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 c% Y l/ S' v
8 h/ q- z: p# n0 V# p' OL: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样? $ V. `$ v6 ]* w ; Z. a- V7 m3 `0 RM: Not bad! I aced today's history test! $ Y0 s+ T- ^3 U, Z6 }6 @9 C5 Y7 W 0 R' m; y* i. B( |L: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴! 5 h, `3 s4 k0 g! u: d& ]1 K, A; V$ O" F0 W
M: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it!3 @+ z3 L+ f8 n, l$ x3 Z( R8 e2 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?- F2 t3 p# u, ^6 g% D) b
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M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense.; f8 s$ z7 g; z7 _7 }0 ~, p
' ]# h0 u$ M! Z/ ?; FL: 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?$ A6 F" d$ G9 I; B/ U9 d
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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. * N' J. e" R7 Q& f- K3 N; o) ?0 u! j, [- l, B, O
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?5 y* t. k0 G6 ^: D7 @
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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.7 _3 Y5 J# {& S2 a# d7 o6 D
- j! [2 `. H" b4 QM: I aced my last job interview. 2 ]# I& u( F) s + o% G" F( q+ V7 M9 pL: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。 ( m* D$ |2 i u7 n# R/ w W4 J3 _$ \0 [% @- \- r% A
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.! N( G6 Z( _) Z4 E) p4 t& e
3 \2 @* \; K; T* g- L- EM: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking? " U: s& n) ^* ~! q+ F2 s0 a* d5 r: Q a b% t" ?
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。 % Y" ?) M5 `" [1 I/ a9 d* x 4 {2 n) w2 [! J& w2 F% ZM: Eight dollars? That's peanuts! # Q* p2 T% {8 d1 C+ i- P( c* ^5 g: r$ ~) V, Z
L: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀? 4 h: {5 ~/ z$ T + {! }7 y; R- C0 bM: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"!: [# K W6 u9 O3 K5 H. E! x( H
9 {; o/ i! y* wL: 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?7 ]5 x- a2 b* r: w
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M: That's right.0 N' J' w* H$ {4 \( H
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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。 . t& T8 B% \9 u; x8 P$ a f+ V6 a9 n& w- Y1 i
M: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant. : ?, w1 e3 s+ d8 w( J 2 l h' L- I& `' [1 L; ZL: 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. ! p0 L; [+ t$ m # k) q3 t7 b( w, r+ I% [/ nM: I don't see how you can live on so little money.* y! r! d7 ~: S/ s; O
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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。 9 `4 S7 a' O: Y' n0 l4 ^( ^3 Q0 b' \
M: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those... , b6 L8 U% G0 u9 g) e1 Z , i/ `4 [8 W* j# I) O( cL: 你真想要我赚花生,靠吃花生过日子呀。Michael, 你真废话! p% y9 a: V+ v4 [" O7 W; u2 a- q$ o; Y
M: I'm just kidding!& N- f$ m2 E" w
/ w x" |' `0 H9 P$ z. M5 @, ^今天李华学到两个常用语,一个是:to ace,就是某件事做得很好,特别是象考试之类的事;另一个是:peanuts,这里不是指花生,而是指数量很小,价值很低。今天的[流行美语]就学习到这里,我们下次节目再见。 $ k8 v* n F& r- P( oAudio As Following:3 ?) f: \6 } P