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。' D* \/ ~3 e2 J' o0 t
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L: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样?! Y4 g0 J+ I& [ s" x4 P
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M: Not bad! I aced today's history test! ' O7 c+ j* r# X0 O& b0 M , d5 F3 R# z' XL: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴!+ J9 i9 V/ ^5 a# F
- X' j% \2 F% ?2 H2 i S& jM: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it! 4 z" Q- B7 v3 T; s* v9 R& L$ c# ], ~! @% B9 I* Q2 p
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? 7 T) r+ j0 h1 y( ^- P. L# q 1 M9 K, A+ b6 v" k2 l& R& _% cM: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense. 8 e" v% c$ P) k% V! g& [8 v7 `% M4 y/ [$ a; S
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? # L8 a/ l9 R8 J$ b( n ^4 E 2 I! ]9 Y. l9 b$ w, vM: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well. d4 y- K% I+ }. q " n7 j$ q/ k, kL: 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 D; O. u- ^0 _+ N
4 F; U! _& x5 F- o1 _* d7 DM: 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.: d4 p3 X; k* ~* Y7 R7 k- x6 U
' t/ y" z; H* |2 `# gL: 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?8 N1 ~3 {$ l( ?- Z8 P; B
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M: I aced my last job interview.' i4 @9 K. x: z+ M5 t
4 M t$ o O u8 n2 K3 S2 LL: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。" w8 h2 ^% d: e2 v, H" G1 u
+ n" m+ x; V% cM: 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. $ Z( \$ @" K6 ~ - n, T: P9 p* {$ S7 I% m) {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。 $ K: h# |4 L+ v/ I5 f6 M0 u2 x/ r 8 |( s) m+ C: R' a7 ]7 j |- xM: Yes, you're right! $ p, }4 f' q/ E$ X# J2 g+ T$ M% }# e; `2 V1 V1 N1 {* m
L: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗?1 B8 L. g+ O$ F; I
3 b) Z3 K \! f2 W1 K/ oM: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking?9 l4 P( ?. x7 q6 n! h
9 B0 J9 e9 b0 A& L5 QL: 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。 ! m( j4 w! v! R# u # x8 S( q; x! y& s" H$ I7 }4 [# @% qM: Eight dollars? That's peanuts! + f' Y: _" v" H0 P8 }% I' V - S# m7 @5 |* ]6 x% g8 D& WL: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀? + w& _* Z; r5 g2 S- F7 t$ u7 [# t0 q/ E9 F& K/ y
M: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"! $ I, z2 e5 i& }8 N : O1 a! p5 U' G9 M2 ~5 BL: 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?. K# Y8 m+ i! R; o) k' ?- z) V- L
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M: That's right. 6 h9 e& }3 ~- q0 Q* s' p: ^) n6 `/ x# U) s* z' m6 R: X
L: 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。 ( H8 E# K! ~; r) y# s- e3 o. I& w" V , h' }# r5 f- Z/ OM: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant. : C$ S% ?& L' u7 s: J" }6 z( u$ e( [. v# 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. 2 F! n i# h/ a$ Z$ K- g7 D9 t( v" K; R: ~7 l# s. @9 J
M: I don't see how you can live on so little money. 5 a0 N0 G+ m) @) h1 D7 a 0 d- _# i s7 e& O3 \8 Y4 K- KL: 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。! ?3 ^% n* A- Y
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M: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those... ' [# ?8 v! @" ?1 A$ @+ s / d3 T0 f# `$ f! DL: 你真想要我赚花生,靠吃花生过日子呀。Michael, 你真废话!' w3 D2 w1 B( V& h
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M: I'm just kidding!* _+ M6 I& A: h" H+ V