托福词汇之“break the bank”
请看相关报道:
Heavy rain across a swathe of southern China over the last week has killedat least 132 people and left 86 missing, as rivers broke their banks andlandslides cut off road and rail links.
我国南方一带上周突降暴雨,导致河流决堤,暴雨引发的山体滑坡致使公路和铁路系统中断,已造成至少132人死亡,86人失踪。
文中的 break the banks 就是指河流“决堤”,也称为burst the banks或者breaching of thedyke。来看下面这段报道:
The breaching of the dyke immediately endangered 145,000 residentsdownstream, as well as 8,193 hectares of arable land.
决堤立刻威胁到了下游14.5万居民以及8193公顷耕地的安全。
但如果我们说一个人break the bank,那他可就身无分文了。在这里break the bank则表示“耗尽资源,破产”。例如:Oneevening at the theatre won't break the bank.(看一晚上戏不会倾家荡产的。)在赌场上,这个词组的意思则是“赢光庄家的钱”。
我们平时在口语中常遇到break构成的习惯说法,来看看下面几个例子吧。
break the ice 打断沉默/打破僵局
He is the first to break the ice of the enterprise.
他是第一个从事这一冒险事业的人。
break one’s neck 尽力去做某事
I am breaking my neck to scrape up the money to keep him in college.
我一直在想尽一切办法凑钱让他继续念大学。
break even 打成平手
The two teams break even at the end.
两个队最后打成平局。
break the spell 解开咒语
She has come to break the spell!
她来帮我们解开咒语。