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。& y$ d7 V) r' |/ U# x
( f" F7 n1 Y6 A, p9 p: yL: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样? 3 f x' _2 Q! Q e5 u& m K: v N' r7 e9 f* K
M: Not bad! I aced today's history test!. Q) H3 Y0 {# H6 D$ g) e
* Z6 ?5 a @( t6 y$ J1 e; dL: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴! " y4 \3 R9 q, v9 Q% h( {! G7 _# s* K
M: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it! 9 Z8 D6 i3 U; n " h; Q. H/ A* ^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? , m0 C( r$ \7 J" I) W& R6 n g+ q3 v8 A6 h
M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense.) h% }& e" A/ U
/ l4 O, D1 Y4 d+ @6 e; s% H1 DL: 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? ) ]# l- F/ P( s7 D& Z! S0 l2 T% _ E7 L5 F. q" B
M: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well., V, ~+ X0 }" [7 G9 F8 x q3 `( [
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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? / t& t+ V' i! {& ]7 _; i2 I l : C8 h8 a: y6 M( {$ @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.4 ?$ Y: Q4 c2 E6 N6 w5 E6 w
- D3 d0 ^' U9 D9 g, N }0 T" o* LL: 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? : B$ D$ M+ j9 q$ Z6 G2 U" e% C L
M: I aced my last job interview. # ]6 b1 T5 f5 q+ T. o5 H6 Q( U" R$ Y" d
L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。$ Y+ m6 h/ @( B9 v& D1 L% [9 E9 H
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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. 8 f5 {6 ~6 u) X/ f; p 0 A7 D. ~6 L/ J" fL: 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。 + F7 K0 y; }3 p: H: k7 |$ ?0 @ ; R& Y; P; r+ n/ h: J# mM: Yes, you're right!/ ~% G3 P0 L5 d9 W5 \8 \ y
' p" |- s" S) l, t: L( `6 U- GL: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗?& x" R5 y1 e; c) U5 l& Y& J
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M: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking? ' |& S! P: z1 s1 g . V8 l+ I4 j m3 z2 S* [L: 你当然不在意你问我赚多少钱。 当助教的工资很低,才8美元一 小时。 W3 H5 ^. |8 M3 f1 o
. s* c" i* r3 ^! i P/ u. yM: Eight dollars? That's peanuts!. a" A9 X. l$ O2 _/ |0 W% k1 T) U
# h; E) a: `1 C1 H0 }L: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀?' a n* z0 f) x2 @% D! `- V* v
1 y* G; m( d0 ^2 f6 y6 L3 ]M: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"! 7 W* K) U3 S! w! J* r) O: ~1 K; U( e% H! @* u
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?0 f- r- V% O4 u8 b( `7 M
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M: That's right.; r2 M9 F8 B3 \# z' \2 i0 f