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。 ; a$ b# r) N i0 j; l# L7 H 8 I# I! `9 e8 o9 \5 ]2 ZL: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样? ' N% `. s( B% K# `. d6 b+ @ 8 ~; P6 l: Y2 ~4 y1 pM: Not bad! I aced today's history test!' z. U1 f. l9 X( ~' y0 W* J- v( a# O
: L# m6 Z! L" I# t/ RL: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴! 6 ^/ k: D/ F a" a/ B8 j 3 v1 F8 o* `: Z( o: K2 d4 QM: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it! 1 F, P+ H! W2 O/ a6 h ( \7 e. o- ?; t& s6 {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? # N: Y4 P) a r& A H# H# ~' d! {; \) H# E$ B( w
M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense. " l' Y% e6 u5 @ i1 {) w2 S' p" E. t/ p# l( ?% g
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?$ f3 y/ ~, Q7 B" t1 q
" U3 a1 [" \5 \; P6 e' MM: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well. & d# n1 J* R) y% M/ j/ ` g! S 8 @9 F9 R. `5 U1 C6 U# z+ a ?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? 3 I: D5 M/ {" J2 Y/ p* f( ]2 t+ \) ]* O6 g
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.. ~( a& S0 a6 h- a% e( c4 W7 C# r
* m! ]5 v6 [4 S7 jL: 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?5 W* l6 U' h6 h# h. `
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M: I aced my last job interview. 2 e8 U2 I0 f4 b, ]1 r8 H4 ^1 `5 t1 Q- U& e5 L
L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。/ G( Q4 A: z: @) C( \( ~. s
$ j4 N* _. l1 C/ a; Q& j" J9 LM: 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. 1 M0 O& g: u0 H/ m; B: Y' a) S 7 t g4 q! N, ~8 z8 C8 e( m2 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。$ d. g8 B7 c5 b. N2 Q# f; Q! }& |
& D& A p! M1 C$ b$ p, {7 j3 z- [M: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking? * b! ]* x4 K5 v( T- i6 I2 ~* E6 K% ~4 \" D" L! u( @
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。 % |7 K8 z9 }3 f& S6 H 3 x4 ?/ F! C- C/ `! r2 J& ]* rM: Eight dollars? That's peanuts! {9 t! d: G8 C% U# u9 g6 C. | c" Z
* Y9 R7 c) `- y9 \( EL: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀? , M: \! h- L" q 1 w8 M `% J) z7 QM: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"! . Q; ~) G8 O+ X$ o+ L 6 [! w( ]% ]9 j/ NL: 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? " n+ { r- y% m % h; n: i4 ]; aM: That's right. % i2 g/ z# c8 ^$ ]) a% n ( m1 J) C: w* aL: 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。 4 p1 c9 p& X( F0 Z: A7 h/ a; j1 @/ U: v5 [7 k$ W$ F- 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.# s6 V6 W, Q) {* T2 D/ m
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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. e+ x% I6 ?+ v- _ : ] U- E' ~" L9 L) X# \" }4 ]3 LM: I don't see how you can live on so little money. . _+ s! j3 C' j8 a% a 6 V; `3 {* b. e$ `) E: A- ?# TL: 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。* e$ g& c g) Q; G3 _$ I
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M: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those... w: T) o1 n$ @+ G- _& e