記四級(jí)單詞有妙招(八)

字號(hào):

Amaze
    There’s a small boy whose duty it is to forget to bring the newspaper every day. He’s amazingly reliable, so I generally go fetch it myself.
    有個(gè)小男孩,他的責(zé)任是每天忘記送報(bào)紙。他是令人驚奇地可靠,所以我總是自己去取。
    注:美國(guó)人一般都住在帶院子的別墅里,送報(bào)紙的小男孩把報(bào)紙每天早上把報(bào)紙放在柵欄里面。但這個(gè)小男孩工作不負(fù)責(zé)任,報(bào)紙送不到訂戶的家里,有個(gè)訂戶這么客氣地對(duì)小男孩兒說(shuō)。
    It’s amazing how noisy an audience can be when you ask for quiet ____ and how quiet it can be when you ask for money.
    多么令人驚奇啊,當(dāng)要求安靜時(shí)聽(tīng)眾亂烘烘的——當(dāng)要錢時(shí)全場(chǎng)一片寂靜。
    注:募捐晚會(huì)上主持人這么說(shuō)。讓觀眾安靜下來(lái),誰(shuí)也不聽(tīng),但一提要捐錢的事兒,觀眾都低下頭,誰(shuí)也不敢看主持人了。
    I hope this three hundred million dollars can make an amazing difference to me.
    我希望這三億美元能我?guī)?lái)令人驚奇的不同。
    注:任何人都希望能有機(jī)會(huì)說(shuō)這樣的話。
    Ambassador
    An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country.
    大使是為了國(guó)家的利益被派往國(guó)外說(shuō)謊的老實(shí)人。
    注:不說(shuō)謊的外交官很少,但很多外交官的人格是沒(méi)有問(wèn)題的。我保證。
    Ambition
    I guess Mr. Goldwater figures why should the lazy loafers be supported by people like him who have had the ambition and intelligence to inherit a department store.
    我猜想Goldwater先生在想為什么象他自己那樣一直雄心勃勃要繼承百貨商場(chǎng)的聰明人要支持懶惰的流浪漢。
    注:諷刺這位先生是表面上雄心勃勃,實(shí)際上也只是想靠繼承財(cái)產(chǎn)過(guò)日子。
    I have the ambition to inherit some property.
    我雄心勃勃想繼承一些財(cái)產(chǎn)。
    追求男女平等的女人缺少雄心。
    Women who seek to be equal to men lack ambition.
    注:有雄心的女人不只是表面上喊著“要男女平等”,她們?cè)谂θプ鍪聝?,象吳儀。
    One of my boyhood ambitions was to become a doctor. The headmaster supported the idea. At least I had the handwriting for it.
    我小時(shí)候的理想是當(dāng)一名醫(yī)生,校長(zhǎng)也支持我的想法,至少我有當(dāng)醫(yī)生的筆跡。
    注:醫(yī)生的字一般都寫得很潦草。
    My old man had only two ambitions in life. One was that I should never follow him down the mines, and the other that I should run for President..
    我老爸一生中只有兩個(gè)雄心,一是我決不能再跟他一樣下煤礦了,另一個(gè)是我應(yīng)該去競(jìng)選總統(tǒng)。
    注:這個(gè)老爸想讓兒子一步登天,真是夠有雄心的。
    ambulance
    We're atheist - in case of accident call an ambulance.
    我們是無(wú)神論者——發(fā)生事故時(shí),叫救護(hù)車。
    注:汽車標(biāo)貼??赡苁侵S刺唯心主義者“你們發(fā)生了交通事故,也不靠上帝,也得叫救護(hù)車。”
    場(chǎng)景再現(xiàn):汽車標(biāo)貼:
    We're materialists - in case of accident call an ambulance[救護(hù)車].
    我們是唯物主義者——萬(wàn)一發(fā)生事故,叫救護(hù)車。
    注:向唯心主義者挑戰(zhàn),意思是你們發(fā)生事故,也得叫救護(hù)車。
    Amount
    One horsepower is the amount of energy it takes to drag a horse 500 feet in one second.
    一馬力是一秒內(nèi)把一匹馬拽500英尺的能量。
    注:多么形象的比喻,可能不太準(zhǔn)確。拽大馬和拽小馬能量肯定是不一樣的。
    Teddy: My family says I’ll never amount to anything!
    Eddy: Why, that’s not true! With your experience not amounting to anything, you could be a wonderful example.
    Teddy:我家里人說(shuō)我肯定成就不了任何事情!
    Eddy:怎么會(huì)呢!他們說(shuō)的不對(duì)!憑借你的經(jīng)驗(yàn),你會(huì)是一個(gè)很好的例子。
    注:反面教材?
    Amuse
    If you find life a bit dull at home, and want to amuse yourself, put a stick of dynamite[黃色炸藥] in the kitchen fire.
    如果你感覺(jué)家里有點(diǎn)兒枯燥,想娛樂(lè)一下自己,就在廚房里火上放一管炸藥吧。
    注:有人老是抱怨生活枯燥,沒(méi)意思,你就可以這么對(duì)他說(shuō),生活中平安也是一種幸福。
    analyse
    Analyzing humor is like dissecting [解剖] a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies.
    分析幽默就象解剖青蛙,很少有人感興趣,青蛙還死了。
    注:幽默是很難分析解釋的,很多幽默解釋以后就沒(méi)韻味了。
    All are lunatics[瘋子], but he who can analyze his delusion[幻覺(jué)] is called a philosopher.
    所有人都是瘋子,但是能夠分析他的幻覺(jué)的人被稱作哲學(xué)家。
    注:每個(gè)人都會(huì)有胡思亂想,思維混亂的時(shí)候,有些人試圖分析幻覺(jué),還把自己叫做哲學(xué)家,他們很多時(shí)候以為自己看透了人生,實(shí)際上也只是100個(gè)深度的問(wèn)題,他也只看透了5個(gè)深度而已。
    Ancestor
    She's always late. Her ancestors arrived on the June Flower.
    她總是遲到,她的祖先乘六月花號(hào)到達(dá)。
    注:美洲大陸第一批人是乘May Flower號(hào)船到達(dá)的。這里是說(shuō)她們家祖上就有遲到的習(xí)慣,別人的祖先都坐“五月花號(hào)”,她的祖先偏要坐“六月花號(hào)”。
    The man who has nothing to boast of but his illustrious[榮耀的] ancestors is like a potato --- the only good belonging to him is under the ground.
    除了榮耀的祖先外沒(méi)有什么可吹噓的人就象土豆——他的財(cái)產(chǎn)在地下。
    注:Small potato是指小人物。有些人老愛(ài)說(shuō)“我父親怎么怎么樣,我爺爺怎么怎么樣”,就象阿Q一樣。
    Mr. Binks: One of my ancestors fell at Waterloo.
    Lady Clare: Ah? Which platform?
    Mr. Binks:我的一個(gè)祖先戰(zhàn)敗在滑鐵盧。
    Clare女士:哪個(gè)站臺(tái)?
    注:拿破侖兵敗滑鐵盧。Fall:跌倒;戰(zhàn)敗。這位女士還以為Binks先生說(shuō)他的祖先從站臺(tái)上摔了下去呢。