[流行美语]又和大家见面了。Michael是一个在纽约上大学的美国年轻人,他经常跟中国学生李华一起玩。Michael向李华学中文,李华向 Michael 学英文。Michael 正在准备考试,有很多功课要做,但是李华要他出去休息休息,两人约好下午在动物园见面。他们在对话中会用这两个词:all-nighter和cram。 1 ~, W9 L E: Y) w" _$ P1 R; s2 T2 O$ P
L: 嗨,Michael. 我在这儿!) q7 |$ @( W( v2 U6 S5 ~- }
& `2 X/ ]0 g8 K. AM: Hey, Li Hua. Oh, the elephant house, let's go in and take a look.* G1 J# A4 Q# s9 e! _
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L: 噢,那是大象馆啊? 好,进去看看。 不行,不行,这儿太臭 了。走吧! : S# o5 N2 R7 R ~( K0 ]+ ] : h, h& w3 V" }& V! w! r$ {8 AM: Oh, yeah. Let's get out of here. In fact, I've got a lot of studying to do. I'm going to need to pull an all-nighter. % I# N4 B. T( Y: m% D7 s1 ]3 ?5 f % Q. v( Q% d. ^4 N0 }; NL: 我知道你有很多功课,但是你在准备考试的时候也总得休息休息嘛。我听说这次考试会很难。你刚才说 all-nighter 是不是开夜车 的意思呀?* B7 z4 d5 k6 x- L7 v+ b
! _) F' P% |1 z# }+ W" Y! b* i- XM: Yeah, that's what I meant. Li Hua, you're smart!+ q# k6 q( K8 v
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L: 我是猜出来的, all的意思是整个,全部,nighter和 night 很像。我想一个人要整夜学习,那不就是开夜车吗?但是,有一点我不太懂,你说:to pull an all-nighter,什么是pull ?! C: I; E7 m; i c0 `* G0 i
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M: Pull means to get yourself through a difficult time.+ r7 r7 C' o# P8 Q
7 \5 k: S* B% D8 f1 I0 f1 eL: 噢, pull an all-nighter,就是迫使自己整夜念书,因为要这样做是很辛苦的。 & e. ?; k. L( N/ l T) H# X3 L8 F7 g1 I2 R
M: Yep. You wouldn't have to pull an all-nighter because you have been studying all semester, I haven't been.* q8 b2 p F3 m, |$ i, w7 w
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L: 这你可说对了。我不需要开夜车,因为我整个一学期都在学习。你要开夜车,因为你平时不学习。4 ~7 [, @0 O5 k% m& s1 Y1 [- j4 Z
7 s w- m: h: _' F7 vM: I know, I know, you're a better student than I am. 5 a3 L* `+ x9 N: N: Q7 @; s$ W$ Z) i# k5 X% s+ i2 q
L: Michael, 我真喜欢纽约的秋天,空气很清新。你要是能跟我一起玩,不用回去念书,那该多好啊! ; C8 a% M. u( p5 e& ^, H# o) |# f' o! x
M: I don't want to go study either, but I should. M; I( c- T9 [& x' w, s% y/ Q
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L: 对啊, 你要是上星期多花点时间念书不就好了嘛。现在你得临时抱佛脚了。 2 r" S D) L/ a: h ) e: n$ s% S8 z+ G* a1 A# [! x' ?! ^M: I perform better on tests when I cram. 1 w0 K. G. c; J 9 G) F/ ?2 b. \$ M" ?. I" kL: Cram? Cram是把什么东西塞进去的意思,跟学习有什么关系呢? & u. I/ r( G& n) R! v& X) s* i$ d. W ' S+ n8 c; U- A$ o. GM: Well, it's sort of the same meaning. I'm going to do a lot of studying at the last minute, that's what it means to cram." i; A, v5 u& L$ O
) t7 D; V& @; E% W, oL: 意思差不多?噢,我知道了!Cram就是我们中文里说的填鸭式方法,就是硬把食品塞给鸭子吃,这样鸭子就长得肥。北京烤鸭就是用这种鸭子做的。你说的cram 是临时抱佛脚,在考试前猛记猛背,把知识往脑子里塞。你还认为这是好办法? 4 Q; b/ W3 l0 ?) ^2 r. Z$ F4 o' C) J* F8 R
M: Well, everyone's different. Cramming works for me.# \/ b1 N8 z- e$ W- M9 l# V
1 E) J3 g5 l5 M/ S0 V xL: 你认为临时抱佛脚对你来说行得通。可是,Michael,想把半学期的内容在一个晚上记住,这样做可真傻。 ) c9 u8 ]+ N6 A h& | { " ~4 V* i5 N4 h- Z: u% P c3 ~M: Stop being my mother, Li Hua!0 z4 _: L) c0 w: |" g5 h0 Z8 S
0 Z6 P K! }- o. KL: 我才不想当你妈呢,你不听我的话,那就算了。Michael, cram这个词是否还能用在别的场合呢?, O/ K7 Q' S( q" }; t0 M
( a0 ]% N/ n) h/ A% AM: Not really. It's only used to describe studying for a test, usually college or high-school level. 9 \) |& @ o" B* L6 b/ L; a1 M1 a- |; N
L: 噢,只能指大学生或中学生在考试前开夜车,临时抱佛脚。* L4 m; ^' F$ z3 ]9 D4 P/ n
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M: And that's what I need to do, right now. It's getting late and I know I will have to pull an all-nighter. # P- B3 l5 `2 L8 Z: B* v3 n5 P- b% `3 p1 y4 h
L: 好吧,我明天早上给你打电话。7 ?2 ~- R1 p. e: d* `; U9 q
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M: No, don't worry about me, I'm sure I will still be cramming.8 j9 U) H6 l6 j- V, ~
7 w) k' j3 L# i! nL: 哟,你还准备开夜车开到天亮呐? Ok, well, good luck! + d z# @- \7 s7 g4 @1 a7 F9 X- @, G5 H3 v5 A E2 n: I; Z
今天李华向Michael学了两个常用语,一个是:all-nighter, 意思是开夜车;另一个是:cram, 这是指中学生或大学生在考试前临时抱佛脚。 0 A7 M9 E- I F% K# pAudio As Following: . ~0 M3 s$ y1 u5 q