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。; ?' F7 [8 H* h* ^, _$ O- ?* g' g
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L: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样? 7 J0 C: b: H5 x8 s% n) a5 [0 @; E( H
M: Not bad! I aced today's history test! 2 W* n0 V- h# u+ m( @: |2 D' D x4 ^, f6 b4 e) T) y% p, {; SL: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴!& z2 p/ g' ~$ m2 n: r4 T
" @% J; L9 A( V' b/ @8 l( t! S QM: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it!0 ?9 s; _# C' [% Y7 [/ @: d
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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?# e. m" _/ o } x% f! i9 U
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M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense. 3 h$ z& N' f& J6 A 0 \' R2 N* O3 q* [/ UL: 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?5 t0 v2 ~/ m3 ~, X i! b7 ]
1 Y% s/ e/ j; U5 xM: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well. C8 v6 w. g8 j7 [4 ?) e# E6 v
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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?: G) h9 b: B& }( V! z* j0 G
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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./ {$ ?5 K+ l6 Q
2 k i5 S# P/ G. }, WM: I aced my last job interview.! O! |: o6 z7 Y- g3 x
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L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。 " V, o+ L9 @5 M, }' ^# Y6 a4 ~! t) e! P5 K" Y* q
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. $ Y5 W" P6 K- `( [# t, h# X/ h ( Y7 U2 N, K c+ eL: 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。, z/ y+ n+ |1 F6 N5 e
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M: Yes, you're right!0 G2 I( C, t& I8 y, {: _6 ]% f/ H
( e7 ^; k. u# c' p4 rL: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗?7 u1 r* A: q0 m7 i! S
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M: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking?7 l' i$ y I7 T! W
; q6 f. G3 V y/ oL: 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。 - f9 E) I9 a6 L; X: H8 R$ D8 }7 ?! V* m7 X+ I+ W; }* p* U
M: Eight dollars? That's peanuts! * A( P0 W3 l6 X. d ; E3 S$ q) b1 r- K1 ?. o/ V2 dL: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀? # E; d9 \" X* a8 G6 i2 L: I) J! C/ `% `
M: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"!1 `/ w* j+ ]/ ?+ g6 }' u; Y
, q: a- D' u j! O2 `! I# E% N: g5 ?L: 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? . {5 O9 s2 @5 t: G& L0 E # _5 `# f$ s6 Q+ ?4 vM: That's right.. c5 T I, h) j5 _8 ?
% o1 p! r+ I% k2 `3 z6 rL: 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 K0 c7 M4 B) F& Y. E$ P1 F. Z1 i& P, r/ d& m7 y$ {9 \5 Q* S+ w" j
M: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant.2 Q! H: x. z; h- q/ Z9 F
I! E! `( ~$ x7 IL: 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. ( D( B; Z% ?7 r1 ?) w3 T9 [ # g0 D6 Q" z7 G s' ^! qM: I don't see how you can live on so little money.9 H+ x+ E' d) G9 ], d
8 E- J: V: X) x9 B Y `. w! jL: 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。 ( T$ R; y8 g0 g; i* U8 {4 L% ]$ Y, A* _; X( N
M: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those... [% `; k7 w" l v
4 R$ P9 o! d' `8 X$ q1 W6 B/ UL: 你真想要我赚花生,靠吃花生过日子呀。Michael, 你真废话! \$ y. O9 x1 o* Q1 \% T! U