每日学英语[第7期]

第1039期 2005-6-1

旺旺英语语音精品报

　=> 每日单词　

　 <播放语音>

discuss　
(v.) 讨论

Let's discuss our trip to the zoo.
来讨论咱们的动物园之旅吧。

boring　
(a.) 无聊的

I thought that movie was really boring.
我觉得那部电影真是无聊。

　=> 每日短语　

　 <播放语音>

a big step

一个重大的进展、决定

Starting your own business is a big step.
自行创业是个重大决定。

　=> 最清晰发音模仿

　<播放语音>

I think so.

我想是吧。

A: Is David in your class?
B: I think so.
A: 戴维在你的班上吗？
B: 我想是吧。

A: Do you have English class today?
B: I think so. Today is Tuesday, right?
A: 你今天有英文课吗？
B: 我想是吧。今天是星期二，对吗？

　=> 每日会话　

　<播放语音>

The next day, Fiona visits Lucy's insurance agent, Rob
Rob: Hello, Mrs. Jin, I'm Rob Lewis. How can I assist you today?
Fiona: Well, I think I'm paying too much for insurance. Lucy recommended you to me.
Rob: Certainly. Let me take a look at your current policies.
Fiona: Mine is from a college classmate who became an insurance salesman. I'm not sure about Hank's.
Rob: [Looks at policies] I see. I'm afraid your husband is only minimally covered here.
Fiona: What? But we pay so much...

(续上期,待续)

隔天，费欧娜拜访阿露的保险业务员，罗伯
罗　伯︰嗨，金太太，我叫罗伯刘易斯。今天我可以帮你什么忙？
费欧娜︰呃，我想我付太多保险费了。阿露跟我推荐你。
罗　伯︰没问题。让我看看你目前的保险组合。
费欧娜︰我的保险是向一位当保险业务员的大学同学买的。汉克的部分我就不太清楚了。
罗　伯︰（看着保险单）我了解了。恐怕你先生在这份保险里涵盖的范围极少。
费欧娜︰什、什么？但是我们付了那多钱……



重点解说：

★ assist (v.) 协助，帮助
★ certainly (adv.) （用于回答）当然，行
★ recommend (v.) 推荐，介绍
★ current (a.) 当前的，进行中的
★ minimally (adv.) 最低限度地，最小地。反义词为maximally最大地

　=> 每日开讲

What would you do if you were me?

相信每一个人都有‘哑巴吃黄连，有苦说不清。’的经验。其实有很多事情真的很难用语言来解释清楚，所以希望朋友能够将心比心来体谅我们，英文叫："What would you do if you were me?" ‘如果你是我的话你会怎么做呢？’

没想到‘将心比心’也会被翻译成英文，除了"What would you do if you were me?"之外，还有其它几个说法，你也可以说："What would you do if you were in my shoes?" ‘如果你站在我的立场，你会怎么做呢？’或者是："What would you do if you were in my position?"或者是"What would you do if you were in my situation?" ‘如果你遇到相同情况，你会怎么做呢？’

对话
A：I can't put up with this anymore.
B：What's happened? Was John drunk again?
A：Yes, he got back at almost four this morning. What would you do if you were me?
B：I'd lock the door and sleep.
A：Well, I knocked him out.
甲：我再也不能容忍了。
乙：发生什么事呀？约翰又饮醉酒吗？
甲：嗯，他今晨四时才回来。如果你是我，你会怎么做？
乙：我会把门锁上和倒头大睡。　　　
甲：嗯，我把他揍了一顿。

今天要谈假如子句(if-clause)的三种句式。
第一种是‘If + 现在式动词(present tense) + will’，说现在或未来可能发生的事，例如：If he knows, he will tell me.（假如他知道，就会告诉我。）换言之，他可能知道，也可能不知道。
第二种是‘If +过去式动词 (past tense) + would’，说现在或未来不可能或不会发生的事，例如：If he knew / If he were here, he would tell me.（万一他知道 / 假如他在这里，他就会告诉我。）这一句表示‘他不可能知道’、‘他目前不在这里’。留意这种if子句的I, she, he, it之后用were，用was虽然也可以，但不是正式用法。
第三种是‘If +过去完成式动词 (past perfect tense) + would have’，说过去未有发生、纯粹假设的情况，例如：If he had known, he would have told me.（假如他当时知道，就会告诉我。）换言之，他当时不知道，自然没有告诉我。

甲女士恨丈夫今早四点钟才醉醺醺回家，问乙女士：What would you do if you were in my shoes?（你是我的话，以后会怎么办？）这是商量日后治夫大计。假如她要问‘你是我的话，今早会怎么办？’那是说过去的假设情况，应用第三种句式：What would you have done if you had been in my shoes?乙女士可以回答说：I would have thrown a bucket of cold water on him.（我会拿起一桶冷水泼到他身上。）

作者：古德明（香港）