酷兔英语

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>第11讲:shoe is on the other foot; work hand in glove
>美国的成语或俗语和其他语言一样同生活中的各个方面有关。有一些和食品有关,有的来自扑克牌游戏,还有的和穿着有联系。今天我们要讲的两个习惯用语是和鞋子、手套有关系的。首先,我们要介绍的是"The shoe is on the other foot"。
The shoe is on the other foot的意思是:形势已经完全不同了。下面这个例子就能够说明the shoe is on the other foot在日常会话中是怎么用的:
例句-1: "Back in school we made fun of Jones because we thought he spent too much time studying instead of having fun. Now the shoe is on the other foot -- he's made lots of money and the rest of us are just barely making enough to feed our families."
这句话翻成中文就是说:"以前在学校里念书的时候,我们老是笑话琼斯,认为他这个人老是念书,不会玩。可是,现在情况就完全不同了。他赚了不少钱,而我们这些人的收入只够维持家计而已。"
下面的一个例子是一个球迷在夸耀当地的棒球队:
例句-2: "For the last ten years the Tigers have been the worst team in the league: we've finished down at the bottom. But now the shoe is on the other foot: we have all these good young players and we're beating everybody else in the whole league."
这句话的意思是:"我们这个地方的球队老虎队十年前是参加联赛的所有球队中最次的一个,比赛结果老是最后一名。现在可不同了。我们球队的队员都很年轻,球艺也好。他们把其他球队一个个全打败了。"
现在我们来讲一个和手套有关的习惯用语: To work hand in glove。To work hand in glove的意思是密切合作。我们来举个例子吧:
例句-3: "The local police are working hand in glove with the FBI to find the bank robbers."
这是说:"当地的警察正在和联邦调查局密切合作设法找到那些抢劫银行的罪犯。"
Hand in glove这个词汇也经常用在反面的场合,形容一些人合谋犯罪等。下面就是一个例子:
例句-4: "I read in the paper about this customs officer they arrested at the airport. They caught him working hand in glove with a gang of smugglers to bring diamonds into the country without paying duty."
这个人说:"我在报纸上看到有关那个在机场被逮捕的海关官员的消息。他们发现他和一些走私者密切合作,把钻石带进来而不缴关税。"
上面我们讲了两个美国人常用的词汇。第一个是 the shoe is on the other foot,这是指情况完全不同的意思。另外一个是 to work hand in glove,这是密切合作的意思。
第12讲:follow your nose; pay through the nose
>今天我们要讲两个由鼻子,也就是nose 这个字组成的俗语。鼻子是我们嗅觉和呼吸的工具,是人体的一个重要组成部份。大概也正因为如此,英语里许多常用的习惯用语都和nose这个字有联系。比如说,你到华盛顿来访问,要上白宫去参观,可是走在路上好像迷失了方向。于是,你就在马路上问人怎么去白宫。你得到的回答可能就是:
>例句-1: "Turn left at the next corner and then follow your nose -- you can't miss it."
这人说:"到前面的路口向左转,然后一直走就到了,你不会看不到的。"
很明显,这句句子里"follow your nose"的意思就是"一直走"。 Follow your nose还可以解释为利用嗅觉找到什么东西。例如:
例句-2: "You say you're looking for the French Bakery? Just walk two blocks north, turn left, and you can smell that wonderful smell of fresh bread baking: just follow your nose and it will bring you right to the front door."
这人说:"你是说你在找那个法国面包店吗?往北走过两条街,然后向左转,你就会闻到那烤面包的香味。随着香味走就会把你带到那面包店的门口了。"
"Follow your nose"在这句句子里着重的是嗅觉,而不是方向。今天我们要讲的第二个常用的习惯用语是: Pay through the nose。 Pay就是付钱的意思。按字面上来解释,pay through the nose就是通过鼻子来付钱,这听起来似乎很痛苦。而实际上,pay through the nose的确切意思是付出比真正的价值高得多的钱,或者说付出的钱实在太多而感到心痛。我们来举个例子吧:
例句-3: "My brother Bob borrowed the money to open his restaurant five years ago when the interest rate was so high, so he's been paying through the nose ever since."
这个人说:"我哥哥在五年前借钱开他那个饭馆的时候正好利率非常高。所以,他从那时起就一直在大笔大笔地还债。"
这样由于利息高而付许多钱来还债当然谁也不愿意。可是,也有人心甘情愿出高价来买那些他们认为值得买的东西。下面一个例子就可以说明这一点:
例句-4: "Life is funny. When the famous dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh was alive, nobody wanted to buy his pictures. But now rich people will pay through the nose for one, sometimes more than five million dollars."
这句话的意思是:"人生实在是很有趣的。当那位有名的荷兰画家凡高还活着的时候,没有人要买他的画。可是,现在那些有钱人却愿意出高价买他的画,有时候一张画就要五百多万美元。"
今天我们讲了两个和nose有关的常用词汇。第一个是follow the nose。Follow the nose可以指"一直走",也可以解释为随着你闻到的味道去找什么东西,或什么地方。今天讲的第二个和nose有关的词汇是to pay through the nose。To pay through the nose是付出很高价钱的意思。


关键字:英语口语
生词表:
  • beating [´bi:tiŋ] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.敲;搅打;失败 六级词汇


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