[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。9 ?+ S5 P$ {8 w/ ^( q6 J" ~
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L: 嗨,Michael. 我在这儿!) K* |/ M$ w0 C% t$ o, n
1 e# X$ ^. c4 p/ \. uM: Hey, Li Hua. Oh, the elephant house, let's go in and take a look.1 U# O* {* A) e$ p x
" Q9 b/ k2 ~0 t7 GL: 噢,那是大象馆啊? 好,进去看看。 不行,不行,这儿太臭 了。走吧!1 R0 A' f1 P: z
4 G- `. [ k8 GM: 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. * I6 [- Y1 S$ o0 V4 U9 @, E0 N$ A * v+ G' Q* ]+ F4 ?' n5 PL: 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/ `4 ] R# C5 ^9 }7 h
# O+ N, G6 D9 XM: Yeah, that's what I meant. Li Hua, you're smart! ) [; u- w2 @( m3 l" z; l" p' N : d. n1 W0 s' L: e2 ~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( P, G0 s+ ?% s7 c! P0 d$ {: S" y - e0 s& B; ~! R1 HM: Pull means to get yourself through a difficult time.3 e* C* F* P8 B! [8 s! j* T8 T
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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。 % {8 W. g6 h8 l+ d$ |1 p9 a% ~3 `! C ~5 e: B3 s
M: Yep. You wouldn't have to pull an all-nighter because you have been studying all semester, I haven't been. - w! Q8 S! A# }$ N/ a' h8 {! u$ d1 J 8 N# p# v2 L3 |$ B6 }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。 5 l+ y; P# ^* d- H 8 ~, x5 D. s; C6 b& KM: I know, I know, you're a better student than I am. b& v7 p$ c& j' p
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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!0 }" U! T9 T7 d' C3 | z
% z/ n* j n o5 |7 Y+ BM: I don't want to go study either, but I should.' k* q+ N# i" `( t5 v- `5 A
! ?9 D) m3 `% t' L$ ^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。$ i0 v0 a1 b" M" c
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M: I perform better on tests when I cram. # P# k3 o. @* i4 y7 I , v8 @7 e8 l8 _" P' k- @- aL: Cram? Cram是把什么东西塞进去的意思,跟学习有什么关系呢?9 G# M5 s* d& e" u: I9 q6 }$ W1 X
# F7 z* g( z H/ S9 pM: 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. |( e0 d/ b/ {; U% t4 v# `. b( F; \! h5 k
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?5 E- U( a: C. x2 Z
- Z7 w5 Y1 j. b- JM: Well, everyone's different. Cramming works for me. , n; M5 L6 X! [* q8 B0 D ; K. F& O% k9 z( `' pL: 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。5 E; ]$ M7 j0 k/ s
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M: Stop being my mother, Li Hua!5 P7 P' |; t6 G3 I+ n5 } t7 o
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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? ! K; M) D0 O1 I8 J % w7 a& `3 @) H) hM: Not really. It's only used to describe studying for a test, usually college or high-school level., C/ Q8 E. J+ `% {$ @
" I2 O- p; W' [2 SL: 噢,只能指大学生或中学生在考试前开夜车,临时抱佛脚。 " M5 P3 }9 g G, E1 p/ H$ t# \% {
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.+ e6 v* b1 [& j
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L: 好吧,我明天早上给你打电话。 J9 ~& a% N) J w* H
& `/ w S7 a9 i$ g- k+ YM: No, don't worry about me, I'm sure I will still be cramming./ U" [! L* K m7 O
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L: 哟,你还准备开夜车开到天亮呐? Ok, well, good luck! 1 z0 o5 s) J% q( W) t' N7 m% C; f% K- s
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 j3 ~( ?- q* T" s4 bAudio As Following:8 F* R5 r" l. J/ o; c