本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写!
第十六篇
这天大伙坐在一起分工合作帮Rachel弄简历:
Ross: Uh, Rach, we’re running low on resumes over here.
Monica: Do you really want a job with Popular Mechanics?
Chandler: Well, if you’re gonna work for mechanics, those are the ones to work for.
Rachel: Hey, look, you guys, I’m going for anything here, OK? I cannot be a waitress anymore, I mean it. I’m sick of the lousy tips, I’m sick of being called ‘Excuse me…’
Ross: Rach, did you proofread these?
Rachel: Uh… yeah, why?
Ross: Uh, nothing, I’m sure they’ll be impressed with your excellent compuper skills.
Rachel: Oh my Goood!
【世博视角】
Ross负责的是头道工序,也就是将Rachel的简历(resume)折起来,然后再交给Joey装进信封。过了一会儿,他对Rachel说:“Uh, Rach, we’re running low on resumes over here.” 听到这句话,我想大家应该能明白Ross的意思是说他们那里的简历快没了,可反过来要是我们想表达“什么东西快没有了”,大家是否会用这个非常简单的词组 running low on sth 呢? 至少我以前是不会说 We are running low on milk 来表示牛奶快喝完了。
Rachel好像急于想换新工作,她甚至向机械方面的专业杂志Popular Mechanics投了简历。Rachel之所以这么“饥不择食”是因为她不想再当咖啡馆的女招待了(I cannot be a waitress anymore, I mean it.) 如果你想要强调自己所说的话是当真的,你就可以像Rachel一样在句子后面加上 I mean it。接下去她又说:“I’m sick of the lousy tips, I’m sick of being called ‘Excuse me…’ be sick of sth 也是一个常用的口语,表示 “对…感到很不高兴或是反感”。我们知道从事服务性行业的人都会有可能得到小费 (get a tip), 在国外尤其如此,而且数目不小。但在刚才的句子中,Rachel却用了lousy这个词来形容她所得到的小费少得可怜;这是一个非正式词语,就相当于bad, 比如我们还可以说:lousy weather, a lousy singer 等等。
就在大家快要完工的时候,Ross突然问Rachel有没有校对过她写的简历(Rach, did you proofread these?)我们听到她有点心虚地回答说yeah, 然后问怎么了。 “哦,没什么,我肯定他们会对你优秀的compuper skills留下印象(Uh, nothing, I’m sure they’ll be impressed with your excellent compuper skills.)”原来粗心的Rachel把computer 给拼错了,害得大家白忙活了一场!
*本篇所讲到的地道表达法:
running low on sth
I mean it!
be sick of sth
lousy tips / weather / singer etc.