时间:2019-01-15 作者:英语课 分类:美国之音《流行美语》


英语课

  夏天到了,酷暑难当,李华和Larry一起去游泳。 今天我们要学两个常用语:few and far between和take the plunge 2.

LH: Larry, 这几天怎么这么热啊! 每天都有快40度!

L: I know! I have my air conditioner turned all the way to full power, and my apartment still feels really hot.

LH: 华盛顿每年夏天都这么热。

L: Even though summers in Washington DC can be hot, summers that are this hot are few and far between.

LH: 你说这么热的夏天是few and far between? 这是什么意思?

L: Something that is few and far between is very rare.

LH: 哦, few and far between就是很少见的意思。你是说,虽然华盛顿的夏天比较热,但像今年这么热的还是很少见的。

L: Right! Here is another example. Hurricane Katrina caused a lot of terrible damage in Louisiana. Luckily, hurricanes that big are few and far between.

LH: 对,像卡特里娜那种威力的飓风也是很少见的。Larry, 你看天气预报了么?不知道什么时候会下雨,能凉快凉快?

L: Not any time soon.. we can have a nice day having fun swimming. I've been so busy lately that my chances to relax have been few and far between.

LH: 是啊,你最近好像特别忙。怎么那么多工作啊?

L: Well there is a promotion 3 opportunity for a great job at my company. Chances like this are few and far between, so I'm working really hard to get it.

LH: 现在经济不好,能有升职的机会的确不容易,你要好好争取!不过今天我们还是在游泳池里好好轻松一下吧! 咱们去哪个泳池?

L: We're not going to the pool. My friend Andy is taking us out to swim in the ocean on his boat!

LH: 啊?你朋友Andy有船?这么有钱的朋友我怎么一个都没有!

L: Well that's true, friends with boats are few and far between, so you have to be careful to maintain 4 the friendship.

LH: Larry, 你不会是因为Andy有钱才跟他当朋友的吧?

L: Of course not! But you know, Lihua, in heat like this, some friends might be more important than others.

******

Larry和李华上了Andy的船,准备在海中畅游一番。

LH: Larry, 在游泳之前,我得问问你,这海里到底有没有鲨鱼啊?

L: Hmmm ... probably. But to be honest, right now I am more afraid of the sun than I am of any sharks.

LH: 你不在乎,我可在乎! 我不想成为鲨鱼的下午茶!

L: Lihua, I understand that you are a little nervous. But sometimes you just have to take the plunge.

LH: Take the plunge? Plunge,不是往下跳的意思么?你是说,让我不管三七二十一,跳进海里就好了?

L: Right! But you know, you can also say that you "take the plunge" any time you do something risky 5 or scary.

LH: 哦,take the plunge就是冒险一试。你是说,虽然我有些害怕,但还是应该果断地下水?

L: Right! For example, Anthony was really nervous about quitting his job and switching careers, but eventually he decided 6 to take the plunge.

LH: 哦,Anthony在辞职和改行的问题上一直挺犹豫的,但最后他还是决定冒险一试。这么说起来,我也有类似的经历,我来美国留学就是这样的!

L: Exactly! I bet 1 it was a big decision to leave China and come to America, but you decided to take the plunge. Aren't you happy you did?

LH: 哈,那可不好说,如果下面有鲨鱼,我被吃了,那我来美国的决定可就是大错特错了!

L: Trust me, Lihua. The sharks out here are few and far between. And even if there are any around, I don't think sharks like Chinese food.

LH: 哦?你说鲨鱼不爱吃中餐?不如这样吧,Larry,你先跳下去,咱们看看鲨鱼是不是比较爱吃美国饭!

L: Well, let's find out! This sun is so hot that I'm willing to take the plunge. Are you ready, Lihua?

LH: 好吧! 大海,我来啦!

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是few and far between, 表示很少见。另一是take the plunge, 意思是冒险尝试。



v.打赌,以(与)...打赌;n.赌注,赌金;打赌
  • I bet you can't do this puzzle.我敢说,你解决不了这个难题。
  • I offered to bet with him.我提出与他打赌。
v.跳入,(使)投入,(使)陷入;猛冲
  • Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
  • That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。
n.提升,晋级;促销,宣传
  • The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
  • The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级,加了薪。
vt.支撑;赡养,抚养;维持,保有
  • He has to maintain a large family on a small salary.他不得不依靠很少的工资养活一家人。
  • We must do our best to maintain sales at their usual rate.我们要尽力使销售额保持在平日的水平上。
adj.有风险的,冒险的
  • It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险,但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
  • He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
学英语单词
accrual principle
ad banner
adhesive failure
Adidiema
Air Force One
alkaline extracts of soils
angular overlap
arced up
array grammar
assisted memory
average profit
ball off
Baphicacanthus
body centrum
breed reactor
bring sb. in guitly
carbonaceous parting
cast by
chalkboard
check card
Chenopodium aristatum
Chinese speech information processing
class a ip
Clocaenog
coaitis
Command bar
contraband of war
contributing error
debtor country
disc module
Effontil
electronic photogrammetry
fire retardants
flameproof finishing
flat-compound dynamo
FMBs
free quasiparticle approximation
front engine
Geogia holly
hemi-aonil
humic acid combined fertilizer
hydroxylamine rearrangement
illegitimatizes
improper noun
inter-block
kitto
lateral cutaneous nerve of forearm
Linjiang
load variation
marine hydraulic fluid purifier
matzoon milk
mevorah
miner's horn
minor scale division
motion link
mysticality
new sol
nittiness
non-socialist
open-end pipe pile
operate time
oreoselinum
out-of-sequence control rod
output section
plant expansion
polyplastids
pressure surge
quayer
refrigerated rollingstock
regional coding
safety system support features
Saiyid Mūsa
sam-cloth
sand scrubber
Sberman-Chase assay test
seismicity
self-offender
shp
slow neutron filter
spatiotemporal mode
speculative investment
sssasisds-s
Staphylococcus aureus
statutory exemption
stew oneself
Stockhausen
stomatitis aphthosa
tag lines
terabecquerels
terminating power meter
thermal expansion and shrinkage
total ridge count
TTMS (telephone transmission measuring set)
UniData
uniform naming convention
vagueish
villela
watt hour capacity
worked out
yipper