PETS二级考试语法复习精讲（101）
发布时间：2010/12/3 20:45:55 来源：城市学习网 编辑：admin
We’re just going to have to bite the bullet.
Hamid: Have you seen the roof today?
Rumina: No, what's the matter with it?
Hamid: The high wind last night loosened a couple of the tiles. We could get a leak if it rains really heavily. We'll have to get it fixed.
Rumina: That's going to cost a lot of money we don't really have.
Hamid: It'll cost us a lot more if water gets in.
Rumina: Couldn't you make a temporary repair?
Hamid: It wouldn't last for long. We're just going to have to bite the bullet and get a professional in to fix it.
哈米德：今天有没有看到我们的屋顶?
鲁明纳：没有,屋顶有问题吗?
哈米德：昨夜的强风,把几片瓦掀起了。 假如下大雨,恐怕会漏水, 必须请人修理。
鲁明纳：那得花不少钱, 我们负担不起。
哈米德：但假如雨水漏进房子里, 损失会更大。
鲁明纳：你不能修理一下, 暂时应付过去吗?
哈米德：那无法耐久, 我们勉为其难, 屋顶也要找个专业工人修理。
哈米德以bite the bullet来说‘勉为其难’, 但bite the bullet是‘咬子弹’, 和困难有什么关系? 原来从前战场上伤兵接受手术时, 没有麻醉药，医生会拿一粒软铅子弹给他咬着，以分散对手术的注意力。所以，to bite (on) the bullet有‘咬着牙关忍受痛苦’、‘勇敢处理棘手事情’的意思，例如：（１）To keep its head above water, the company will have to bite the bullet and lay off one-third of its staff (公司要支撑下去，就得忍痛把三分之一职员辞退）。（２）Faint-hearted though he was, he bit the bullet and asked his boss for a rise.（他虽然胆小，但还是硬着头皮，向老板要求加薪）。
说‘毅然忍受痛苦’或‘硬撑’，英文还有一句成语：to keep/carry/have a stiff upper lip。这直译是‘上唇保持不动’。人在软弱、害怕的时候，嘴唇有时会颤抖，例如：Her lips quivered and she burst into tears（她嘴唇颤抖，哭了起来）。保持嘴唇不动，就是沉着应付困难了，例如：Though he suffered terribly, he kept a stiff upper lip throughout the unfair trial（他受到不公平审讯，十分苦恼，但坚持的撑到底）。
最后说掀起瓦片的high wind。High wind不是‘高处的风’，而是‘强风’，例如：(1) A high wind is blowing from the west(强风由西方吹来) 。(2)High winds have knocked down our saplings(强风把我们那些小树吹倒了）。 [NextPage] She's been going around as if she owns the place.
Ginnie: Have you seen the way that Debbie is behaving lately?
Vatsala: No, I was away all last week.
Ginnie: Well ever since she won the music prize she’s been going around as if she owns the place.
Vatsala: She's always felt a bit superior to the rest of us because she's so good at the piano.
Ginnie: There's more to life than playing the piano.
Vatsala: Not as far as Debbie's concerned.
金尼：你有没有留意戴比最近的举止？
瓦塞拉：没有，我上星期不在这里。
金尼：她赢得音乐奖之后，就一副不可一世的样子。
瓦塞拉：她向来都自以为高我们一等，因为她钢琴弹得好。
金尼：人生不只是弹钢琴啊。
瓦塞拉：但戴比可不这样想。
金尼批评戴比狂妄：She's been going around as if she owns the place。这as if改为as though或like都可以。
As if、as though是‘好像’的意思，其后接子句(clause) 。这子句假如是说目前情况，则‘有可能’的事情须用现在式动词叙述，‘不可能’或‘不真实’的事情须用过去式动词，子句假如是说过去情况，则‘有可能’或‘不可能’的事情都用过去式动词叙述，例如：(1)It looks as if it is going to be fine tomorrow（看来明天会是好天）。(2) She looks at me as if I were/was some sort of monster（她望着我，似乎我是什么怪物）。(3) While we were of the same rank, she spoke to me as if she were/was my boss（我们职级相同，但她跟我说话，语气就像是我上司一样）。第二、三句I、she之后用were,是正宗的‘假设过去式’;普通过去式was则是较随便的说法。
Like也可解作‘好像’，但严格而言，其后须用名词或代名词，例如：It is shaped like a book （它的形状像本书）。今天，美国口语往往在like 之后也用子句，所以，说She's been going around like she owns the place也可以，只是这用法在谨严的写作中应该避免。
As if one owns the place直译是‘似乎那地方为其所有’，指大模大样、不可一世的样子，例如: He shouted to the sales clerks as if he owned the place.（他大摇大摆的向售货员吆喝）。
