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, y& S. j* Z. D, f4 S9 d$ }, W G9 k+ Z- \3 S
L: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样? # P, r$ O( d, I: z5 n- l% T- `( f7 [, x3 P& l" o8 j1 d
M: Not bad! I aced today's history test!; o: J* K, a( e* O
; R0 C! t) ~. u4 z' gL: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴! - {# p7 A4 |) p) D 0 C7 o* O- _/ P/ ZM: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it! 6 d8 V l; s" A; u, W2 X( r9 ]* l0 o
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?+ I+ x5 U+ K1 R
! |: ]" ~! x6 k" ~, JM: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense. 3 } K; s$ }) e4 C % j Z8 | Y& YL: 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?( w! P& T2 ~8 p& f: |
. c( P) K, J9 L% v- A4 a2 aM: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well. ( x2 f' X! b u, i ~$ Y5 m6 k8 ]* y7 | AL: 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?) h Y$ w; |8 t; N+ N5 D
3 I) m! \9 Y7 U9 r" MM: 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. $ Z! K$ r! ?% V' H# }6 K$ \7 u ! Y: ^+ i1 |3 W2 \9 ML: 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?* g/ g1 j4 E$ D$ \& I s- i
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M: I aced my last job interview. : _( ~1 Q5 j+ t. I8 u7 N 0 F, v4 ]5 J: W, }( [1 t3 `7 l6 i! OL: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。 4 D1 ]9 y1 z- I9 ~, Q 8 l( F) g3 Q; Y- O6 XM: 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." {" B& A: G5 u/ F; i
+ [& c. \5 L, g O7 T4 ^L: 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。 5 S/ z; {, z/ m9 O 7 o& u& B7 g1 G, JM: Yes, you're right!* C5 ~: s# ]7 B1 p; B+ L. e& |
Q1 z$ e+ |* `% Q( x9 \2 qL: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗?# ?8 F8 v) e& C: t
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M: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking? ' v' D# t: z! @( M( u; k 6 q5 s- o- |, o4 p% t) K4 M3 X$ AL: 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。 4 q' \; h5 z. F, H7 k! h/ E6 s% I4 A5 Z7 y" p# y5 V( p
M: Eight dollars? That's peanuts! 8 Z8 n1 \/ h5 M) | 8 g9 |$ a8 @2 TL: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀?' g! P& X- Z5 q. P
$ c5 i/ A& N1 {7 gM: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"! 4 U( ]# V! \. M8 A, j; U7 N* e/ w. d* v 2 k% V8 Y" ?0 oL: 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? / A9 }9 l9 x, h" ^, h/ L8 S9 F! m. X. s1 I( e1 C' d& d& N3 B
M: That's right. ! g. R: f1 u: O' x P- o( p4 d$ R( l% p0 SL: 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 \; `# X) p6 C G+ a' v/ s& c8 Z* j/ ^5 {
M: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant. / ?. V e7 ]; D4 o4 f2 E# m7 @0 v4 `& K( Z
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. + L8 ]+ b% v3 J, @: u9 l ' O1 X) \* F* RM: I don't see how you can live on so little money. 0 `$ X; j* `1 E7 y- }2 g / h6 H, f' V0 v0 Q: `0 f7 FL: 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。 : V/ `% n3 n% _ Y* g . n3 D, D2 I( L( i, w9 b! A9 B- gM: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those...' O2 I5 {9 r$ `4 {) \. a