PETS二级考试语法复习精讲（81）
发布时间：2010/12/2 20:01:22 来源：城市学习网 编辑：admin
You're so talented.
Jack: Those watercolors are really beautiful.
Caroline: I'm glad you like them. I painted them last year.
Jack: You painted them yourself? I can't believe it, they're so good.
Caroline: They're not that good, but I'm glad you like them.
Jack: You're so talented, I wish I had your skill.
Caroline: You should try your hand yourself, I'm sure you could do just as well if not better.
杰克：那些水彩画画得真美。
凯罗兰：谢谢你的赞赏。这些都是我去年画的。
杰克：你自己画的？真是难以置信。画得那么好。
凯罗兰：也不是很好，但是谢谢你欣赏。
杰克：你真有才能，我要是有你的本事就好了。
凯罗兰：你不妨也动手试画，我相信你画得就算没有我好，也不会比我差。
杰克称赞凯罗兰有才情：You're so talented.Talent一字，《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》译作'天才'，这和同样可译做'天才'的gift、genius有什么分别？Talent所指的才能，是可以努力培养的，常用来说艺术上的能力；gift强调天赋的才能，非凭努力可以得到；genius则是罕有的天才，比talent、gift都高得多，例如：
（1） He has a talent for acting（他有演戏的才华）。
（2） With no gift for foreign languages, I found it extremely difficult to learn French（我没有外语的天分，所以学习法语非常困难）。
（3） The teacher recognized van Gogh's artistic genius（老师发觉了梵谷的艺术天份）。Talent、gift的形容词是talented、gifted.Genius则没有形容词。凯罗兰叫杰克试试学画画：You should try your hand yourself, I'm sure you could do just as well if not better.Try one's hand是'试做（某事）'，其后常用at带出试做的'某事'，例如Why don't you try your hand at fencing?（你为什么不试试击剑？）最后说说if not的用法。这两字常用来表达'甚至可能比上述事情更进一步'的意思，例如：
（1） Hundreds, if not thousands, of trees were felled in a few days（几天之内，即使没有几千株树被砍倒，至少也有好几百株）。
（2） He is as rich as, if not richer than, Bill Gates（他即使不比盖茨富有，也在伯仲之间）。[NextPage] You've excelled yourself.
Al: That was an absolutely delicious meal.
Isabel: I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's a recipe I haven't tried before.
Al: Your cooking is always superb but this time you've excelled yourself.
Isabel: Sounds like you want to get something out of me.
Al: Don't be so suspicious, I really meant it.
Isabel: Well they always say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
艾尔：这顿饭真好吃。
伊莎贝尔：你喜欢就好了。这道食谱我从来没有试过。
艾尔：你煮的东西，一直都很好吃，这一次更胜过以往。
伊莎贝尔：听你的口气，好像是有求于我呢。
艾尔：别那么多疑。我是衷心的。
伊莎贝尔：嗯，常言道要抓住一个男人的心，得先从他的胃下手。
要称赞人家表现胜于平时，英文可以说：You have excelled yourself .这和八月八日介绍的You have surpassed yourself意思差不多。例如（1）He excelled himself in the race and won the championship.（他在竞赛中表现的非常出色，赢得了冠军）。（2）You have excelled yourself with this feat of courage.（你这次，展现了相当大的勇气）。
Excel当然是excellent（极好）的动词，除了用于成语excel oneself，通常用于excel （somebody） at/in something的句式，表示'在某方面表现（比某人）出色'，例如：（1）She excels her brother at/in swimming.（她游泳胜过弟弟）。（2）He excelled at/in chess.（他棋艺高超）。
伊莎贝尔见艾尔称赞她，打趣说：Sounds like you want to get something out of me.这一句也可以改为:Sounds like you are trying to get around/round me.
To get around/round somebody有'哄人家答应做某事'的意思，例如:She is always able to get around her husband and get what she wants（她总能够把丈夫哄得服服帖帖，无论她要什么都答应）。
最后谈谈成语The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.这是'要男人爱你，就要做些美味饭菜给他吃'的意思，例如：She invited her new boyfriend to her home for dinner, reasoning that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach（她邀请新男朋友到家里吃晚饭，因为她认为要抓住男人的心，必须先从他的胃下手）
