Jessica: 怡茹,why do you look so tired?
YR: 這幾天又復習又考試,累得我眼睛都快睜不開啦!昨天晚上,我復習了一個通宵啊!I drove a night car!
Jessica: You drove a night car?
YR: 對啊!我開了一宿夜車!難道不是這么說的?
Jessica: 哈哈,you should use the phrase "pull an all-nighter." It means you spent the whole night studying or working to meet a deadline.
YR: 哦,整宿學習工作不睡覺,就是pull an all-nighter. 唉!都怪我平時沒好好復習,期末考試前只能臨時抱佛腳!
Jessica: You're not alone, Yiru! A lot of college students pull all-nighters for exams. You can also use the phrase "cram session." It means an intense period of study before a critical exam.
YR: C-r-a-m, cram, 是倉促備考的意思,所以 a cram session 就是考前的突擊復習。正說呢,My study group will have a cram session this afternoon for tomorrow's exam. Hopefully we can get everything done before midnight so that I don't have to pull an all-nighter again!
Jessica: Take it easy, Yiru. Isn't your exam tomorrow an open-book test?
YR: Open-book test? 哦,你是說開卷考試吧?沒錯,這門是開卷,可老師對開卷考試的答案要求更高。我可不想考砸了!
Jessica: You won't bomb it. You're a smart girl!
YR: 你說“bomb"--那不是轟炸的意思么?我猜這就是說沒考好,對么?
Jessica: Exactly.
YR: 那要是不及格,掛科了,怎么說呢?
Jessica: Then you can use the verb "flunk", f-l-u-n-k, flunk. It means you fail to pass an exam.
YR: I don't want to flunk my exam, so---I gotta go!
Jessica: Before you go, tell me what you've learned today!
YR: 第一,開夜車,通宵學習工作,叫 pull an all-nighter; 考試前的突擊復習叫 cram session;
第二,開卷考試是 open-book test;
第三,考試考砸了用動詞 bomb, 不及格則用 flunk!