[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。 ! l1 u. U% k) S* H* Q+ ~1 G. h+ m* N9 _) Y
L: 嗨,Michael. 我在这儿!' F2 u* { V* O2 G* U8 ^3 j p
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M: Hey, Li Hua. Oh, the elephant house, let's go in and take a look. , o8 @: \6 p* T7 u3 ?+ x9 f9 o$ B/ M5 D8 d8 m' J# U
L: 噢,那是大象馆啊? 好,进去看看。 不行,不行,这儿太臭 了。走吧!! F, y) `5 H% T9 U2 G) L
) h8 t9 h+ b3 _* w! y F7 J$ E6 UM: 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. / d/ ?/ D/ c, {6 g9 U0 r8 u7 ?* t" [- g7 V; F8 v6 J
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?# f' T' T/ P8 c2 u# {: k d
* O& j1 D1 N, ]3 X7 k; n" ]M: Yeah, that's what I meant. Li Hua, you're smart!; |: o$ f+ i/ D; x# v# Z' o! T( [" w
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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 ? 8 N( }" S- p { " D- C. p9 w% G: ^; zM: Pull means to get yourself through a difficult time. # g y- c* \4 F f5 ]) }4 n* o; e3 ?( r0 Z( G5 y/ _% f1 o& Z
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。 ' `1 X$ O- w# q* d5 j" Q1 i" g & a; l& `+ `! B( V! OM: Yep. You wouldn't have to pull an all-nighter because you have been studying all semester, I haven't been. & b( @; N9 e9 f/ h7 { - v1 C' Y9 A3 B$ aL: 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。 " d4 t& l5 k0 u' B( |8 x 4 `4 _. _$ ~4 ~, K5 L5 p$ Z: gM: I know, I know, you're a better student than I am.. d( s* {$ y5 z% M
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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!! p/ w3 A* K3 ~3 f! R9 b8 N6 J3 ^
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M: I don't want to go study either, but I should.2 h; Z6 r; l4 f6 J, }8 V
' k' [7 _' }. c5 cL: 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。 4 l- O$ f( L4 M" p; ]$ S* |3 m7 O8 h0 f) h. L. @; W. w6 e8 s% h
M: I perform better on tests when I cram.6 C0 B7 o4 L: c- k6 {
9 F' V8 g) J# l& I" o$ wM: 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.6 o) g: F2 C5 l1 C0 b! W
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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? 7 @2 F- x5 r8 o7 x, X0 u7 Q9 j" L* c2 a, z8 O- \/ E
M: Well, everyone's different. Cramming works for me.5 _# B7 b. |( }. S% F/ R
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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。 3 e8 a- q( U% T. m; n' u3 F' h8 s; }& c0 h( p
M: Stop being my mother, Li Hua! ' U+ U1 Q2 L* {7 r$ e# V6 @ t% I- K+ e% |
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? U, D# i, \, F ' Z' R% _/ E# pM: Not really. It's only used to describe studying for a test, usually college or high-school level. 3 E* ]/ ]& H T/ U) V; N; t5 n6 u. r1 z" z7 M! i
L: 噢,只能指大学生或中学生在考试前开夜车,临时抱佛脚。3 c# h$ I& O: w4 t
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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. # Y* e, D- G& n9 h5 q) ^ 0 @0 G" a9 B9 j$ X% ]. p5 O9 C- tL: 好吧,我明天早上给你打电话。( |$ P* R& T" K* K& L. }! D. V0 {
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M: No, don't worry about me, I'm sure I will still be cramming.2 }% P+ B( g% \. w- }- n3 O) i0 t' Y# h# U
9 H5 u' v6 J1 ^7 n: P! p/ Y% TL: 哟,你还准备开夜车开到天亮呐? Ok, well, good luck! / ^2 B1 `# @+ c. l+ Y% X# i: T' O$ A$ X9 T' V, l
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。 $ Y+ f. }& E6 l3 ~/ t+ D
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