迷你对话学地道口语第824期:绞尽脑汁

 　　Subject : I have racked² my brain.

　　第一，迷你对话

　　A: I have racked my brain. I still have no idea about how to spend Valentine’s day.

　　我绞尽脑汁，仍然想不出如何过情人节。

　　B: Just take her to a high ranking restaurant and present her with a bunch of flowers.

　　那就带上她去一个高级饭店，然后送她一束花。

　　第二，地道表达

　　rack¹ one’s brain

　　1. 解词释义

　　Rack one’s brain中的rack是“压榨”和“折磨”的意思，brain是大脑。Rack one’s brain直译为压榨、折磨某人的大脑，其实就是“绞尽脑汁”“不遗余力”等意思。用它来表示用尽心思去考虑某事。因为用尽心思，当然就饱受精神上的折磨。其英文解释为：to cause great mental suffering，to torture³ brain by means of the rack。

　　2. 拓展范例

　　e.g. When I went to pick up my girlfriend, there was a note on the door. She wrote that she didn't want to see me anymore. Huh?! How could our relationship be over? I've been racking⁴ my brain trying to recall⁵ everything I've done and said lately. Instead of making me struggle, couldn't she at least let me know how I upset her?

　　我去接我女朋友，发现门上有张条。条上说，她不想跟我交往下去了。我们怎么会就这么结束了呢？我绞尽脑汁，回想最近自己是不是做错了什么事，说错了什么话。她至少可以告诉我我什么地方得罪了她，让我不用这么百思不得其解。

　　e.g. He had racked his brain but he could not be able to work out the answer to the problem.

　　他已经绞尽脑汁了，但是还是无法相处这个问题的答案。

　　e.g. I rack my brain trying to remember the answer .

　　我绞尽脑汁想答案。

　　e.g. I've been racking my brain trying to recall where we put the key.

　　我绞尽脑汁回想我把钥匙放在哪里。

　　第三，咬文嚼字

　　1. have no idea about something：不知道做……

　　e.g. If you have no idea about it, consult a dictionary, please.

　　要是你对这个问题不清楚, 请你查字典得了。

　　e.g. I have no idea about her visit except that she is likely to be away for several months .

　　我对她的访问情况一无所知，只知道她可能外出好几个月。

　　2. present sb. with sth.：赠送某人某物

　　e.g.They presented a sum of money to the college in memory of their son.

　　他们向学院赠送了一笔款项以纪念他们的儿子。

　　e.g. Colleagues presented the retiring chairman with a cheque.

　　同事们把一张支票交给退休的主席。

　　3. a bunch of：一束……，一捆……，一群

　　e.g. He produced from his pocket a bunch of keys.

　　他从口袋里掏出一串钥匙。

　　e.g. Miss White received a bunch of flowers from her admirer.

　　怀特小姐收到爱慕者所送的一束花。

　　e.g. His friends are just a bunch of hooligans.

　　他的朋友们只是一群流氓。

　　4. a high ranking restaurant：高档酒店 spend the Valentine’s day：过情人节

1 rack   

n.挂架，搁架；vt.折磨；使紧张，使努力

参考例句：

• He went over and took his jacket from the coat rack.到衣架上取外套。
• The old house soon went to rack and ruin.这所旧房子很快就毁坏了。

2 racked   

使痛苦，使焦虑，绞尽脑汁( rack的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Bush has racked up victories in another five states. 布什在另外五个州又获得了胜利。
• He racked no rents to maintain the expenses of his establishment. 他不向租户索取过高的租金来维持公司的开支。

3 torture   

n.折磨；v.折磨，使痛苦；使苦恼，使为难

参考例句：

• No torture would make him speak.任何严刑拷打都不能使他开口。
• Through those long years of imprisonment and torture,he remained faithful and unyielding.在那些遭受囚禁和酷刑的漫长岁月里，他始终坚贞不屈。

4 racking   

拷问的，痛苦的

参考例句：

• All night I have been tossing and turning racking my brains to think what could have possessed the young man to kill himself. 整整一晚我辗转反侧，绞尽脑汁，想弄明白是什么原因竟能促成这个年轻人自杀。
• He was racking his brains for a course of action. 他在脑子里拼命寻找一条行动的道路。

5 recall   

n.回忆，召回，取消；vt.回想起，召回，与...相似，恢复

参考例句：

• As you may recall, he was in the army then.你可能记得当时他正在从军。
• We demand that you recall your army from our border.我们要求你们撤回在我们边境的部队。