[流行美语]又和大家见面了。Michael是一个在纽约上大学的美国年轻人,他经常跟中国学生李华一起玩。Michael向李华学中文,李华向 Michael 学英文。Michael 正在准备考试,有很多功课要做,但是李华要他出去休息休息,两人约好下午在动物园见面。他们在对话中会用这两个词:all-nighter和cram。3 U8 t% h- H* j) V- o
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L: 嗨,Michael. 我在这儿! ; R1 N1 {4 J! L7 f' @7 w" e) Y, n+ `4 K+ ]- e- b& G; \1 y7 E4 U6 W0 M
M: Hey, Li Hua. Oh, the elephant house, let's go in and take a look. % O: h7 K' H6 ~3 N, N: m - X4 R' t0 ?, u3 d& fL: 噢,那是大象馆啊? 好,进去看看。 不行,不行,这儿太臭 了。走吧! & D. Q: o5 ?) @9 D2 W' d6 {, _/ G4 n
M: Oh, yeah. Let's get out of here. In fact, I've got a lot of studying to do. I'm going to need to pull an all-nighter. ( x: V& Y9 ` V2 q/ Y7 Z * g* c9 l, Q; w3 A5 TL: 我知道你有很多功课,但是你在准备考试的时候也总得休息休息嘛。我听说这次考试会很难。你刚才说 all-nighter 是不是开夜车 的意思呀? ; x# W L5 \3 F; }7 S, c7 j$ n* f8 R# W) U, c# a/ W D
M: Yeah, that's what I meant. Li Hua, you're smart! & o+ o- r* K6 h 9 T3 z& ^7 A8 y( `7 L4 eL: 我是猜出来的, all的意思是整个,全部,nighter和 night 很像。我想一个人要整夜学习,那不就是开夜车吗?但是,有一点我不太懂,你说:to pull an all-nighter,什么是pull ?* L) t; w, G {% ?1 W% F. ]9 S; M, }# f
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M: Pull means to get yourself through a difficult time. ' b K& S8 ^$ I3 M" c0 S' ], ?$ V. H6 `8 J
L: 噢, pull an all-nighter,就是迫使自己整夜念书,因为要这样做是很辛苦的。: A0 B" `0 o: I" L3 n8 `+ W. g# w7 e
4 H% |4 {# q) o* k* ~2 |M: Yep. You wouldn't have to pull an all-nighter because you have been studying all semester, I haven't been. 5 ?+ S7 v7 | `6 O7 f* y " `$ {% b1 }/ l+ _0 h) m9 V AL: 这你可说对了。我不需要开夜车,因为我整个一学期都在学习。你要开夜车,因为你平时不学习。6 t+ ^1 J& o" ^2 n; A
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M: I know, I know, you're a better student than I am. ' G8 h- @9 \. _0 S; `5 w4 N9 o' l - y0 Y7 o7 T; A$ h' |5 ?; xL: Michael, 我真喜欢纽约的秋天,空气很清新。你要是能跟我一起玩,不用回去念书,那该多好啊! 5 }: I% d/ A' \0 S, c! [0 T8 b , j$ C- Q% I- EM: I don't want to go study either, but I should.4 \4 z( C+ D/ B( g0 X; B
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L: 对啊, 你要是上星期多花点时间念书不就好了嘛。现在你得临时抱佛脚了。 0 s! l- g, i5 A) I u% T( g* E I( e1 S8 X9 Q' l" N
M: I perform better on tests when I cram.- d/ d. h( k* Z0 {- t
; k& E, Z8 f4 S# j; K# [/ r4 jL: Cram? Cram是把什么东西塞进去的意思,跟学习有什么关系呢? 0 R, ^4 H( `7 E" R5 A) H7 S {8 @3 F% n' h/ O' S' xM: Well, it's sort of the same meaning. I'm going to do a lot of studying at the last minute, that's what it means to cram. % m/ z* q O% M5 M1 L$ n, }( o& I2 M0 A) @' |+ g- e/ V- W' `
L: 意思差不多?噢,我知道了!Cram就是我们中文里说的填鸭式方法,就是硬把食品塞给鸭子吃,这样鸭子就长得肥。北京烤鸭就是用这种鸭子做的。你说的cram 是临时抱佛脚,在考试前猛记猛背,把知识往脑子里塞。你还认为这是好办法?% A8 }1 m# f$ o. }" V3 ~3 h% ^
; n, ?7 a" {/ k/ PM: Well, everyone's different. Cramming works for me. - k; A! W) x# u2 l 6 [& C. L: r) G; e. ]- A. C/ vL: 你认为临时抱佛脚对你来说行得通。可是,Michael,想把半学期的内容在一个晚上记住,这样做可真傻。' h1 w4 C. ?2 n% \2 _
$ w: h% Q. X! o+ K1 r6 T# `, j: dM: Stop being my mother, Li Hua!( N. B4 T- t5 b4 r. P+ N
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L: 我才不想当你妈呢,你不听我的话,那就算了。Michael, cram这个词是否还能用在别的场合呢? ( q# r. f6 w+ |% P . Q5 z, i3 T9 mM: Not really. It's only used to describe studying for a test, usually college or high-school level.$ b, u- _! X1 R5 z' G
k2 p' H# Y; N9 TM: And that's what I need to do, right now. It's getting late and I know I will have to pull an all-nighter. , z4 x7 ?& L1 U# S% k 8 m7 l" i4 _- ZL: 好吧,我明天早上给你打电话。 : a7 \5 A: t* w/ b$ a, Q2 A# e8 L3 T9 }9 I3 t2 i% D3 h/ k' F
M: No, don't worry about me, I'm sure I will still be cramming. , [/ x( `; v3 ?* T8 e$ [ 7 L+ R. l( m2 C, m mL: 哟,你还准备开夜车开到天亮呐? Ok, well, good luck! 6 z' _3 C( J) h6 R0 H, \' z* o" U0 ^0 M3 E- P$ r( g7 K
今天李华向Michael学了两个常用语,一个是:all-nighter, 意思是开夜车;另一个是:cram, 这是指中学生或大学生在考试前临时抱佛脚。 ) m8 T* B% k1 F1 C. Z$ _2 GAudio As Following:" L( Z& h5 z. l" m! T