PETS二级考试语法复习精讲（102）
发布时间：2010/12/3 20:46:38 来源：城市学习网 编辑：admin
They seem to have a lot in common.
Theresa: Mandy and Tom seem to be spending a lot of time together lately.
Yvonne: Yes that's true. I've seen them at the swimming pool lately and at the cinema.
Theresa: They go on regular bike rides together too.
Yvonne: They seem to have a lot in common.
Theresa: Yes, they clearly like the same things.
Yvonne: I wonder if we'll be hearing wedding bells soon.
德莉莎：曼蒂和汤姆最近似乎常常在一起。
伊凤：没错，我最近在泳池、电影院都见过他们。
德莉莎：他们还常常相约去骑脚踏车。
伊凤：他们似乎很有默契。
德莉莎：没错，他们看来都喜欢同样的东西。
伊凤：也许，我们不久就会听到婚礼的钟声了。
伊凤说曼蒂和汤姆似乎有很多共同的地方：Mandy and Tom seem to have a lot in common。Common除了解作‘普通’，还可解作‘共同’，所以I am but a common man固可译作‘我只是个普通人’，English is their common language却应译作‘英文是他们的共同语言’。把common language译作‘普通话’，其实是一大笑话。In common即‘共有’或‘共同’；要说‘和某某共有/共同’，可用with带出，例如：(1) Mandy seems to have a lot in common with Tom。(2) We are both Scorpios, but other than that we have nothing in common（我们两人都属天蝎座，但此外就没有什么共同的地方）。曼蒂、汤姆嗜好相似，经常走在一起，正合了一句英文成语：Like draws to like/Like attracts like/Like (will) to like。这个like是名词，指相似的人或物，例如：You are not comparing like with like是‘你学的似像非像的’；draw也有‘吸引’(attract)的意思，例如：He felt drawn to the quiet girl是‘他被那沉默的女郎吸引’。伊凤可以说：Like draws to like. I am starting to hear wedding bells for Mandy and Tom（同声相应，同气相求。我看曼蒂和汤姆的佳期近了）。在西方，教堂举办婚礼时会鸣钟，所以to hear (the sound of) wedding bells（听到结婚钟声）是说预料某人将结婚。例如你问一对情侣：Do I hear wedding bells?那就是说：‘你们快结婚了吧？’这是个暗喻，结婚钟声其实未有响起。[NextPage] He's clearly over the moon about something.
Gordon: Have you seen Johnny today?
Martin: No, why?
Gorden: Well he's clearly over the moon about something.
Martin: What about?
Gordon: He won't tell anybody, but I've never seen him looking so happy.
Martin: He's a betting man, so perhaps he's won a lot of money on the horses.
戈登：今天有没有见到约翰尼？
马丁：没有，为什么这样问？
戈登：嗯，他看来喜不自胜。
马丁：高兴什么？
戈登：他不肯跟人说，但我从没见过他这么开心。
马丁：他好赌，也许是赌马赢了很多钱吧。
戈登说约翰尼看来喜不自胜：He's clearly over the moon。中国人高兴，会‘雀跃三尺’；英语国家的人，还会雀跃到over the moon（在月亮上方），例如：Prince Andrew and Sarah said they were "over the moon" when they announced their engagement in 1986（一九八六年，安德鲁王子和莎拉宣布订婚，声言‘开心极了’）。
另一句表示高兴的成语，是to walk/tread on air（踏着空气走路）。人逢喜事，轻松得似可凌空而行，颇像中文所谓‘飘飘然’，例如：(1) He was walking on air after his boss promised him promotion（他上司答应提升他之后，他就飘飘然了）。(2) She is walking on air because Andrew has asked her out for a date（安德鲁邀她外出游玩，使她兴奋不已）。留意这成语多用进行时式。此外，你还可以(as) happy as a lark/a clam（像云雀/蚌一样高兴）。云雀鸣叫似带无限欢欣，用来比喻高兴并不奇怪；蚌为什么也算是欢乐的动物？原来这成语在美国最初流传时，是(as) happy as a clam at high tide（像涨潮时的蚌一样高兴）。涨潮时，采蚌者就会止步，蚌自然高兴。现在，at high tide三字给略去了，但蚌还是快乐的象征，例如：She was as happy as a clam when she learned that her son had survived the terrorist attack（她知道儿子没有在恐怖袭击中丧命，高兴得不得了）。
