[流行美语]又和大家见面了。Michael是一个在纽约上大学的美国年轻人,他经常跟中国学生李华一起玩。Michael向李华学中文,李华向 Michael 学英文。Michael 正在准备考试,有很多功课要做,但是李华要他出去休息休息,两人约好下午在动物园见面。他们在对话中会用这两个词:all-nighter和cram。7 I5 D4 u/ @& W- q6 q
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L: 嗨,Michael. 我在这儿!* q U+ l0 c/ V, l# X8 K! t
7 u8 J' m8 a- e2 F6 N; x0 j9 LM: Hey, Li Hua. Oh, the elephant house, let's go in and take a look./ g8 t, Z) V) }' N% ~: ^8 [/ u
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L: 噢,那是大象馆啊? 好,进去看看。 不行,不行,这儿太臭 了。走吧!' U9 U9 ?8 @9 Z6 B' _
/ s. }# M. J! F/ F1 k4 a- JM: Oh, yeah. Let's get out of here. In fact, I've got a lot of studying to do. I'm going to need to pull an all-nighter. 0 p- U. i' r7 H. U \3 t, y, k/ g8 u' G8 y3 d
L: 我知道你有很多功课,但是你在准备考试的时候也总得休息休息嘛。我听说这次考试会很难。你刚才说 all-nighter 是不是开夜车 的意思呀? ( K, C$ Y5 w, L0 d; o4 t. a8 y6 w5 F
M: Yeah, that's what I meant. Li Hua, you're smart!8 C0 l, \! l9 O5 p
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L: 我是猜出来的, all的意思是整个,全部,nighter和 night 很像。我想一个人要整夜学习,那不就是开夜车吗?但是,有一点我不太懂,你说:to pull an all-nighter,什么是pull ?8 y W" a! K2 ^: E9 |. q* S3 ]
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M: Pull means to get yourself through a difficult time.; F- O* V8 @ ~% j8 h
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L: 噢, pull an all-nighter,就是迫使自己整夜念书,因为要这样做是很辛苦的。 : I4 d7 u- A8 b# b: x5 a 7 x8 n& V( x& {# B; sM: Yep. You wouldn't have to pull an all-nighter because you have been studying all semester, I haven't been. % i+ O8 P( p& G( o ! q& B2 v* r+ _- X" \. SL: 这你可说对了。我不需要开夜车,因为我整个一学期都在学习。你要开夜车,因为你平时不学习。2 a$ S: i; q! Q4 u$ y( }
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M: I know, I know, you're a better student than I am.1 H- g" N3 D8 }3 f7 J* P `; C+ u9 i
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L: Michael, 我真喜欢纽约的秋天,空气很清新。你要是能跟我一起玩,不用回去念书,那该多好啊!% W$ J6 q4 v% h! S" Z7 @
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M: I don't want to go study either, but I should. . K3 V5 V$ p; Y7 S) i% c! G( S! g # B" A4 X1 v' T( I0 x( X' U% WL: 对啊, 你要是上星期多花点时间念书不就好了嘛。现在你得临时抱佛脚了。 " q* ^/ w$ e. v! |* m y% Q9 z# l( V$ F5 ~* d: l0 z
M: I perform better on tests when I cram.! J2 E9 ~+ O% n8 l: E% Z& {+ V
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L: Cram? Cram是把什么东西塞进去的意思,跟学习有什么关系呢?' p4 u1 Q) V2 i' [( Q. O; [* t) f
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M: Well, it's sort of the same meaning. I'm going to do a lot of studying at the last minute, that's what it means to cram. E/ j1 J" j0 m9 I, ]2 n" F$ u $ P3 j+ D f& c5 V7 nL: 意思差不多?噢,我知道了!Cram就是我们中文里说的填鸭式方法,就是硬把食品塞给鸭子吃,这样鸭子就长得肥。北京烤鸭就是用这种鸭子做的。你说的cram 是临时抱佛脚,在考试前猛记猛背,把知识往脑子里塞。你还认为这是好办法? : L6 s( r7 r8 B+ z2 M/ ]" C* X$ @3 w3 `9 w0 Z" z. g
M: Well, everyone's different. Cramming works for me. : i0 ^9 T/ ?4 y! i" F; N6 [4 }" @- H, R5 g
L: 你认为临时抱佛脚对你来说行得通。可是,Michael,想把半学期的内容在一个晚上记住,这样做可真傻。6 P( s% N: ?- t0 V
: p, {8 d: [ Z3 b+ kM: Stop being my mother, Li Hua! % o- l) v5 ~' ?, O2 m. T6 Z( k # C" X6 ]: I1 |8 z T$ y! a9 vL: 我才不想当你妈呢,你不听我的话,那就算了。Michael, cram这个词是否还能用在别的场合呢? / ~! h, L( y6 {. D1 |* A, d* Y! k3 V( ?% f4 Y1 j
M: Not really. It's only used to describe studying for a test, usually college or high-school level. , v7 q( Q0 N! S! r% R * r$ r" v) ]) Y% mL: 噢,只能指大学生或中学生在考试前开夜车,临时抱佛脚。 N4 \9 ?1 W+ ~. C: ?! V
. v, o N; Z- Q% tM: And that's what I need to do, right now. It's getting late and I know I will have to pull an all-nighter.6 Y3 A( z4 X! Y/ O1 y
7 g- z& b) b1 b, U* w G* TL: 好吧,我明天早上给你打电话。 + k. @9 |$ Y! l3 |( H/ T ' W) M5 C) u( G; A2 ^( d; m; \9 VM: No, don't worry about me, I'm sure I will still be cramming.( f4 k9 M. f4 I1 D
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L: 哟,你还准备开夜车开到天亮呐? Ok, well, good luck!5 ~$ S( B* M1 F' L