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。 3 A1 a0 B! q; w* {8 J 9 m) S& r) Y* X5 E1 h1 z2 a, Q. o. AL: 嗨, Michael,今天考得怎么样?: H8 a7 |0 G" U2 G! m; y7 N
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M: Not bad! I aced today's history test!0 G8 v4 _4 A2 q+ R
' Y! _5 U, o& s' ~! FL: 你历史测验又考糟啦?那你还那么高兴! ) b& r- ^1 c3 q! G7 X! h( f 9 D5 t3 b* P. B& y: o( Z; {M: No, Li Hua, I didn't bomb my test. I said "I aced the test". I did very well on it!, d* F; `# }2 Q* k3 u
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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? - k' M4 M) V/ _$ c# i% |% T. {# H# k: t( n2 M. W! h
M: Ace. Here, ace is a verb, and you can add a "d" to make it past tense. ; J8 ?' U+ H) X* @9 A! z3 Q R - w1 o% b# T3 u; p4 T. QL: 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?% ~. p' Q6 L% \! }
1 H) l" X" c- L. _( QM: That's right. The "ace" card is usually the highest value in a card game. Therefore, "ace" means to do well.! @0 M- r" ^* k2 i: n$ U% N9 D m
; I2 s" D E- O+ DL: 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?/ w* y( a {. p
9 B8 k8 T$ _* u( l* w0 X' b! uM: 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. 2 C+ E/ Q0 i8 T: f% F& q# t& {2 Q3 M9 E$ Q s4 K
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?' o. o: ]5 `4 ]) J( h
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M: I aced my last job interview. 5 v- q; s5 C* m F I. ]- ]# j f# Q, w! m/ b# n
L: 你大概回答问题答得很好,所以老板就要你了。 . D& \, C4 N) s+ ?" o5 U2 z5 O6 P& A1 J2 `" @
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.2 d2 Q5 H: ~' E1 t% M! w# D# ]
5 y1 i# q! U" i1 X9 NL: 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。/ f8 b1 |$ h. R: S5 Q. u
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M: Yes, you're right!, I, R# `) `# @6 x: F/ ~. q
4 G% W; v; J# x0 hL: Michael, 借我$.75 买杯咖啡好吗?$ w9 G( F% U, k- O
( U5 _! b/ {& gM: Well, okay. Li Hua, how much money do you earn as a teaching assistant, if you don't mind my asking?5 ^5 n6 M5 ]5 ]! P; r6 A
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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。* n( j; u, w8 S9 A9 b, [
$ E7 _8 @6 I e) q7 [1 k E7 zM: Eight dollars? That's peanuts! 5 m0 h9 T( d5 w7 e+ V2 v6 `6 L7 G( Z9 j8 i/ T' x9 U
L: Peanuts? Peanuts不是花生吗?你是什么意思呀?) ]' f9 ^. P3 e3 M# e
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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"! : ]* J7 \: d! F4 ~* f3 R5 r $ }4 ]% N2 ~8 v6 sL: 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?7 T4 S. x4 F% x* a, k
, d6 h+ Z+ J; `4 j( b* ~, vL: 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。$ c% V5 P9 a0 J# \2 Z: `
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M: That's still peanuts compared with the teaching assistants in other departments. I make about 13 dollars an hour as a graduate assistant.& u$ n$ h) f4 `2 r5 j: B" s
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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. % B1 F. I4 t1 c: C9 z. t9 ? v, A5 C$ e1 }* d1 G$ Y9 R
M: I don't see how you can live on so little money. ; Q1 L9 F" ?7 {' J& H* c% m2 W3 b , i$ ?- n# }2 _, w9 K: C1 HL: 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 X8 D; `- {' z
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M: Too bad you don't really make peanuts, at least you can eat those.../ b) {! Z8 N9 m! D$ r* H