[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。& E8 g; z; l( U
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L: 嗨,Michael. 我在这儿! + w( Q/ Y% [; i% L. w5 O9 V: I0 k) K) [* W% I W, \* ^
M: Hey, Li Hua. Oh, the elephant house, let's go in and take a look. " }- h6 c0 x$ X) E; _. j . ?: n: m3 R4 I1 ?# U/ fL: 噢,那是大象馆啊? 好,进去看看。 不行,不行,这儿太臭 了。走吧! # R' N9 k7 U C% d$ ?% c; F* C
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., ~, P/ A- T5 O; K* q2 w+ r0 w
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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? ' n+ f. V$ x) [; t+ a7 I' n) h3 H6 B0 F* u1 G, _
M: Yeah, that's what I meant. Li Hua, you're smart!- h) W& k1 K X
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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 ? ) Z3 M4 y' L0 K* B# F) ]5 @8 [; V, l4 ]
M: Pull means to get yourself through a difficult time. & n9 U7 Q* b4 X3 s4 \ ) |5 T2 v7 i5 D i5 u, ]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。 4 \! _- N+ K0 z/ j6 v+ ~ , D! g3 Q& C& ?: L4 h4 t9 c( Z/ YM: Yep. You wouldn't have to pull an all-nighter because you have been studying all semester, I haven't been. ; u* U) R- |- y7 d% z* f0 y+ r 2 k' f d5 d) v) }; d! mL: 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。& c3 G, q$ f$ j) A3 A5 d
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M: I know, I know, you're a better student than I am.3 }8 w U" p2 t% i) o
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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! / b3 f/ |# P8 c9 O4 A9 k, Q4 |0 o$ B7 x9 ~8 b F
M: I don't want to go study either, but I should.( p! j- @" x- g4 Q! w
_ y: |' V U7 R& Y3 a* p% dL: 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。 3 [6 y- M& I1 r. v0 e [: c% Y : A& x5 V" `7 ~' q' tM: I perform better on tests when I cram.) f9 p# x* L4 W- {; f) {% |$ l
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L: Cram? Cram是把什么东西塞进去的意思,跟学习有什么关系呢? ! e ]& F% _: \ p - b" y0 q! u) r3 kM: 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.5 T' _" `9 o0 a- b$ Q
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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? ; r- O' y% g0 m. V5 j& j" M- J/ Y1 i: u( c0 w( W+ ~0 c
M: Well, everyone's different. Cramming works for me.3 q' A( `: a$ S+ Z! C; d
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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。 ' s2 Y- W. Z w& n! V: L/ _& U- B- @& r3 L' i8 o' l3 D
M: Stop being my mother, Li Hua!% w& m( B) }# S9 F' p( \* J
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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? + _: r0 m& P# M5 l! R* C% _/ s7 Q) C) Y/ ^2 \
M: Not really. It's only used to describe studying for a test, usually college or high-school level.8 `9 e* L( q) y' a5 h5 w1 m& J
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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。( b1 }0 N0 y6 M' O
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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.0 Q/ V0 j& N6 W- ]# h
; t/ m- |' e; x0 R7 X9 ~# |& b6 |L: 好吧,我明天早上给你打电话。 ; P I A5 x1 P+ ?2 D4 I) o5 S( \' o( T% T+ \
M: No, don't worry about me, I'm sure I will still be cramming. 1 O/ R# k$ r1 a9 s% {) a1 o - {( K5 ^$ w: vL: 哟,你还准备开夜车开到天亮呐? Ok, well, good luck!2 n% M6 J$ B( [2 W% i. e' w* Q