With one hand tied behind one's back, 意思是把一只手綁在背后,其實是指做某事非常熟練,輕而易舉。類似我們中文里說的“我閉著眼睛都能做!”
準備十多個客人的晚飯,對我媽媽來說就是這么輕而易舉的事, she can do it with one hand tied behind her back. 她閉著眼睛都能做! 生活中有各式各樣的達人,擁有讓我們羨慕的手藝,比如下面這段話中的電腦高手:
例句-1:When my computer crashed again, I was almost resigned to buying a new one. Luckily, my friend Scotty came over. Within an hour, he got my PC running again, removed a virus and installed a new hard drive. It wasn't hard for him at all. In fact, he says he can fix a computer with one hand tied behind his back.
這段話說:我的電腦又蕩機了,這次我?guī)缀醴艞壛?,準備買臺新的。幸運的是,我的朋友Scotty來到我家,不到一個小時,他就讓我的電腦重新運轉(zhuǎn)起來,還清除了一個病毒,安了個新硬盤。這些事情對他來說一點不難。事實上,他說他閉著眼睛都能修電腦。
我們可以把這樣的電腦人才通稱為computer geek. Geek指特別喜歡鉆研某種技術(shù)或技巧的人。比如,我有個朋友特別喜歡數(shù)學,他就是math geek, 數(shù)學高手。那些讓我看了如墜云霧的數(shù)學題,he can solve them with one hand tied behind his back. 他輕而易舉地就能做出來。
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雖然我數(shù)學不在行,可我寫作文還可以,跟下面這段話中的這個人差不多,咱們來聽一聽:
例句-2:Some of my classmates agonize over their writing assignments for class. I don't understand what's so difficult. Simply gather good information, make an outline, create a first draft, then edit any mistakes. I can come up with a twenty-page research paper with one hand tied behind my back!
這段話的意思是:我的一些同學為了寫作的作業(yè)而頭疼不已。我不明白,寫東西有那么難么?只要收集一些有用的信息,列個提綱,打個草稿,再改正一些文章中的錯誤,不就行了么。我可以毫不費力地寫出一篇20頁的調(diào)查報告。
我們剛才提到,中文里說“閉著眼睛就能做某事”,以形容對某事的熟練,英文里則說, with one's eyes closed。怎么樣,和中文的說法一模一樣! 比如,a computer geek can fix a computer with his eyes closed. 電腦達人閉著眼就能把電腦修好。