时间:2019-02-02 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

很多学英语的人都说,最难的就是一个看来简单的词可以有各种各样的含意。而当这个词再组成不同习惯用语的时候,那就更难上加难了。我们今天要讲的就是这样一个词:fair。Fair这个词常常解释“公平的”,或者“光明正大的”。


我们要讲的第一个由fair组成的习惯用语就带有这个意思。这个习惯用语是:fair shake。刚才说过fair这个词的意思常常是“公平正当的”。那么fair shake,是什么意思呢?这个习惯用语很可能出自于掷骰子赌博。赌友中的一个把骰子放在杯子里或者掌心中摇晃,然后把骰子掷向桌面比点数。掷骰子赌博的作弊办法五花八门。老练的赌徒都会提防摇骰子的人做手脚,一定要他正正当当地摇骰子。也就是fair shake。接下来我们要听一个例子,讲的是美国大选总统候选人的辩论。


例句-1: The candidates 1 get a fair shake during the debates. They take turns being asked questions and have the same amount of time to answer and to make a final statement 2 at the end.


这段话说的是:辩论中候选人得到公平待遇,他们轮流被提问,并且有同样长短的时间回答问题,以及在最后作总结性陈述。可见fair shake在这儿意思就是“公平待遇”或者“均等机会”。


******


你如果听英文天气预报的话,往往会听到fair这个词。它的意思是“晴朗的”当然fair weather就是“好天”。而这组成了我们今天要学的第三个习惯用语:fair-weather friend。 Fair-weather friend意思是不是“天好时候的朋友”呢?从字面看来似乎不错,但是正如我们以前一再提到的那样,不能光从字面意义来理解一个习惯用语。我想通过下面这段话你能体会fair-weather friend这个习惯用语的意思。


例句2: When Joe was rich, everybody in town was his best friend. But after he lost his money, most of them turned out to be fair-weather friends who pretended 3 they didn't even know him.


这说的是:在Joe富有的时候,镇上的人都是他的亲朋好友,但是好多人一到他穷了就都装作不认识他了。这些人原来都是酒肉朋友。


从这段话可以看出fair-weather friend是指那种在顺利的日子里跟你称兄道弟,但是一旦你陷入困境却六亲不认的人。换句话说就是“只会同安乐却不能共患难的人”。所以有人说,患难的一大好处是教会你认识真正的朋友。


******


Fair这个词还可以用来形容“金发碧眼”的外貌,有时也有“漂亮俊美”的意思。我们今天要学的最后一个习惯用语是:fair-haired boy。 Fair-haired boy这个习惯用语从字面看来一定是个年轻人,也许还是个漂亮的金发小伙子吧?究竟是不是这个意思呢?请你从下面这段话里好好体会。


例句3: That young guy in the nice private office isn't as good as a lot of other people in the place. But he's the fair-haired boy, because he's the owner's nephew.


这段话说的是:那个年轻人有漂亮的私人办公室,但是他并不如这儿的很多人强,然而因为他是老板的侄子,所以得到额外的关顾。


这段话里可以听出fair-haired boy意思不是金发小伙子,而是一个得到上级垂青的年轻人,但是他靠的不是真材实学,所以就难免引起他人的恼恨。

 



n.报考者( candidate的名词复数 );申请求职者;攻读学位者;最后命运或结局如何已显然可见者
  • Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
  • one of the leading candidates for the presidency 总统职位的主要候选人之一
n.陈述;声明;综述
  • The government will put out a new statement tomorrow.政府将于明天发布一项新声明。
  • Put down your statement in black and white.把你的话用白纸黑字写下来。
adj.假装的;徒有外表的;传说的;号称的v.假装( pretend的过去式和过去分词 );伪装;(尤指儿童)(在游戏中)装扮;自诩
  • He pretended that resigning was part of his long-term career strategy. 他假装辞职是他长远事业规划的一部分。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He politely pretended not to have heard this remark. 他有礼貌地假装没有听到这句话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
学英语单词
-kind
acid-resistant sheet material
actualizers
alternate exception action
Ampanihy
Arablinskiy
ariamnes cylindrogaster
armature keeper
Atlantic pomfret
auxiliary device
be enamored with
bechamel-sauce
bring someone into disrepute disrepute on something
brushless machine
Calandagan I.
Cameroon franc
camouflage-print
cartellino
coil type pan
cold roll
cucinas
deminex
durangites
escape pathlength of cosmic rays
federal communication act
Ferula bungeana
first vein
fission-product activity
flanged port
fluted bulkhead
Fricke dosimeter
functional parallelism
gas forming
gripe about
hand-operated vertical hydraulic press
heatley
high impact
historicizations
infrared-sensing
intermediate trend
international rubber hardness degree test
interstitial gas flow
isoporous ion exchange resin
Kaja, Hill
Kaneh, Rūd-e
komlans
long-nosed potoroo
love-lies-bleeding
make no pretence with
management data
microcircular technique
microprogrammed compiler
Mokhovaya, Gora
motorblower
NCITS
non-tangential crossbedding
nondamageable
nonstudying
occursion
ocean bonito
operation manner
overkeeping
pergesa actea
pixels
plagens
playtoy
policy scientist
presentation time stamp
promotion terminology
prydain
reingests
relief paint
retinyl
saudias
scale blower
seasonal weight
self-cleaaing of water
self-digestions
septorial blight of tomato
single-leg manometer
sloping bottom tank
smorg asbord
sulfide core
sun pan
swineries
tableware detergent
tangential wheel
teapotlike
tectonic activization
tendinea inscriptio
thermal fission yield
three-terminal system
tidier-up
to twat
toones
trachyspermum scaberulum(franch.)wolff
trainmen
tripe cambered aerofoil
uncompetitive
unconquering
Villaharta
Young's Schutz's