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流行美语 第26课:ace; peanuts

2007-05-15来源:

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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。

L: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样?

M: Not bad! I aced today's history test!

L: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴!

M: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it!

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?

M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense.

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?

M: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well.

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?

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.

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?

M: I aced my last job interview.

L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。

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.

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。

M: Yes, you're right!

L: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗?

M: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking?

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。

M: Eight dollars? That's peanuts!

L: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀?

M: That's really not much! You only make eight dollars an hour? Your wages are very low, so I said that's "peanuts"!

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?

M: That's right.

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。

M: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant.

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.

M: I don't see how you can live on so little money.

L: 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。

M: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those...

L: 你真想要我赚花生,靠吃花生过日子呀。Michael, 你真废话!

M: I'm just kidding!

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。