LH: 你说的对。 Larry你有没有帮我修改申请书啊？
LL: Yeah, I looked at it. I don"t think your application is going to cut it, though. You"ll need to re-write some parts.
LH: 你认为凭我写的申请书是拿不到奖学金的。哪怎么办呢？你说吧，哪些部分要重写。
LL: You need to be more specific about your future academic plans. Simply promising to work hard isn"t going to cut it with the review committee.
LH: 你说得有道理，我得应当更具体地讲未来的学术计划，而不是泛泛地说要努力学习。 我写的恐怕是通不过审查委员会。
LL：Call me when you finish rewriting.
LH：I will, Larry.
******
[Li Hua and Larry meet on campus several days later]
LL: Hey, Li Hua, haven"t see you for a couple of days. Do you have another draft of that application essay for me to check?
LH: 是啊，我们好几天没见了。 我一直忙着上课， 我的申请还没写好呢。
LL: Well, you"d better get on it! It"s due next week!
LH: 我得get on it，那是什么意思？
LL: I said, you"d better get on it. To get on it means to take care of something or start working on an important task.
LH: 噢， get on it就是动手处理某件重要的事情。 没错，没错，我的确该动手修改那申请书了。
LL: That"s right! You"d better get on it right away. By the way, I"m going to be busy on Thursday, so you"d better have it ready by noon tomorrow.
LH: 你星期四没有时间， 那就是说我非得在明天中午以前交给你。
LL: Yes. If you can give it to me around noon tomorrow, I"ll get on it right away and have the corrections ready by Thursday morning.
LH: 星期四上午你就能改完。那太好了。 谢谢你。 你知道吗？我现在千头万绪，忙得不可开交，我这个月的电话账单还没付呢。
LL: Really? You"d better get on that! If you wait too long, they"ll charge a big fee, and it might damage your credit score.
LH: 我知道，所以心里着急呢！过期不付要罚很多钱， 而且还会影响我的信誉。 这我都知道。可是我事太多， 我的汽车还没有重新登记呢。
LL: What? If the police notice that you are driving a car with an out of date registration, you"ll get a big ticket, or worse! You"d better get on that!
LH: 是啊， 这件事一定得赶快办。 我可不想让丨警丨察发现我的车没登记，真要罚钱，我可受不了。可是我就是不喜欢填表， 要花很多时间。
LL: That kind of thinking definitely won"t cut it if you want to go to graduate school. Filling out forms for grant proposals is one of the main things that professors and graduate students do.
LH: 那也是，研究生要申请研究经费都要填表。 看来我是得改变这种想法了。
今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是won"t cut it, 意思是不行，不够好。还有一个是get on it ， 意思是赶快处理。
流行美语第238课
Larry看见李华在修补她的书包，觉得有点奇怪。 李华今天要学会两个常用语cut it和get on it。
LL: Hey, Li Hua, what are you doing with that tape?
LH: (Sighs)我不小心把书包扯了一个大洞。 我要用胶布把它粘上。
LL: With that tape? Li Hua, this cheap clear tape isn"t going to cut it, you need some duct tape.
LH: The clear tape isn"t going to cut it? 我不是要把书包切开呀!
LL: I know! I said the clear tape won"t cut it. Cut. If something or someone can"t "cut it", that means it"s not good enough.
LH: 原来won"t cut it的意思是不够好， 而不是把它切开。所以你是说这种透明的胶条不结实，粘不住，你要用那种厚的胶布？
LL: That"s right. Remember that Chinese newspaper reading class I was taking, it was too hard for me- my Chinese wasn"t good enough. I couldn"t cut it in that class, so I changed to another.
LH: 我当然记得咯！当时你才学了半年中文，看中国报刊是不行，所以跟不上，只好放弃。
LL: Yeah, to be able to read Chinese newspaper, I have to learn more Chinese characters.
LH: 你说的对。 Larry你有没有帮我修改申请书啊？
LL: Yeah, I looked at it. I don"t think your application is going to cut it, though. You"ll need to re-write some parts.
LH: 你认为凭我写的申请书是拿不到奖学金的。哪怎么办呢？你说吧，哪些部分要重写。
LL: You need to be more specific about your future academic plans. Simply promising to work hard isn"t going to cut it with the review committee.
LH: 你说得有道理，我得应当更具体地讲未来的学术计划，而不是泛泛地说要努力学习。 我写的恐怕是通不过审查委员会。
LL：Call me when you finish rewriting.
LH：I will, Larry.
******
[Li Hua and Larry meet on campus several days later]
LL: Hey, Li Hua, haven"t see you for a couple of days. Do you have another draft of that application essay for me to check?
LH: 是啊，我们好几天没见了。 我一直忙着上课， 我的申请还没写好呢。
LL: Well, you"d better get on it! It"s due next week!
LH: 我得get on it，那是什么意思？
LL: I said, you"d better get on it. To get on it means to take care of something or start working on an important task.
LH: 噢， get on it就是动手处理某件重要的事情。 没错，没错，我的确该动手修改那申请书了。
LL: That"s right! You"d better get on it right away. By the way, I"m going to be busy on Thursday, so you"d better have it ready by noon tomorrow.
LH: 你星期四没有时间， 那就是说我非得在明天中午以前交给你。
LL: Yes. If you can give it to me around noon tomorrow, I"ll get on it right away and have the corrections ready by Thursday morning.
LH: 星期四上午你就能改完。那太好了。 谢谢你。 你知道吗？我现在千头万绪，忙得不可开交，我这个月的电话账单还没付呢。
LL: Really? You"d better get on that! If you wait too long, they"ll charge a big fee, and it might damage your credit score.
LH: 我知道，所以心里着急呢！过期不付要罚很多钱， 而且还会影响我的信誉。 这我都知道。可是我事太多， 我的汽车还没有重新登记呢。
LL: What? If the police notice that you are driving a car with an out of date registration, you"ll get a big ticket, or worse! You"d better get on that!
LH: 是啊， 这件事一定得赶快办。 我可不想让丨警丨察发现我的车没登记，真要罚钱，我可受不了。可是我就是不喜欢填表， 要花很多时间。
LL: That kind of thinking definitely won"t cut it if you want to go to graduate school. Filling out forms for grant proposals is one of the main things that professors and graduate students do.
LH: 那也是，研究生要申请研究经费都要填表。 看来我是得改变这种想法了。
今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是won"t cut it, 意思是不行，不够好。还有一个是get on it ， 意思是赶快处理。
美国习惯用语第239讲
我们在这次节目里要给大家介绍的两个习惯用语都有同一个关键的字。那就是fair。Fair这个字有很多解释。其中一个主要的意思是：公正或诚实。这也正是我们要讲的第一个习惯用语的意思。Fair and square. Square可以用做名词，也可以用做形容词。用做名词的时候，它的一般解释就是：四方块。用做形容词的时候可以解释为：正直的，或者是光明正大的。
我们来举一个例子。目前在体育比赛中存在的一个问题就是有的运动员为了取胜而在比赛前服用那些能增强体力的药。体育界有关方面也一直在设法阻止这种现象。下面是一个人在说他那参加赛跑比赛的朋友。
例句-1: Jack won the race last week with flying colors. But other athletes suspected he had taken drugs before the race. I know Jack well - he"s a person with high moral standards. I"m sure he won the race fair and square without any cheating.
这是说：杰克上星期在赛跑中以优异成绩获胜。但是，其他运动员怀疑他在赛跑前服了药。我很了解杰克。他是一个道德标准很高的人。我肯定他是老老实实取胜的；没有任何欺骗行为。
******
我们再来举一个例子说明fair and square的用法。这是一个很有钱的商人在说话。
例句2: I admit I"ve piled up a certain amount of money during the past ten years. But I made every penny fair and square. I"ve never cheated others and at the same time I don"t let anybody else cheat me.