【工作英文】关于一台temperamental 的复印机!A temperamental photocopier!
使用复印机是办公室必备技能,你们的复印机好用吗?你有没有碰到过一台temperamental的复印机?
不懂什么意思?先来学习以下对话,看看你是否明白!
It's very temperamental!
A: Why has the photocopier stopped?
B: Oh, it's probably because the paper has jammed. You'll have to open the door and look inside the machine to check.
A: Oh yes, I can see where a sheet of paper has got stuck.
B: You need to follow the instructions printed inside the door to remove it and restart the machine.
A: That wasn't too difficult. Well, I'll restart the machine and hope for the best.
B: You'll need a lot of hope for that machine. It's very temperamental and really needs replacing.
这段对话讲的是复印机出问题。A用的词是stop,这个词很常用,表示“停止”,回答人说多半因为纸“jammed”,jam这个词在这里的意思是指to become unable to move or work (because sth has stuck),由于有东西卡住了而导致不能运转了。作此义解时,通常也用“jam up”的形式。我们来看更多的例子:
The key turned halfway and then jammed.
钥匙转了一半就卡住了。
The photocopier keeps jamming up.
复印机老是卡住。
果然后面就发现是有a sheet of paper(一张纸)has got stuck(卡住了)。stuck是stick的过去分词,作形容词用,表示 “unable to move or to be moved”,也就是“卡住;动不了;陷住”。常用的例子:
Our car got stuck in the mud.
我们的车陷在泥泞里了。
I was stuck in a traffic jam for nearly an hour.
我碰上塞车,堵了差不多一个小时。
(多么好的迟到理由啊!)
当我们需要根据说明书来操作时,我们会说:follow the instructions。如:
Follow the instructions on the packet carefully.
仔细按照包装上的说明操作。
Press enter and follow the on-screen instructions.
按下回车键,根据屏幕上的说明操作。
解决办法是把卡的纸拿出来,再restart the machine,restart这个词已经下惯用电脑的都很熟悉,对,就是“重启”。前缀re-表示“重新,又,再”。
重启复印机,还要hope for the best,这个成语我们在之前学到过,可以回看以下两篇文章:
最后,重点来了!说这台复印机very temperamental,是什么意思呢?我们先来看一下这个单词:
temperamental
多变的;喜怒无常的
这个词通常用于形容情绪比较多变、不为什么理由就有莫名的情绪的人:
You never know what to expect with her. She's so temperamental.
你永远不知道她下一步会怎样。她非常的喜怒无常。
如果这个词用于描述某物时,那就是指这样东西“Likely to perform unpredictably; sometimes works and sometimes does not”,即“性能不稳定;时好时坏”。如果你家里或办公室里有这样的电器,那“恭喜”你!你终于有个词来准确地描述它了!
This printer is a bit temperamental.
这台打印机有点不正常,时好时坏的。
Sorry if the heater's a bit temperamental.
抱歉,暖气设备有点不稳定。
又是收获满满的一天!学了就要掌握,学一句就要能说出来一句!达成这一点的唯一办法就是:
Practice, practice, and Practice!
练习,练习,再练习!