英语习语趣谈【14】天生好手 You’re a natural & come together

本栏目由李福兵原创编写,Eyre绘图。

人们常说天生我才必有用,在英文中有一个描述人们业务较精,能力很强的片语与这个说法有点类似。这个片语是you’re a natural. natural当名词用时,是指“天生的专家,非常适合于……的人”,所以要称赞对方的能力很強,或是对某方面学有专精,表现优异时,你就可以夸奖他说you’re a natural. The idiom refers to someone who is good at doing something without having to try hard or practice. For example:

Toney, I can’t believe it. You spent two days working out your whole assignments for the summer vocation. You’re a natural.
(译文:托妮,我简直不能相信,你花了两天就把整个暑假作业做完了,真是个天才。)

相反地,若是对方做什么事都不行,完全没有天分可言,你就可以说You just don’t have it.所以一下子我们就学了两个片语呢。

Believe it or not, you just don’t have it, but Tom is a natural. He has been working hard to get his new company ready for opening in a foreign country. He not only placed an ad for workers in the newspaper,but also arranged interviews with some of them. All in all, things are really coming together!
(译文:信不信由你,你做什么事都不行,但Tom却是个天才。他很努力的在为外国的新公司开张做准备,他不但把招工广告打在报纸上,还安排和应聘者的面试,总之,一切真的是步上了轨道。)

上面这个例子中,我们又看到一个新的片语:Come together. 你知道它是什么意思吗?come是“来,来临,到达”的意思,together是“一起,共同”的意思,所以这个片语原义指“集合、相交、聚集在一起,”也常来形容对立双方消除分歧。但在上面的例句中,这个片语表示的意思是“所有的一切都步上轨道了,都准备就绪了。” when people have prepared well of all things they must do in order to try and achieve something, we can say they come together. 如:

Sydney’s Harbor Bridge, one of the most famous bridges in the world, looks so beautiful. I have decided nearly all the details to climb it. All are coming together nicely.
(译文:悉尼港口大桥,世界上最著名的大桥之一,看起来美极了。我已做好了攀登的各种准备,一切都步上了轨道。)

由于这个片语在表达“步上轨道”时往往指正在发生的事情,所以常用进行时态,如:

All things are coming together. I have ready prepared to go to visit my father-in-law.
(译文:一切都步上了轨道,我已经准备好去看望我的岳父了。)

结束语:在这一讲里,我们主要学习了两个片语。一个是you’re a natural, 意思是“你真是个天才。”下次奉承别人就可以用用它!第二个是come together, 意思是“准备好一切,一切都步上了轨道。”如果今天是重阳节,记得提上好酒好肉,让一切步上轨道去看看老丈人吧!

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