[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。, f* L# S D: c ^/ a
% z0 M) u6 _9 o# D2 i0 D3 Z+ ML: 嗨,Michael. 我在这儿! 4 |4 u0 D2 Z/ |- F* U, U; z$ v6 E, W; ~- S9 J: m
M: Hey, Li Hua. Oh, the elephant house, let's go in and take a look. / }; S' y6 ~4 L7 r$ J+ Q: N+ P3 x/ x* p' P7 J6 {1 s
L: 噢,那是大象馆啊? 好,进去看看。 不行,不行,这儿太臭 了。走吧! 7 Q, _8 N$ ] P# T. \1 ~ " u- C& ~) C- TM: 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.7 k2 @+ M: w+ {/ \# Z
( k( W: l- w0 \M: Yeah, that's what I meant. Li Hua, you're smart!( b; G7 y0 y- I* v( k3 r
/ z3 o8 k* u6 \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 ? / u+ ?/ Z5 b* ~5 u) Q8 U1 z- j9 \+ L4 y
M: Pull means to get yourself through a difficult time.5 l( R7 B1 v4 |; ^' L8 e6 v
- G. K. p9 {; c
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。. i3 J j( H5 z! {1 I5 a( I
* D9 K6 D' H; F5 v& hM: Yep. You wouldn't have to pull an all-nighter because you have been studying all semester, I haven't been. 1 T5 q2 O' Z/ R" Z! L& R3 ]8 O) R$ K# w* X' _% z
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。 $ y# O3 F$ y( y# \( `" L( M ; L* G6 G; S* k1 H0 A; ?M: I know, I know, you're a better student than I am.! L4 W- A5 `' t( y+ R# B8 c6 ~6 L+ q, i
/ @5 E) H7 b1 w2 z5 \% CL: 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! . z) p$ s5 {, k9 G6 W# L: S; }7 n; A% m; [5 c7 Z
M: I don't want to go study either, but I should.* C8 ?; [: J. b; h. e. h- ^ I
/ s- c6 g/ Q" A* w
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。 - d' i2 p7 f' _, W+ a; N4 U# q6 ]! j+ U, u
M: I perform better on tests when I cram. $ e! Q5 X$ ]& H( `# n' B' G ; D4 w. B9 x+ C0 M$ bL: Cram? Cram是把什么东西塞进去的意思,跟学习有什么关系呢? ' V+ r6 t# Q1 r. ^$ D4 I& O( [3 P& Q- S3 p6 l/ o0 n
M: 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. ; \+ U$ i1 x5 c: ^ 0 \2 ~; d. o; ~- Z* ?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? + |4 q- D u% U/ r6 A) r 3 d1 c3 ^3 ]5 s3 `M: Well, everyone's different. Cramming works for me. 3 n. q0 Z( `2 z' e9 y8 A; o( V/ M" I! N& C! ~/ e
L: 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。$ X9 s/ f5 I. h! ?
8 Y& T9 L7 p& o& a, X
M: Stop being my mother, Li Hua!# w5 ^ G8 |* X( K8 ~
3 a N7 u1 Z$ Z8 S1 K3 W" Y
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? o F8 P2 r2 o" W! ]7 V! W
5 w2 W; Y7 w2 x) G4 U- ]
M: Not really. It's only used to describe studying for a test, usually college or high-school level.' \, d" |* s) P' a S; I- ]
) v# X9 m8 P. c: `2 x6 ?) F) s
L: 噢,只能指大学生或中学生在考试前开夜车,临时抱佛脚。 - F( a M- u- A) }. |& |( D 2 k& c# e4 n, UM: 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.9 k/ G- _# v4 E! e J2 u
( P; q# O6 B+ ~' R2 D% X. X
L: 好吧,我明天早上给你打电话。 6 ` x! Y2 V$ ] j; @2 o1 d- u' y/ Y- o$ p. I8 f1 @
M: No, don't worry about me, I'm sure I will still be cramming.% V+ ]3 P/ Z& B+ \ G