时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

 


我们家隔壁住着一位老奶奶,八十多岁,孤苦伶仃,没有人照顾。如今,物价涨得这么厉害,她的生活一天比一天困难。好在,我们左邻右舍经常都会帮她一把。她的处境让我想起了一个习惯用语。那就是:keep one's head above water。


Head,脑袋。water,水。把头放在水面上,这样就不会呛水了。因此说,Keep one's head above water,这个习惯用语就是说,在艰难的处境下为生系,克服生活、工作和财务上的困难。说到我们邻居的那位老奶奶,She's scarcely 1 able to keep her head above water.


Keep one's head above water这个习惯用语很实用。让我们听听下面这位餐馆老板最近的生意如何。


例句-1:Before the new highway was built, I could easily fill every table in my restaurant. These days, with fewer diners, it's become a struggle to stay in business. I'm barely 2 keeping my head above water. I don't know how much longer I can afford to stay open.


这位餐馆老板说:没有那条高速公路的时候,我的餐馆里总是坐得满满的。可是如今,客人少多了,钱越来越难赚,能维持收支平衡就已经很不容易了。我真不知道还能坚持多久。


看来,这条高速公路真是断了这个餐馆老板的财路。他肯定特别怀念以前生意兴隆的日子。在英语里,我们说生意开在了黄金地带,黄金地带就是goldmine, goldmine, 金矿。


******


眼下,越来越多的美国人都从东北地区搬走,住到南方去。不过,现在房地产市场不景气,在买房和卖房之间一定要协调好,否则的话,就会出现跟下面这对夫妇同样的状况。


例句-2:My wife and I are excited about furnishing 3 our new house in North Carolina. But since we still haven't sold our old place back in Massachusetts, it's been a huge financial challenge. So far we've kept our heads above water. We only hope we can find a buyer soon!


这位先生说:我跟太太正在装修北卡罗来纳州的新房子,兴奋极了。但是因为我们在麻萨诸塞州的旧房子还没有脱手,所以财务上压力很大。到目前为止,我们还能勉强支撑着,真希望能尽快找到买主。


设身处地想想看,要同时负担两栋房子的按揭,ouch! 真够他们受的。如果暂时卖不掉,把房子租出去也是一种选择。我姑姑姑父就把自己的公寓租了出去,因为地点好,从来都不愁找不到房客。They not only keep their heads above water, 他们不仅不愁付不出按揭,而且还能小赚一笔,投资有了回报。


大家肯定已经猜到了,keep one's head above water,这个习惯用语是从游泳来的。没错,这个习惯用语最早是十八世纪初出现的,意思就是让头露出水面,不要被淹死。



1 scarcely
adv.几乎不,简直没有,勉强
  • He found the dullness of his work scarcely bearable.他觉得他的工作枯燥乏味,简直无法忍受。
  • She scarcely earns enough money to make ends meet.她几乎挣不到足够的钱以维持开支。
2 barely
adv.仅仅,几乎没有,几乎不
  • The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
  • He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。
3 furnishing
n.家具,设备
  • Thank you for furnishing me with so many data. 谢谢你供给我这么多的资料。
  • We should be grateful for your furnishing us details of your requirements. 如承赐示具体要求,不胜感激。
学英语单词
air chilling cabinet
airpocket
airstones
anastrophyllum japonicum steph.
angular point
atreuss
avulsion fracture of tibial tubercle
aydan
band curve
boethetic
bottom-mounted current meter
calal
cat's claw
certified manifest
chrome alumina red
clematis uncinata okinawensis
code compare
common-mode rejection factor
control pillar
convocations
coolcard ad
crosscurrent operation
crown conformation
Cytoleichus
darkening rate
DEC
deflbrinated blood
demixing area
Dendrocalamopsis grandis
descriptive null hypothesis
destructivist
DFMC
distance between wells
edge view method
embolise
ethylene-propylene-diene-terpolymer rubber
eysencks
floor reflection
Fridaythorpe
genus Cordaites
glyptotermes satsumensis
Great Western
halloweens
Hespérange
high ductile alloy
high throughput interconnection structure
Holothuridae
homology group of simplicial complex
husses
HWSR (heavy-water suspension breeder reactor)
istdc
joint stock insurance company
klor
Liliales
long-er
mass storage control system
meeting to adjust shortages and surpluses
mesopleurite
Microdesmis
model panel
moonlight flitter
multilayer aggregate
mumps vaccine
Mvengué
nephrotyphoid
niobian
non-cellulosic fibre
numbrous
oil of ginger
over the sea s
Parent-Teacher Associations
pregnancy dysphonia
previous record
pulse duration ratio
radar sight
rayners
regulating well
resistivity sounding configuration
sea guard
self-depreciatory
squirehood
srdjans
steam quality by mass
suniums
super loop
suspension of treaty
the current of time
third heart sound
tip-car
trabeculitis
trull grasp
type metal
typical module
unblasted
up-graded
vibrotaction
wegee
white-topped asters
whiteoil
winch for electric logging
Xnty.
Yahaba