学10个一定用得上的英文表达(上)

一个月前我发起了「来和我一起共读一本单词书」的活动,还有几天这期共读就结束了。我读的是《剑桥高级英语词汇》,今天从前50章中(一共100章)和大家挑出10个我认为实用的、有意思的表达,附上讲解和配图分享给大家。

这些表达我在很多地方都听到过读到过,自己也用过,所以我想大家可能也会用的上的。建议大家读一读下面的英文,喜欢的话打印出来,多读几遍加强记忆。

*以下内容中“p+数字”表示原文出现在《剑桥高级英语词汇》的页码

这些表达你都会用吗?

1⃣️ I'm not stuck behind a desk and there's a lot of variety. The stress levels can be quite high when you know people's lives depend on you. I feel sorry for people who are stuck in a rut or working in dead-end jobs. (p32同事与工作)

rut有“车辙” 的意思,in a rut表示“一成不变的”。每天做同样的公交地铁,每天的工作如同Control+C, Control+V,这就是in a rut。很可能这也是一份dead-end job,如同一个死胡同,没什么前途。

2⃣️ He thought telemarketing sounded quite glamourous but soon found that most of the people he phoned hated cold-calling and put the phone down when he tried the hard sell.(p36商务)

你是不是也时不时地会接到一个陌生电话,问你要不要开发票、买不买ta家的茶叶?这种行为就是cold-calling,冷不防打来的推销电话。cold call也可以作为动词使用。

3⃣️ But tricks alone are not enough, and the best idea is to bury yourself in your books until you know the subject inside out. (p40学术研究)

bury yourself in your books字面意思是“把头埋在书里”,也就是“专心致志的读书”,bury oneself in表示“沉浸于”。期末考试要到了怎么办?把朋友圈微博八卦放在一圈,除了做好打小抄的准备外

bury yourself in books吧!

4⃣️ p46人际关系

  • Nick only has eyes for Diana. He's not interested in other girls. (have eyes for表示“看上” “相中”)

  • Charlie and I get on like a house on fire.

get on like a house on fire表示“一见如故” “一拍即合”,像是干柴遇到了🔥。类似的常见表达还有hit it off, click。

5⃣️ A few years ago denim jackets were all the rage. (p62服装与时尚)

rage是“狂怒”的意思,作动词表示“发脾气” “肆虐;猖獗”,这里all the rage表示“风靡一时”。类似的常见表达还有hit, sensation

最喜欢这本书的词汇比喻义拓展,非常实用

6⃣️ a stag party; a hen party (p66社交网络)

读到这一章的时候,我正好去外地参加一位朋友的婚礼。stag是“雄鹿”的意思,a stag party“雄🦌派对🎉”和a bachelor party差不多,是在新郎结婚前为新浪举行的,一般参与者都是男性;对应的a hen party,“母鸡派对🎉”相当于a bachelorette party。

7⃣️ Inviting Joe and his ex-wives to the same party was a recipe for disaster. (p74民以食为天)

recipe的发音是/'rɛsəpi/,本身是“食谱”的意思,be a recipe for someting可以表示“某事的原因” “会导致某事的发生”。邀请Joe和他的前妻们一同参加一个party,不用想也知道会有多糟糕。这期的《经济学人》封面文章The World's Most Powerful Man中就用到了这个表达:

One-man rule is ultimately a recipe for instability in China, as it has been in the past—think of Mao and his Cultural Revolution. It is also a recipe for arbitrary behaviour abroad, which is especially worrying at a time when Mr Trump’s America is pulling back and creating a power vacuum.

这一章还出现了两个表达也很实用:

  • The film has all the ingredients of a box office hit.

  • They started their business with high hopes but things soon turned sour.

8⃣️  p76请客与在外用餐

  • Lunch is on me today. (“我请客”用on me就好了)

  • Let me get this. (别抢了,我来埋单!)

  • Can I pour your some juice? Say when.

say when是个口语中的常用表达,表示“什么时候够了你就说声when,我就停”, 给别人倒酒的时候可以用得上

9⃣️ p100思维方式

  • We should give her the benefit of the doubt.

give someone the benefit of the doubt的意思是“尽管对方说的话有可疑之处,但是先姑且相信ta”。

  • You should take what he says with a pinch of salt.

take something with a pinch of salt表示“对...半信半疑”,在对于英语学习材料,要长点心中我就用到了这个表达:

不要因为焦虑就选择所谓的捷径,不要把“专家” “大神”的话全当做真理,我们学英文的主要目的之一就是“防忽悠”,可别还没等学好就被忽悠了啊... 如果我们对材料有所怀疑的话,就去查一查 -- take them with a pinch of salt.

它的反义词可以用take something at face value来表示,意思是“对...信以为真”。

🔟 p118个人财物

  • I'm rolling in this month; I got a cheque for $3,000 for some work I did. (roll in表示“大量的涌现”,常用来形容💰,我们可以理解为“财源滚滚”)

  • Things are a bit tight at the moment. (手头有点“紧”,用tight。类似的常见表达还有hard-up)

  • I was strapped for cash.

be strapped for也表示“手头紧”,注意它的语法特点,必须是be strapped for。这就提醒我们:并没有真正的“同义词”。我们要注意同义词之间的细微区别,尤其是它们的语法特点。

这些表达只是「英语在用」词汇书系列中的一小部分,我分享出来是想鼓励大家主动的去学习、整理、使用,不仅用心还要用巧力,让知识真正落地。

如果你参与了这次共读,欢迎你在留言区分享几个让你印象深刻的表达或者学习心得吧。各位看官,要不要用今天学到的某个词来造个句子?或者把你认为“一定用得上”的一些表达分享给更多人?

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