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。8 a" l i& c( v+ i
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L: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样? : P4 B) I+ y1 R0 r $ u2 ~1 ?7 E5 y: F9 EM: Not bad! I aced today's history test!; i" D' A9 t2 S
: {6 G; l0 ?2 w5 w6 T* \: m% h5 \3 sM: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it!7 S; p3 g9 J6 ?; e& }. O
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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? ' u2 y. l3 ^% o4 ^! ^# @& E7 T+ U4 r* p- V" ^
M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense. 4 }6 N! ?+ a0 z0 _3 L( i7 }3 c* T$ G' y9 F1 I6 _, n
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? 4 {2 a" B$ |" W/ }1 v; N B0 h) ]: J- X* W: A- u- qM: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well.3 f% B$ Z" j: |* [; v2 `! q
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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? $ f. T5 y- e1 t$ o 4 y5 d" k V4 H' zM: 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., U' g) @; V# p' G+ D# X, y
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L: 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? 3 g$ O3 X1 U# b# U) o2 [2 i, @6 G ) S7 ]/ e! w& v2 C k% V4 ZM: I aced my last job interview.0 p2 H0 L d) ~# v
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L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。% ]; Q6 ^ b5 J8 h5 z
x) w1 j7 ^4 O. f4 [$ fM: 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, A8 x" _) v0 f7 p / n5 D5 ?2 Z k D( p* @, |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。 - o9 j3 f/ G2 y: g/ h! o3 w+ w; M; f( z+ ]3 i+ J$ t8 M
M: Yes, you're right!* U2 u( U% z+ S p) r1 z. B
) {7 N9 n0 e# Q" L6 A6 g/ RL: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗? 5 |: [* d& s4 W, J " u7 q. R) I& P* K F' ~* f/ PM: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking? 0 \8 Y n3 W7 T; o% Y) ~: \3 k, N" F0 b! E8 w! B0 q
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。 9 r; b. x/ \6 f7 B1 S4 c9 K& S8 S! ~! l# a
M: Eight dollars? That's peanuts! ' t% I9 q: d4 R; }/ ]+ z $ @4 |, l" s N) P4 xL: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀?* g5 X' y8 d: c: V9 w u u9 j
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M: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"! ) a9 p7 y/ r! F1 s7 A% c5 a+ H) }& c+ `& O
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?8 G; x3 \2 w. x E
' e. D1 B3 N# `+ ?$ y: NM: That's right. 6 a8 B+ C# A, Q; [( u' d1 @" m* P6 m6 R7 W3 t* h$ k
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。8 a8 E& J/ i2 l
1 p+ o h0 i0 l* G9 vM: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant. * X2 p1 Z8 m- H4 I9 y; P4 W) b; M4 [0 a9 X3 t
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+ A+ W) O( X+ J9 j- o. ? q; n6 |- ?5 x$ U8 K) O
M: I don't see how you can live on so little money." i1 n. H: H( f/ X3 E9 ?
& c) J' y$ ^0 t$ ^7 r: JL: 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。* z( C3 a* A3 k7 c1 ~. t
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M: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those... / {9 ]/ b) ]; K. N% O" u 7 f6 ^* ?/ h5 e! Q& |L: 你真想要我赚花生,靠吃花生过日子呀。Michael, 你真废话! * h) X8 n. p! t! M5 Q* m* X1 U. K& O2 x0 c. c4 ~
M: I'm just kidding!) \' j# C% w l
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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。 & l( `; S% v( `, k( AAudio As Following:, v) `9 ^6 t" V4 N