記四級單詞有妙招(八)

字號:

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.
    有個小男孩,他的責任是每天忘記送報紙。他是令人驚奇地可靠,所以我總是自己去取。
    注:美國人一般都住在帶院子的別墅里,送報紙的小男孩把報紙每天早上把報紙放在柵欄里面。但這個小男孩工作不負責任,報紙送不到訂戶的家里,有個訂戶這么客氣地對小男孩兒說。
    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,當要求安靜時聽眾亂烘烘的——當要錢時全場一片寂靜。
    注:募捐晚會上主持人這么說。讓觀眾安靜下來,誰也不聽,但一提要捐錢的事兒,觀眾都低下頭,誰也不敢看主持人了。
    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)砹钊梭@奇的不同。
    注:任何人都希望能有機會說這樣的話。
    Ambassador
    An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country.
    大使是為了國家的利益被派往國外說謊的老實人。
    注:不說謊的外交官很少,但很多外交官的人格是沒有問題的。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,實際上也只是想靠繼承財產過日子。
    I have the ambition to inherit some property.
    我雄心勃勃想繼承一些財產。
    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”,她們在努力去做事兒,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.
    我小時候的理想是當一名醫(yī)生,校長也支持我的想法,至少我有當醫(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雄心,一是我決不能再跟他一樣下煤礦了,另一個是我應該去競選總統(tǒng)。
    注:這個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.
    我們是無神論者——發(fā)生事故時,叫救護車。
    注:汽車標貼。可能是諷刺唯心主義者“你們發(fā)生了交通事故,也不靠上帝,也得叫救護車。”
    場景再現(xiàn):汽車標貼:
    We're materialists - in case of accident call an ambulance[救護車].
    我們是唯物主義者——萬一發(fā)生事故,叫救護車。
    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.
    一馬力是一秒內把一匹馬拽500英尺的能量。
    注:多么形象的比喻,可能不太準確。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:我家里人說我肯定成就不了任何事情!
    Eddy:怎么會呢!他們說的不對!憑借你的經驗,你會是一個很好的例子。
    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.
    如果你感覺家里有點兒枯燥,想娛樂一下自己,就在廚房里火上放一管炸藥吧。
    注:有人老是抱怨生活枯燥,沒意思,你就可以這么對他說,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韻味了。
    All are lunatics[瘋子], but he who can analyze his delusion[幻覺] is called a philosopher.
    所有人都是瘋子,但是能夠分析他的幻覺的人被稱作哲學家。
    注:每個人都會有胡思亂想,思維混亂的時候,有些人試圖分析幻覺,還把自己叫做哲學家,他們很多時候以為自己看透了人生,實際上也只是100個深度的問題,他也只看透了5個深度而已。
    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到達。
    注:美洲大陸第一批人是乘May Flower號船到達的。這里是說她們家祖上就有遲到的習慣,別人的祖先都坐“五月花號”,她的祖先偏要坐“六月花號”。
    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有什么可吹噓的人就象土豆——他的財產在地下。
    注:Small potato是指小人物。有些人老愛說“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:我的一個祖先戰(zhàn)敗在滑鐵盧。
    Clare女士:哪個站臺?
    注:拿破侖兵敗滑鐵盧。Fall:跌倒;戰(zhàn)敗。這位女士還以為Binks先生說他的祖先從站臺上摔了下去呢。