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。# b4 t8 ^, e; w7 c, e1 D
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L: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样? 5 y2 w% @' V3 M+ N$ y0 w) Y) M$ [, p9 P
M: Not bad! I aced today's history test! " P8 ?- W* k3 m& d2 o6 t: h0 }# y2 J5 U6 ~' {3 r
L: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴!! f% Y" h9 H7 f* c+ z: h# |$ ^; F
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M: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it! 0 I( D7 b3 S+ M9 G* d& p7 P / @" Z- p% _ T- qL: 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? ' f# J: C: c, h0 t/ y* r( p0 |0 a* W- P9 [8 q! E
M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense. : j- u- z; M& ~- B: H6 h" }" r$ M% j7 L1 ~/ u- e. q/ w
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?, n6 w7 T7 M4 c1 A" q
: v: k. W+ p( rM: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well. 7 C/ h. U' x0 l% t1 w1 A L% S 2 b' R8 E+ R8 ~& U k, ^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?* N( l& `+ ~2 g% _* z2 e9 M
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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.- E5 x, E) b" Q( D( K, l' y8 F
- c) S2 C; H# B$ g( AM: I aced my last job interview.. r7 i4 Z/ s" G5 n7 ~
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L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。 ' s2 U+ |& y- g( s) v& ^0 f' M2 s; P# m; d- n
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. S0 E1 b8 b7 W3 m8 l
* y T6 {! G. t" o& _) f8 a( ~M: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking?8 N2 f$ C1 p6 D- A3 r
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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。 $ e, c' }# X7 F9 P' \, @- `8 I; A6 O
M: Eight dollars? That's peanuts! ( O5 y9 }0 n- j0 j 8 B/ `( b& {* W: kL: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀? S% p" |. t, X1 `6 ` [3 A! p/ R$ |7 p8 r
M: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"!0 y+ [7 M: r7 _1 z
* p' b: a8 g/ z2 P. ML: 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?5 _8 }$ R- e( [' C; f: p Z1 U F! U
3 M$ {8 p, s4 Q' p1 A7 {2 ^( E, kL: 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 r: b- H, W0 T7 X! W4 e! s' A5 | % S0 t3 r7 k- q( z) q2 Q+ b( QM: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant./ w3 A, X: G' x) b( X3 V
3 q# a$ W( e6 u6 O& vL: 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 B9 ]( J- S7 P$ [0 \& F) y/ U8 ^% W# ^" N( h' ?
M: I don't see how you can live on so little money. # f' B) i) r0 }/ J# x" P8 X ; f! u7 M; B+ W$ h# d" P3 uL: 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。; q4 }$ r& e5 P1 A8 i+ I+ K; [
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M: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those...7 \2 m9 R! F8 E9 ?$ B