL: 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? 4 C; c. A" {% q. h$ x% c ) ~5 M( z, R8 p/ a2 G6 u$ K5 C( M2 QM: 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 O) p$ f4 X X
8 \1 ^- W' h* z7 C/ i: r1 c; dL: 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? : b+ l( s& `: [" K. ~/ |( e# d6 Y- \8 A) J$ O9 h
M: I aced my last job interview. 5 W7 j6 v4 N, h- ~0 M( E, M) J* g( ?8 c) N! L
L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。 # L2 D; Q9 C4 m3 E% R5 [6 ?; [( c$ n" 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. , C' U E) ]9 ]- y. t' G; i 8 Q+ v8 J m. bL: 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。" t# b' e9 L9 T9 D4 h
9 C/ \1 ]$ Y% o$ t. i. d& {0 EM: Yes, you're right! ( V* A- i. q( X8 B& U: V: ~( _4 t! |! E
L: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗?. X) V; v+ O7 p. \, n! Y8 h9 l
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M: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking? . R) g) A# l+ i6 N$ ?$ v# }5 A# N I$ D/ @3 p, r
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。 * W* y. H, v" j/ C; J( N& x: I& i, m5 E w' m$ l8 G2 |3 L% t0 r! M
M: Eight dollars? That's peanuts!, w* M l' s/ I2 `; M5 m
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L: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀? $ P; ^* z9 q8 s7 _6 j( ^# k. L 5 z+ s, O( w( ?) B. \- B7 B8 x/ _9 rM: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"!+ J% R7 X4 s1 |8 i; |! p# u9 [. B
9 n/ G7 I/ f( @; E0 CL: 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。 8 A$ a$ P1 Q% B- e) w$ j. m4 E7 e: h. O+ ?4 {% h: E
M: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant.! | R8 P7 t' l$ ^' o1 |
, k# t! Y0 ]6 L2 i( M2 x3 eL: 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. # R. D4 N) Z( S/ ]! P ! T" z! K/ S9 N; ]5 _7 Q( \M: I don't see how you can live on so little money. 8 I- D- ^) K/ |; C8 l, d- L( ]$ ^) }0 v6 N/ e
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。& O' S) L5 }8 j
4 Y( [) `/ W* A# RM: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those..., @; ]: M5 n% C4 k