时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

 


我去年在一家电器商店买了一台摄像机,当时店里的售货员告诉我说,如果发生故障,可以随时把摄像机拿回店里,五年内免费保修。结果,上星期,摄像机上的录制键坏了,我拿回去修,谁知道,那家店早就倒闭了。


今天我们要学的习惯用语能够恰如其分地描述我当时的心情:leave in the lurch 1. Leave in the lurch, 这个习惯用语的意思是弃别人于危难之中,置别人于困境而不顾。


这回你明白了吧,那家电器行倒闭,让我没办法修理本来可以保修的摄像机。也就是,It's left me in the lurch.


不过,并不是所有人都会置别人的利益于不顾。让我们听听下面这个医生的故事。


例句-1: The interview went so well that the hospital administrator 2 offered Dr. Long the job. The trouble is she wanted him to start right away. He explained that his clinic wouldn't be able to find a replacement 3 so quickly. And he couldn't abandon his patients like that. He was too professional to leave them in the lurch.


医院负责人经过面试,对龙大夫特别满意,希望他能立即开始工作。但是龙大夫解释说,他现在的诊所无法马上找到替代他的医生,他不能就这样抛弃自己的病人;作为医生,他不能置自己的病人于不顾。


这不禁让我想起了女儿的班主任。虽然她先生调到西部去工作,但是她却决定要待到学期结束,因为她觉得中途换老师对学生不好。People appreciate her not leaving them in the lurch. 她对学生如此负责的态度让我深受感动。


******


在刚才的例子里,我们提到,一位老师为了学生的利益,宁可暂时和丈夫分开,也不愿意在学期结束前辞职。但是有些人,却能对自己亲生骨肉的利益都置若罔闻。让我们一起听听看。


例句-2:After the divorce, Bill's kids felt left in the lurch. They'd rarely see him as they grew up. Not only was he absent on special occasions like birthdays and graduations, but also during tough times when they really needed a dad. They never got over that sense of abandonment.


离婚后,比尔的孩子感觉好像完全被父亲遗弃了。在他们的成长过程中,很少能见到他,不仅孩子过生日或是毕业典礼等重要场合上看不到他的身影,其他孩子们最需要父亲的时候他也从来不在他们的身旁。孩子们始终无法原谅他这种不闻不问的态度。


这些孩子的要求其实并不过份,虽然夫妻离异,但孩子是无辜的,不论是父亲还是母亲,只要依然在世,就应该继续陪伴孩子的成长。


我的曾祖父很早就去世了,跟当时其他妇女一样,我的曾祖母并不工作,而且又没有现在的社会保障,She was left in the lurch。幸运的是,她在工厂



1 lurch
n.突然向前或旁边倒;v.蹒跚而行
  • It has been suggested that the ground movements were a form of lurch movements.地震的地面运动曾被认为是一种突然倾斜的运动形式。
  • He walked with a lurch.他步履蹒跚。
2 administrator
n.经营管理者,行政官员
  • The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
  • He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。
3 replacement
n.取代,替换,交换;替代品,代用品
  • We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
  • They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。