李華和Larry星期六早上一起去吃午飯。今天我們要學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ):get a leg up on和crush.
LH: Larry, 一星期沒(méi)見(jiàn),你最近是不是特別忙?
LL: Hi Li Hua. It has been a busy week.
LH: 下星期是不是就沒(méi)事了?你陪我去看Disney On Ice冰上迪斯尼怎么樣?
LL: Unfortunately I think next week might be even busier. We are bidding against our top competitor for a huge advertising contract, so everybody is going to have to work especially hard to win it.
LH: 那家公司不是特別厲害嗎?不過(guò)沒(méi)關(guān)系,我相信,你們公司一定能贏。
LL: Yes, although they have a lot of talent, I think we'll be able to get a leg up on the competition.
LH: A leg up一條腿在上?這是什么意思?
LL: Haha...A leg up on the competition means that we have an advantage over them.
LH: 噢,a leg up就是具有優(yōu)勢(shì)。
LL: Yes exactly. Because we have got a leg up on our competitors, I'm pretty confident that we'll be able to win the contract.
LH: 這份合同是做什么的?
LL: It's a contract to advertise soda.
LH: 你為什么覺(jué)得自己have a leg up on the competition比對(duì)手有優(yōu)勢(shì)呢?
LL: Although the other company has worked with them in the past, their last ad campaign was not so successful. We on the other hand have been very successful with similar products, so I think we have got a leg up on them.
LH: 那太好了。
LL: It is VERY good, especially because if we win this contract, we might all be able to get a bonus this year.
LH: 拿到合同就發(fā)獎(jiǎng)金?那你們還不得使出吃奶的勁兒來(lái)。
LL: What's new with you Li Hua?
LH: 好消息,我們排球隊(duì)剛剛殺進(jìn)小組前四名,下一場(chǎng)比賽是這星期五晚上。你一定要來(lái)。雖然對(duì)手很厲害,可我們還是有優(yōu)勢(shì)。We have a leg up on them.
LL: Why do you say that Li Hua?
LH: 雖然他們球員的個(gè)人技術(shù)都不錯(cuò),但整體配合不如我們有默契。
LH: That's great. What time is the game?
LL: 星期五晚上七點(diǎn)一刻。
******
星期五晚上,Larry來(lái)看李華比賽。
(Whistle Sound)
LL: Congratulations!
LH: Hooray! We won!
LL: Won? You crushed them!
LH: Eh? crushed them? 那是什么意思?
LL: Crushed them, it means you beat them severely.
LH: 你是說(shuō)我們狠狠地打敗了他們。太夸張了,比分還是挺接近的。
LL: I don't know, Li Hua, your team was clearly on top. I'd say you crushed them.
LH: 你別忘了,剛開(kāi)始的時(shí)候,她們可是一路領(lǐng)先,I thought they would really crush us.
LL: Well it certainly seems like you were able to come back from behind then for the victory.
LH: 是啊,她們耐力不夠,比賽一開(kāi)始勁頭十足,可沒(méi)多久主力隊(duì)員就累得不行了。
LL: I guess that is when you were really able to start crushing them.
LH: 是啊,我們今天超水平發(fā)揮。
LL: It was a really good game to watch. You were on fire out there.
LH: 我的表現(xiàn)只能說(shuō)一般,還是大家的功勞。對(duì)了,你最近忙嗎?
LL: Have I ever! You remember that account I told you about? The ad campaign that we were competing for?
LH: 當(dāng)然記得,結(jié)果怎么樣,合同拿到手了嗎?
LL: We got the contract! We crushed our competitors and now we'll be in charge of this huge new account.
LH: 太棒了,I'm glad to hear that you crushed them.
LL: We were able to show our past successes, and our rates were much lower than their old company. We really crushed them.
LH: 這個(gè)合同由誰(shuí)來(lái)負(fù)責(zé)呢?
LL: Well the boss is still trying to decide who to put in charge of the project, but I am hoping it will be me.
LH: 那你是不是會(huì)忙上加忙呢?
LL: It will mean a bit more responsibility, but no real change in the hours.
LH: 我們得好好慶祝一下。去吃飯?
LL: Sounds good to me!
今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是get a leg up on, 意思是占據(jù)優(yōu)勢(shì)。另一個(gè)是crush, 意思是徹底打敗。