It’s supposed to be sunny all week.
The weatherman said it would be clear , but it's really cloudy.
I can’t believe it’s only mid-May. It’s so hot outside.
They said yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far.
The weather can’t make up its mind what to do.
2. 一说到天气预报,常常会使用 “The weatherman said…”。 “said” 也可以换成 “says”, 但要注意 “would” 也要相应地变成 “will”.
3. 谈话里可以使用一些夸张的说法。 “I can't believe”就是其中一种表达方式。这是为了表达自己强烈的感情。
4. “They say…”与 “The weatherman says…”意义完全相同。
5. “can't make up its mind”由 “自己无法决定”转义为“捉摸不透”。也可以使用 “unpredictable” 或 “changeable”, 如 “The weather is unpredicatable/changeable.”
政治、世界形势
The prime minister has maintained a high approval rating despite the increase in unemployment.
There are several hurdles to clear before structural reform can be carried out.
What can the world do to help bring peace to the Middle East?
How do you feel about America’s aerial bombardment of Afghanistan?
I can’t bring myself to support a warlike government.
7. Structural reform 为机构改革。经济改革、教育改革、政治改革分别为economic reform, educational reform. political reform. 动词为carry out (实行,执行)
8. Bring peace to ~意为带来和平。恢复和平为restore peace, 维护和平为maintain peace.
9. 与aerial bombardment相比,口语中更常使用aerial bombing. How do you feel about ~? 与What do you think of ~?同义,用来询问对方的意见。
10. 最好记住can’t bring myself to ~”这种表达方式,它表示“不想~”。如:I can’t bring myself to discuss it.” (我不想谈论这件事)
经济,景气
Interest rates at banks are incredibly low these days.
How long do you think this recession in Japan will continue?
13. 2001年经济不景气,致使失业率急剧上升。
Business was so slow in 2001 that unemployment shot way up.
His company is almost broke.
I’ve been putting money aside to live on when I’m older.
12. Recession表示不景气,萧条。如:The recession is deeper than the government admits.(经济萧条要比政府承认的更严重)。另外从不景气中复苏可译为recover from the recession
13. 请记住slow 的这种用法。反之,表示经济情况很好时用Business is booming.或Business is thriving.等。Shoot way up 用于表示物价等急剧上涨。
14. Broke是形容词,表示资金为零状态。如:I was broke when I married her. (我和她结婚时身无分文。表示破产时,也可以说The company went bankrupt.”(那家公司破产了)。
15. Put more money aside意为save money(存钱)。To live on意为to live on that money用这笔钱生活。如He lives on a small salary.他依靠仅有的一点儿工资生活。
流行,热门商品
Do you know about Ginger? After all the hype, it turned out to be just a scooter.
We’ve got to try that new Italian restaurant.
Cell phones are a way of life. I can’t live without it.
I really like Hello Kitty. I don’t care what other people say.
I can’t understand why everyone is so crazy about big-name brands.
17. Have got to与have to /must意义相同。当向别人极力推荐某种东西时,常常使用这种句型。Try意为test(尝试)常常这样使用:Have you tried that new restaurant that opened on the corner?(你去过街角新开的那家餐馆了吗?)试试运气可以用I’ll try my luck.
18. Can’t live without ~表示缺了~就无法活下去。比较夸张,常用于口语。
19. Don’t care表示不在乎,如I don’t care what happened(我不在乎发生什么事情)语气更强烈一点的话,可以使用 “who cares?”(管它呢)
20. 流行无需理由,所以常常夸张地使用I can’t understand的表达方式。Be crazy about ~表示热衷于~。
闲谈、谣传
Have you heard the rumor? Someone said the Smiths got divorced.
I hear she comes from a well-off family.
Apparently,Bill was jilted.
24. 你听说了吗?他妈妈因逃税被抓起来了。
Did you hear his mother was arrested for tax evasion?
This is strictly off the record.
22. I hear …也表示听说。21中的Someone said …或I hear 也表示传闻,如Someone said/ I hear that Tom is leaving the company.
23. Apparently用来表示相当有把握的信息
24. 与21同样表示传闻,同样的表达方式还有This is just between us/ ourselves(这话到此为止)
25. 要注意off the record有定冠词the .
Talking about Lifestyles
I was a so-called latchkey kid.
My father puts family before everything else.
Taking care of my grandfather is a lot of work.
We don’t have much to do with our relatives.
On New Year’s Day, all the relatives get together at my house.
27. 请记住put A before B (把A放在B之前)这种表达方式。如He puts his work before his family.(他重视工作甚于家庭)。He puts quantity before quality.(他重视数量甚于质量)。
28. 照顾(小孩或者病人)一般使用take care of ~,也可以表示负责作~。如I’ll take care of buying food.(我负责购买食物)。
29. Don’t have much to do with ~表示与与~不达有关系,do with ~ 此处意为be connected with ~(与~有关系)have something to do with ~表示与~多少有点儿关系,have nothing to do with ~ 表示与~毫无关系。
30. Get together集合也可以用have a reunion来表示,后者多用来表示没有什么特别节目的聚会。
住宅、环境
I wish I had a bigger house.
Sometimes it’s depressing when you live alone.
My house is 20 years old.
There’s only one train into town per hour.
How long does it take you to get to the work?
【解说】
31. 请注意表示意愿的wish的用法,后面接动词的过去式时,是虚拟语气的一种。如:I wish I could speak English much better. 公寓一般用apartment (租赁的公寓),condominium(私有的公寓,缩写为condo)来表示。
32. 独自生活为live alone。如果是和别人合租的话,可以用I have a roommate.表示。
33. 表示房子盖了多少年用old表示。如How old is this building?
34. Town表示城市的中心,所以train into town表示去城里的电车。反之,离开城里的车用train out of town表示。Per hour表示每个小时,hour的前面不用one,一天三个小时表示为three hours per day.
35. 要表示一个人做某事花费多少时间,常常使用it takes sb. sometime to do…的形式。如It took me 50 minutes to get there我去那儿花了50 分钟。
邻居、社区
We are good friends with our door neighbors.
I seldom see my next door neighbors.
Their dog barks at night and disturbs everyone in the neighborhood.
The garbage days are Mondays and Wednesdays.
There is a movement among residents to try to preserve the traditional buildings in the old commercial area.
37. Next neighbor表示住在隔壁的人。
38. Disturb愿意为interrupt(妨碍,打搅), 这里指打搅别人心灵的平静。在不好的传闻中的 “The rumor is disturbing.”(这种谣传着实令人不安)也属于同种用法。关于neighborhood还有There is a very nice restaurant in my neighborhood.(我家附近有家特别棒的餐馆)的表达方式。
39. 收垃圾日为garbage day, 垃圾袋为garbage bag, 垃圾箱为garbage can, 收垃圾的人为trash collector.
40. Movement表示政治性的,社会性的市民运动。如the peace movement和平运动,the anti-abortion movement(反对堕胎运动)
疾病和健康
I’m running a fever. I have a cold.
Take care of yourself. Be sure to get some sleep.
You deserve a break.
I have a hangover today.
I have hay fever. My eyes itch.
42. 对感冒的人常使用这样的建议。或者说You should go home and go to bed. 当感冒怎么也不好时,用I can’t shake off this cold.来表示。
43. Break 虽然表示工作中的小憩,但这里表示休假。Deserve 常用来表示得到~是理所当然的,如Your book deserves high praises.你的书理所应当得到高度的赞誉。
44. 宿醉用hangover,想吐用I feel sick, 或I’m nauseated.头晕用I feel dizzy.表示。
45. 因花粉症hay fever而痛苦的话,可以用I’m suffering form hay fever. 也可以用allergic(过敏),如I’m allergic to cedar pollen. (我对杉树粉过敏)。如果对猫过敏的话,可以用I’m allergic to cats.来表示。
恋爱,结婚
I wonder if I’ll ever meet the right guy.
I’m not cut out for married life.
The first time I saw him. I knew he was the one.
He means nothing to me any more.
I’ve heard that they had a shotgun wedding.
47. Not cut out for ~与not the right kind of person for ~意思相同,表示不适合~,如I’m not cut out for teaching /politics(我不适合当老师/搞政治)
48. Know 以过去时表示凭直觉感受到。比如I knew we were going to get married.(我感觉到我们命中注定是要结婚的),I knew something was wrong.我觉得有点儿怪怪的。
49. 也可以说成We’re just friends now. 我们现在只是朋友了。因性格不合而分手的情况下,则可以说There wasn’t any chemistry between us.我们八字不合。
50. Shotgun wedding表示(因女方未婚先孕为保全面子或声誉而不得不成婚的)强制婚姻,来源于女方的父亲用枪顶着男方,逼迫男方和自己的女