VOA流行美语 Unit 237:ASAP和crank out
日期:2008-10-06 00:22

(单词翻译:单击)

Larry在学校的电脑室里见到了李华。李华今天要学会两个常用语ASAP和crank out

LL: Hey Li Hua! What are you working on? A paper?

LH: 不是,我在写申请威廉森中国历史奖学金的申请书。

LL: What? But that's due tomorrow! You'd better finish that ASAP.

LH: 我知道明天是申请的最后期限,所以我在赶呐。ASAP, 那是什么意思啊?

LL: ASAP means "as soon as possible". You need to finish that application as soon as possible!

LH: 噢,原来ASAP就是尽快 - as soon as possible 的缩写。 Larry,那你为什么不说as soon as possible而是说ASAP呢?

LL: Well, people say "as soon as possible", but if you are in a hurry, it's easier to just say ASAP.

LH: 匆忙的时候说ASAP,这能节省多少时间呢, 顶多半秒钟吧。

LL: Well, it also sounds more forceful. For instance, if your boss tells you, "Li Hua, I need you to get this done ASAP!" you know that he is in a hurry!

LH: 那倒是。ASAP听起来比较干脆,比较有力。

LL: Or if your mechanic tells you that you car is leaking oil, and that you need to have it fixed ASAP, you'd better take his word for it.

LH: 你别举这种让我倒霉的例子。不过,要是我的车漏油了,我当然得尽快修理。I need to have it fixed ASAP。

LL: Wait, Li Hua, you promised me yesterday that you would proofread my Chinese composition. Have you done that yet? I need to hand it in ASAP!

LH: 天啊, 昨天我答应帮你修改中文作文,我怎么把这件事给忘了呢?真的好对不起。那你今天下午交还来得及吗?

LL: I need to go to work ASAP, so I need to hand this in before I go.

LH: (Sighs) 如果你一定要在上班之前把作业交上去, 那我现在就帮你看吧。

LL: Thank you so much, Li Hua. You're such a good friend.

******

(Larry returns to the computer lab later in the day.)

LL: Hey Li Hua! I am back from work. Are you still working on that statement?

LH: 是啊, 我还在写申请。哎,Larry, 写申请有什么窍门吗?你怎么每次都写得那么快呢?

LL: Oh, I don't know. I guess because I have written so many of them, now it's easy for me to crank them out.

LH: Crank them out? 这是什么意思呀?

LL: To crank something out means to produce something quickly and mechanically, without much thought.

LH: 嗯,To crank something out就是不需要太多思考,很机戒地做成某种事。

LL: Well, when I was an undergraduate, I would just crank out essays and term papers, no problem. Of course, it's not that easy these days.

LH: 我听说了,你读本科的时候是写作高手, 论文和学期作文都难不倒你。现在当研究生就不一样了;你要作大量研究才能有根有据地写。

LL: Exactly. So, did you ever just crank out essays when you were a student in China?

LH: 当然了,我在中国读中学的时候, 半个小时就能crank out两页的政论文章。Larry, to crank out这个短语还能用在别的地方吗?

LL: Sure, for instance, at McDonald's, they crank out hundreds of hamburgers every day.

LH: 麦当劳每天制作成千上万个的汉堡包。这一点也不错。

LL: And Hollywood cranks out stupid action movies every other week.

LH: 我从来不看好莱坞制作的那种武打片,所以我就不太清楚了。

LL: Anyway, I have another piece of homework for Chinese class that I need you to look at ASAP. Can you help me?

LH: 没问题,我可以帮你看中文作业,不过你得帮我修改一下我写的申请书。I need to drop it in the mail ASAP。

LL: Ok, no problem. Show me what you've written so far。

今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是ASAP, 意思是尽快。还有一个是crank out, 意思是不需多加思考地,机戒地制作某种东西。

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重点单词
  • compositionn. 作文,著作,组织,合成物,成份
  • producen. 产品,农作物 vt. 生产,提出,引起,分娩,制片
  • applicationn. 应用; 申请; 专心 n. 应用软件程序
  • forcefuladj. 有力的,强烈的
  • mechanicadj. 手工的 n. 技工,机修工
  • statementn. 声明,陈述