【英语早间课堂】话说地道美语 Lesson 10

 LESSON TEN 文稿及习题答案各位亲爱的听众朋友，这里是晨间7点档“话说地道美语”，我是Juliet。非常高兴与您在这美丽的清晨见面。

【课堂热身】

首先，let's have a review. 大家还记得我们在第九课中讲述的表示grasp the meaning of a word, a person , a language 的地道口语说法吗？这个说法牵涉到动物的脑袋和尾巴，它是：make head or tail out of something。其中，out 可以省略。此外，这个短语与can't或者是couldn't, cannot连用于否定句中。即：cannot (could not) make head nor tail (out) of something.

【今日课题】

现在我们开始第10课的学习。Lesson Ten How to say "免遭灭顶之灾" in real American English? 第十课 免遭灭顶之灾 地道美语怎么说？“灭顶之灾”中的“灭顶”是指水冒过头顶，指淹死。灭顶之灾就是指致命的灾祸。So , how to say it in real American English?

【课堂讲述】

We might as well listen to the following sentence: I've barely¹ kept my head above water since the pay cut. 自从被减薪后，我总算还能凑合着生活下去。 I've/ barely/ kept my head above water/ since/ the pay/ cut. 那么亲爱的听众朋友，您觉得这个句子中，那里表示出了“免遭灭顶之灾”的意思呢？

它是含有head , h-e-a-d（脑袋）和water , w-a-t-e-r （水）这2个单词的一个动词短语来表述“免遭灭顶之灾”，它是：keep one's head above water，字面意思就是把头保持在水面上，这个和我们中文的“不灭顶”意思相同。不让水给冒过头顶，就不会被淹死。我们可以想象，如果一个人在游泳时，很长时间都没有把头露出来，这多半可能出人命了。所以，keep one's head above water就是“免遭灭顶之灾”的意思。It is easy to figure out it's real meaning.

Keep one's head above water是“不遭受到灭顶之灾”，可是灾难有很多，如果您是侥幸逃过了地震，那不能用keep your head above water来说。In English, it means² " to deal with a situation in which you have financial problem and just manage to survive ". 由此可见，这个口语短语常用于经济财政上。意思是：勉强逃脱困境，设法不举债，免于破产，挣扎生存，免遭灭顶之灾，and so on.

Let's look at tow³ more sentences. 1 We are in the black, we should be able to keep our head above water from now on. 我们现在可以盈利，应该还可以维持生计。（备注：in the black 盈利，有盈余。For example: Our company was in the black last month.我们公司上个月盈利不少。 From now on 从现在开始，今后，从今以后。 For example: So, from now on, choose to be happy!所以，从现在开始，快乐的去生活吧！）2 If you want to keep your head above water, you should spend the money carefully. 如果你不想陷入经济危机，你就得有计划的还钱。

【课堂总结】

Let's have a summary. 在今天的课堂上，我们学了用于财政经济上的“免遭灭顶之灾”的说法：keep one's head above water。此外，与“in the red”(财政赤字) 相反的短语是in the black, 与“in future”同义的短语是from now on.

【课后习题】

习题一：Please translate the following sentences into English.

1 我想找到一个不欠帐的办法。

2 这个月我需要五十元才能不负债。

3 为了不负债，他一直都过着简单的生活。

习题二：Please complete the following sentences.

1 把头抬出水面是一个很有意思的短语，意思是远离负债。

keep above water is a colorful expression that means to debt⁴.

2 John近来承担大量的额外工作，但是他还是设法对付过去了John a great of extra work recently, but he just to keep head water.

 

转自可可英语

1 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

2 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

3 tow   

n.拖，拉，牵引

参考例句：

• The broken-down car was taken in tow by a lorry.那辆坏了的车由一辆货车拖着。
• Mrs Hayes went to the supermarket with her four little children in tow.海斯太太带着她的4个小孩到超市去了。

4 debt   

n.债务，义务，负债状态，罪，过失

参考例句：

• The man was pressed to pay off his debt.那人被逼还债。
• The firm had to charge off the debt as hopeless.公司只得把那笔没希望要回的债务注销。