时间:2018-12-01 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

   上个礼拜我帮一个好朋友搬家,结果发现她家有好多我认为没什么用的东西,什么大学时候的笔记本啊,书啊,还有看起来她好久都没穿过的衣服。我问她这些笔记本里是不是有很多珍贵资料,但她说,其实里面都是一些:flotsam and jetsam.


  这两个词都不太常见,flotsam意思是船沉没以后漂浮在水面上的废物,而jetsam是指因为担心船会沉,所以扔到水里的废物,以便减轻船上的载物量。
  大家可能猜到了,flotsam and jetsam, 连起来就是没有价值的物品。
  就像上面的例子中,在我朋友的大学笔记本里:there wasn't any important information written down, it was all flotsam and jetsam, 里面没有什么重要信息,全都没什么用。
  在下面的例子里,我们要看看一个人在他爷爷去世后整理遗物时发现了什么:
  例句-1: After my grandfather died, I went to clean out his garage. I found piles of yellowed newspapers and magazines, empty bottles, pieces of used furniture, and broken tools and sports equipment. There was nothing of any value. It was nothing more than flotsam and jetsam.
  这段话是说: 我爷爷去世后,我去整理他的车库。那里有成捆范黄的旧报纸和杂志,空瓶子,旧家具,还有已经损坏的工具和体育器材。什么值钱的东西都没有,全都是废物。
  其实大家经常会在车库里堆些没有用的东西,久而久之也就忘记了。比如我,我每年就得清理一次我的衣橱,能发现好多我再也不会穿的衣服,把他们捐给慈善机构。I clean my closet 1 once a year, and there are always some flotsam and jetsam.
  ******
  Flotsam and jetsam这个短语,除了指没有价值的物品以外,还有另外一个意思,就是不受重视的人。
  下面的例子里,一个记者就要来给我们讲讲当地居民关注的问题。我们来听听看:
  例句-2: Citizens who want more upscale living areas have been pleading 2 with the City Council 3. They want to see more of the poorer neighborhoods redeveloped. They're tired of seeing homeless people wandering around. To them, such flotsam and jetsam needs to be removed.
  这段话是说:希望提升居住环境的居民一直请求市政厅,他们希望重新开发更多的贫困社区。他们不想再看到无家可归的人到处游荡,对他们来说,这些人不该出现在他们的社区附近。
  这也是可以理解的,谁不想要一个安全的居住环境呢?我最近听我们小区的人说,当地学校校长决定启动一个项目,帮助那些问题学生。He believed it was time to pay greater attention to the flotsam and jetsam. And, truthfully, it is those struggling students that need more help,他认为应该给那些不受重视的学生更多关怀。确实,那些问题学生需要更多的帮助。

1 closet
n.壁橱;储藏室
  • I'll clear out that closet for you.我要替你把那个小衣橱清理出来。
  • Hang your overcoat in the closet.把你的大衣挂在衣橱里。
2 pleading
n.恳求
  • She went down on her knees, pleading for mercy. 她双膝跪下,乞求谅解。
  • His pleading melted her. 他的乞求软化了她。
3 council
n.理事会,委员会,议事机构
  • The town council passed a law forbidding the distribution of handbills.市议会通过法律,禁止散发传单。
  • The city council has declared for improving the public bus system.市议会宣布同意改进公共汽车系统。
标签: 习惯用语
学英语单词
a strake
activated sludge filamentation bulking
adder accumulator
al faw (fao)
alkaline incrusted cystitis
apple jellies
B. & T.
bar disintegrator
baseball-card
be in favour
be no end fine
big-endian and little-endian
bolivian monetary units
boyis
camshaft gear drive
cap flashing
Cardium
cavetti
chinese calligraphy
claimants ledger
conversational report
crab winch
cutting over
delay mixing
deletes
demeurer
dhoruba
diatomaceous chert
double counterpoint in the twelfth
Dove Dale
energy-intensive technology
esc.
Ethershare
evaporable waste
Evenk
expendient
false reed
flour
forward current rating
genuflect
guardaba
hand driven generator
hattrick
heat exchange in sea
ice cream slab
indicine
individual cylinder
inhabited building distance
inherent opening time
ioderma
ko gaku (japan)
Kǒmdǒksan
mace butter
Madison River
mat matter
matrix gate
micro-code
monosyaptic reflex
multiple terminal
N-dimethylcyclohexaneethylamine
Nafrine
nuclear magnetic resonance computerized tomography
ordinal indicator
ordinary budget
Paleo-Siberian languages
Paneth and Hevesy method
passing shot
physik
pilot light burner
polyphenol-aldehyde fibre reinforcement
precompute
preferee
pry bars
Puricama
raphe of scrotum
rejoindure
roller cone
run-up brake
Salix microphyta
salmorejo
salvage group
scammoniae resina
scummers
semibatch selectivity
Serangoon, Pulau
Sitosterln
slamkins
sphinx-likest
sulfhydryl compound
super typhoon
taxable base
transfrontal orbitotomy
trial at nisi prius
triphenylguanidine
ultraviolet absorber fixative
unique array
unsupportively
vertical sliding window
vessel detection
virusin
yellow-orange leaf