天澤英語園

落霞與孤鶩齊飛,秋水共長天一色 一句最有魅力的中國古詩. 令人心曠神怡,寧靜致遠.
個人資料
正文

流行美語: pull something off ; strike out

(2008-10-15 08:02:50) 下一個


今天Michael正在設法買票和李華一起去看世界職業棒球賽的決賽。李華學到了兩個習慣用語:to strike out 和to pull something off。

M: Well, Li Hua, I struck out again. It looks like my cousin won't have any world series tickets to sell to us after all.

L: 你說什麽?Struck out? 這跟買球票有什麽關係?

M: I said I struck out again. Struck out means that I failed after trying several times.

L: 噢,我想起來了!棒球賽裏就有strike out這個說法。如果一個擊球手三次擊球不中,他就strike out, 也就是“三振出局”。所以,strike out的意思是,一件事做了幾次也不成功。

M: That's right. Looks like you've got a good grasp of the rules of baseball. Why don't you try and use it in a sentence.

L: 嗯,讓我想想。對了,我一個朋友申請了幾個學校的研究院,可是沒有一所學校接受她。 (English) So, she completely struck out.

M: There you go. You know, even if your friend struck out this year, I hope she tries again. I remember the first year I applied to graduate school, I struck out too. But I learned from my mistakes, and eventually found a good school that accepted me.

L: 原來你和我朋友一樣也有申請研究院失敗的經曆,可是吸取教訓後你就成功了,希望我朋友也會如此。

M: Yeah, I was rather pleased to get into graduate school. Too bad I still strike out with the girls. None of the good ones want to go out with me.

L: 嘿嘿,別擔心,Michael, 你要求不要太高,一定會找到你喜歡的女孩的。你總不可能一直在這方麵strike out吧!

*****
L: 嘿 Michael, 你到底有沒有買到棒球決賽的球票啊?

M: No, to tell you the truth, Li Hua, I don't think I can pull it off. There simply are no tickets for sale.

L: 你說什麽? Pull it off? 你還在想辦法,對不對?

M: I said I don't think I can pull it off. To pull something off - Pull. P U L L. Off. O F F, means to succeed at something very difficult, usually unexpectedly.

L: 噢,To pull something off就是出人意料地做成一件很困難的事情。哎,Michael, 你再舉個例子好不好?

M: Ok, most of our friends didn't think that Beijing would be allowed to host the 2008 Olympics, but in the end Beijing pulled it off! I was really surprised.

L: 對,很多人以為中國申辦奧運不會成功,但是中國試了幾次,終於成功, 也就是pulled it off。Michael, 憑你對中國的了解,你不應該感到驚訝才對嘛。

M: Yeah. I guess so. Anyway, as for the tickets, I don't think I can pull this off.

L: 為什麽買棒球賽的票那麽難啊?

M: The series has already started, the tickets were sold months ago, and the only people selling them on the Internet want at least $600 a ticket for game 7.

L: 電腦上買票還要六百美元一張?這也太過份了吧?哎,Michael, 反正我對棒球也沒興趣,你就不用給我買票了。

M: You know, Li Hua, I spent the whole afternoon calling people and trying to find tickets. I wish you had said something sooner.

L: 對不起,我知道你花了很多時間。可是,我沒想到你這麽沒能耐,試了半天還是struck out!

Michael和李華想買職業棒球賽的球票,可是沒有買到。李華學到了兩個習慣用語:to strike out和to pull something off。Strike out表示一件事做了幾次都沒有成功。To pull something off表示出人意料地做成了一件很困難的事情。
[ 打印 ]
閱讀 ()評論 (0)
評論
目前還沒有任何評論
登錄後才可評論.