[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。 6 d6 Z$ Q; I" r7 W7 Z; F - {- c5 @0 C3 W$ n5 G7 O. [L: 嗨,Michael. 我在这儿! ' {8 [/ e( C* @, \# I& `# t; m- t$ F/ w/ }
M: Hey, Li Hua. Oh, the elephant house, let's go in and take a look.5 T8 x' x) k4 @, v; k' w
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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! % H# ?; |2 ~$ G# {- }4 G2 i( U5 r; `6 f2 F1 N
M: 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. + K/ |+ J( N3 @. P; a) K, N. N$ T4 {4 ~
L: 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? * d f4 E) M/ K t 6 `* Y! o% ]% u& j8 s! XM: Yeah, that's what I meant. Li Hua, you're smart! " x* t5 i3 n/ C i8 g7 l( M: e( m" a, @
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 ? 6 b' a) c- o2 C7 ~8 K: c: a/ O. X7 p7 }( G% p$ c
M: Pull means to get yourself through a difficult time., e2 E+ o0 {4 B; ^ T$ p' B8 N
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L: 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。 b* _6 k( }( ]! t7 v D( X" m
6 x3 a) X' u" N2 i$ f! A" `M: Yep. You wouldn't have to pull an all-nighter because you have been studying all semester, I haven't been.+ o" \/ a* O: \/ @
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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。 ( F4 w6 \$ E1 w: R8 r9 Q' |9 ^; C M+ R 1 x' t3 o: S) P) UM: I know, I know, you're a better student than I am. $ G" H. V: k# F" f' L1 P8 ~( B% g- X$ s3 g% X- p) Q" e& h1 W
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!; g; z- {: }2 `! e& a. b3 N
6 Y* \) n0 t/ [7 {3 X( v# kM: I don't want to go study either, but I should.0 \/ n2 P0 ?$ G
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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。 " [. E$ ~. g" I) u 0 k" q9 _7 m& N ^5 W PM: I perform better on tests when I cram. 7 X) _8 v, C+ B& X 5 p" _/ d \9 V3 n w/ mL: Cram? Cram是把什么东西塞进去的意思,跟学习有什么关系呢? % x9 w7 O$ ]; J+ Z1 ] + I* c6 e* z" LM: 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.+ [% X {. n( j- m- s* u
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L: 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?: o2 q7 C$ Y* E3 Y1 ?- n& `
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M: Well, everyone's different. Cramming works for me. 4 r4 G( x! |3 i9 z( g' E5 c ; I; m @1 x8 w6 OL: 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。$ \2 v2 R* a# h, J* w6 w" D
( B! h/ k% |0 }. l9 o) vM: Stop being my mother, Li Hua! 5 O+ X/ \- C& v# t1 `, C # M+ c) y- H/ Z' ^L: 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? - t0 O. @9 {# @+ ]! ]" e, a o1 `" q
M: Not really. It's only used to describe studying for a test, usually college or high-school level.# }2 N7 o* G/ Z$ B
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L: 噢,只能指大学生或中学生在考试前开夜车,临时抱佛脚。9 w- w9 F* m: e: l5 i
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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. * p2 e; E# ?: b$ |: o! |7 `' U# a) f6 I. g4 z" C. H
L: 好吧,我明天早上给你打电话。 4 l- f+ l0 l; d \ " K- E( g/ Y8 P9 ^4 B0 N. _# C5 KM: No, don't worry about me, I'm sure I will still be cramming. 9 t( M6 i/ X( |& p% w8 H 6 k- g5 C8 M- Q5 t4 U$ d+ L6 T/ hL: 哟,你还准备开夜车开到天亮呐? Ok, well, good luck! 8 O! j3 ?- q0 e1 M' [# C6 X6 o/ r p
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。 ; u3 {$ c% r: @" ~8 FAudio As Following:: L. N: [! K4 d! v/ M M