下面我们要讲的一个和 SKULL 有关的习惯用语是: SKULL SESSION. SKULL SESSION 就是几个人在一起为了解决某些问题而交换想法,或者是让自己动动脑筋,在某一个专题上丰富自己的知识。下面是一个篮球教练在结束一次定期训练后对球队队员说话。
例句-3: "Okay, men, Iwant you back in the locker room at eight o’clock for a special skull session. We’ll look at films of the team we play for the championship and talk over the new plays we’ve been practicing all week."
这位教练说:「行啦,夥计们,我要你们八点到更衣室来开会,为我们的战术出谋划策。我们要看一下关于和我们争夺冠军的那个球队的电影,再讨论一下我们整个星期练习的新战术。」
下面是一个数学老师在对他班上的学生说话。
例句-4:"I’m afraid some of you students have forgotten what i taught you last week when we studied complex fractions. If you had trouble today with the problems i assigned, better stay after class and we’ll have a skull session on this."
这个老师说:「我恐怕你们当中有的人已经忘了上星期我们在学繁分数的时候所教的内容了。要是你们有谁对我今天布置的作业有困难的话,最好在这一课上完后留下来,我们可以对这个问题进行讨论。」
我们今天讲了两个和 SKULL 这个字有关的习惯用语。它们是: OUT OF ONE"S SKULL AND SKULL SESSION.
OUT OF ONE"S SKULL 是以不完全认真的态度说某人大概是不正常,或是有点疯了。SKULL SESSION 是一些人坐在一起动脑筋,解决问题,或是增加自己在某一方面的知识。
流行美语第156课
Larry和李华到学校附近一家新开的墨西哥快餐店吃饭。今天李华会学到两个常用语：cash cow和tickled pink。
LL: Wow! This place is a real cash cow! Look how crowded it is!
LH: Cash cow？ 什么是cash cow？ 我知道cash就是钱，现金；cow是一头牛。噢，我懂了，cash cow就是一头很有钱的牛。意思就是，这里生意这么兴隆，钱赚很多。对不对？
LL: That is right! A cash cow is a business that is very profitable. This is obviously a popular place, so they must be making a lot of money.
LH: 没错，这家餐厅一定很赚钱。你看，要是这里每小时来200个客人，每人平均消费7美元，那就不得了了！
LL: That"s $1,400 an hour! This place is definitely a cash cow. I wish I owned a business like this.
LH: 嗯，我也希望自己能有这样一个赚钱的摇钱树呢。
LL: You know what? The new movie theater that they just opened by campus is another real cash cow.
LH: 对耶！学校旁边那家新开的电影院，是这附近唯一的一家，所以大家都上那儿去看电影。他们肯定也很赚钱。
LL: Tickets are really expensive, too, but we don"t have a choice because there aren"t any other movie theaters nearby.
LH: 真没办法，就因为这是这儿唯一的一家电影院，尽管票价贵，大家也别无选择！他们变成了赚钱的影院，a cash cow!可苦了我们这些穷学生！
LL: At least they give student discounts on weekdays. That makes it a little bit easier on us.
LH: 看来，我们最好在星期一到星期五之间去看电影。这样可以享受优惠价。不过这对戏院本身也有好处么！这样一来，学生就愿意在生意比较清淡的时间去看电影喽！
LL: You should be a businesswoman, Li Hua. It seems like you really understand these things. If you own a business, I"m sure it will turn out to be a cash cow.
LH: 也不见得啦！我其实对做生意没太大兴趣。
******
LL: I"m tickled pink with the food here. What do you think, Li Hua? Do you like Mexican food?
LH: 我很喜欢墨西哥菜，好吃极了。你说你tickled pink ？Tickle是搔痒的意思，pink是粉红色，你是说这道菜太辣了？
LL: No, I mean that I really like the food. To be tickled pink by something is to be really pleased by it.
LH: 噢，原来，tickled pink是指非常高兴，很满意的意思。嗯，我也很喜欢这里的菜。I am tickled pink too。
LL: Oh, I almost forgot to tell you: I got a really good job for the summer. I"m really tickled pink about it.
LH: 你找到一份非常好的暑期工？那太好了。我真替你高兴。那你什么时候开始工作呢？
LL: I"ll take a couple of weeks off after exams and then start work at the beginning of June. I told my mom and she was tickled pink too.
LH: 考完试休息几个星期再工作。这安排真是不错。别说你妈听了高兴，谁听了都会替你高兴。我还不知道暑期干什么呢！
LL: Aren"t you going to visit Vancouver?
LH: 对，我是要去温哥华看我哥哥，但是我得先打工，赚了钱才能去呀！听说学校图书馆有暑期工作。
LL: That sounds good. You could sit in the air-conditioned library all summer and read and play on the Internet. You should be tickled pink to get a job like that!
LH: 对，要是他们要我的话，我可以一个暑期坐在有空调的图书馆里看书，玩互联网。有那么一个工作，我当然高兴啦！
今天李华学到两个常用语。一个是cash cow，这是指非常赚钱的生意。也就是摇钱树。另一个常用语是tickled pink，是让人非常高兴，非常愉快的意思。
流行美语第157课
Larry和李华正在为他们的朋友Laura担心。他们两人都觉得Laura好像有什么心事。今天李华会学到两个常用语：clam up和to tank。
LL: Laura has been acting really strange lately, but every time I try to ask her what"s bothering her, she just clams up.
LH: 我也注意到了，Laura最近是有点怪怪的。我也问过她怎么回事，她就是不肯说....对了，Larry，你刚才说clam up，那是什么意思啊？
LL: To clam up is to become silent and refuse to talk about something.
LH: To clam up就是闭紧了嘴巴，不肯把心里的事告诉别人。可是Larry，clam不是一种蛤蜊吗？这跟说不说话有什么关系？
LL: Yes, in fact, that"s where the expression comes from. Clams can close their shells very tightly. If a person refuses to talk, his lips are closed just like a clam"s shell.
LH: 噢，对了。一个人嘴巴闭得紧紧的时候，就好像蛤蜊闭上壳，怎么也不打开。这个说法太形象了！
LH: The problem is that Laura has clammed up about whatever is bothering her, which means that we have no way of helping her out.
LH: 那倒也是。她要不说，我们又怎么能帮她。也许我们应该让她一个人静一静，等她想说的时候自然会告诉我们到底是怎么回事。
LL: That"s probably the only thing we can do.
LH: 其实我爸爸也是一样。心里如果有事，从来不肯说。有的时候把我妈急的一直生气。
LL: A lot of people clam up when something is bothering them. I tend to clam up when I"m really nervous.
LH: 我也是耶！我只要一紧张，就不说话了。每个人不一样，我妹妹一生气就可以几天不说话。别人也不知道她在生什么气。
LL: That"s like my mother. She could clam up for days when she is angry with my father.
LH: 你妈妈跟你爸爸生气几天不说话。那你爸爸怎么办哪？
LL：Whenever my mother clams up, he clams up too.
******
LL: I found out what was bothering Laura. She was upset because the last play she wrote tanked. Everyone criticized it.
LH: 大家都批评她最近写的剧本。为什么？你说她写的那个剧本tanked，那是什么意思？Tank， 不就是打仗用的坦克吗？
LL: No, this has nothing to do with the tank used in war. This "tank" is a verb. When something "tanks" that means that it is a complete failure.
LH: 噢，这个tank 和军用坦克毫无关系。这里说的tank是个动词。意思是完全失败。所有的剧评家都批评Laura的舞台剧。那真是太惨了。可怜的Laura!
LL: Yeah, no wonder she clammed up. I wouldn"t want to talk about it if one of my projects tanked, either.
LH: 就是啊，自己的成果被别人这样批评，心情一定不好受。对了，Larry，为什么大家不喜欢Laura的剧本呢？
LL: I have no idea. I haven"t seen or read her play, so I have no way of judging her work. Laura is a good playwright, I don"t understand why her work tanked.
LH: 嗯，没有看过她的剧本是很难判断。不过，Laura确实是一个很好的剧作家。也许我们应该去看看她写的舞台剧，说不定没有这么糟么。
LL: Even if the play really is terrible, we could at least show our support by going to see it.
LH: 你说的对，不管是好是坏，我们去看就代表我们对Laura的支持。好！我去问她在哪儿可以买票。Larry，那你什么时候有空去看呢？
LL: Let"s go this Friday. Originally, I had planned to see a movie this Friday, but the movie I wanted to see tanked, so I might as well go and see Laura"s play.