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。 ( R# I2 s( c n+ r5 T9 N, }& X# n' i' V
L: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样? 9 a3 u/ }1 g7 ] 0 H; f# o1 t$ `M: Not bad! I aced today's history test!$ R1 @( t6 {3 b- q7 d, K7 b o
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L: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴! ' u3 c' Q" a4 a6 ]" w : a, @" t0 e Q& a/ V. B2 e7 M8 QM: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it!4 x1 L+ h/ H( R8 \0 m( L
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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? + h4 [9 `8 P6 X+ o" O [9 l8 u$ a) @$ r8 d( X1 [; D! _3 O
M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense.- C8 }8 Y, C8 h: T& b( ]1 S: J4 a
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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? . [" C+ L8 b* n0 |6 z: m% Q$ }' Q; P5 b
M: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well. 9 A! i' ?. C5 {% v! { s1 A d( x; Q, r; `/ I# ?3 YL: 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? 6 e! a- m; f- P2 _" j0 F/ R" D' r 7 W9 P; s; l/ L" D% o. T- M* EM: 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.0 Q: _& W3 G2 {' v, {5 ^" V
4 `5 X, s1 A" [( U8 Z# {6 U2 S% x4 qM: I aced my last job interview. 1 r4 P) l% f d; }0 x8 x; \" X F ; c4 p. i1 f+ c- }L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。6 M: ^8 O" @! Z& j1 g1 o9 q8 [) l
$ `6 P2 [- T& iM: 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. 4 ?8 J, Z) d Y5 t; u ( n9 I" D' R) D; b% G4 iL: 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。 , U, B8 q$ `1 N" e$ e' Z- q \5 ~; r
M: Yes, you're right! % L3 R. b. Q7 H. ~9 W+ @0 s( U t1 l8 k5 U
L: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗? . n9 Y0 a5 j8 \1 I0 ]# X* W/ }6 v j8 g8 V, `+ g
M: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking? w3 m5 X! m7 l4 j2 h) r( F5 L: Y6 I0 I9 w1 f# ]
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。: c, V& M& K0 j. E
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M: Eight dollars? That's peanuts!, x) F. p2 z; s9 R' V* v; `2 i- R* j
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L: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀? , _6 j# v' `3 B: R) d : v. X7 F1 l. A! p& K6 c- p9 HM: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"! . z8 f4 B/ o1 z! M/ a( k# I( s: k, _: d 6 }; U' U; J4 ]+ I7 b& {. n0 @- jL: 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? 2 P) R9 b# [4 d $ e5 R+ S' I1 y0 x& \3 y, m" t3 VM: That's right. % A4 r# L! Z4 s & ^* c R, o! I5 |( PL: 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。 " j6 Z- K- b/ ^. e7 v1 U; o( f$ L* l- G# O+ r+ {
M: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant.4 A b0 T; W( R" l- F* @
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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.9 T# i. t) k& D' Y) B% u( Q
- G% t" V. `( R7 o3 I0 Y: a* GM: I don't see how you can live on so little money.3 g6 ~: K$ G8 [ A8 l3 k% h
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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。2 s U+ \! }( {9 }8 d6 a
" t L6 D" }$ W. mM: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those... 1 E6 ^" c; R' ]! b" ~( [5 M3 Q ! I) ]9 A' c6 T! YL: 你真想要我赚花生,靠吃花生过日子呀。Michael, 你真废话!1 Q. w: b7 a5 ~( o
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M: I'm just kidding! 7 x( K- ]( c- g4 j9 ] ! G$ |7 O V' A2 x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。8 }. H7 Z* n) v. W9 t
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