聽(tīng)過(guò)老鼠的尖叫聲嗎,這種叫聲在英文就是squeak. To squeak by,意思是勉強(qiáng)通過(guò),僥幸成功。
剛才說(shuō),我侄子駕照路考的成績(jī)剛好過(guò)線。我們就可以說(shuō),he squeaked by. 不過(guò),我的鄰居詹姆斯太太就沒(méi)有這么幸運(yùn)了。75歲的她為了延駕照,要接受視力測(cè)試,考官讓她從后視鏡里分辨蘋(píng)果和桌子兩個(gè)圖像,她居然問(wèn)考官,你說(shuō)什么桌子?What table? 結(jié)果駕照沒(méi)延成。The official didn't let her squeak by.
下面例子里的學(xué)生拿到考卷后如釋重負(fù)。我們一起來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)是怎么回事。
例句-1:My university doesn't allow graduate students to get any C's. So I was really nervous about my final exam in chemistry. But when my grades were posted, I discovered that I had gotten an 80, which qualified as a B. Whew! If I hadn't squeaked by, my dad would have been furious.
這個(gè)學(xué)生說(shuō):在我們學(xué)校,研究生是不允許得C的。我這次化學(xué)期終考完試后,心里特別緊張,最后成績(jī)下來(lái),我得了八十分,剛好夠得上B,真是萬(wàn)幸,如果沒(méi)能僥幸過(guò)關(guān)的話,我爸一定會(huì)氣炸了。
還記得前年帶孩子去游樂(lè)場(chǎng)玩,兒子因?yàn)閭€(gè)頭不夠高,很多姐姐能玩的東西他都不能去。一年下來(lái),他長(zhǎng)了足足兩英寸,去年再去,剛好擦邊夠高,所有翻滾過(guò)山車都能坐了。He was thrilled to have squeaked by.
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如果讓你在富有但卻空虛,和貧窮但卻充實(shí)這兩種生活之間選擇一個(gè)。你會(huì)選哪個(gè)?我們一起來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)下面的例子:
例句-2:I admire my friend Alice. She could have easily chosen a high-paying career. Instead, she took a position with a non-profit organization dedicated to saving endangered tigers. I don't know how she manages to pay her bills on her meager salary. But somehow she squeaks by.
這個(gè)人說(shuō):我很佩服我朋友Alice. 她原本可以選擇一份高薪的工作,但是她沒(méi)有,反而加入了一個(gè)挽救瀕危老虎的非盈利機(jī)構(gòu)。我真不知道她掙的那點(diǎn)兒錢(qián),怎么夠付賬,不過(guò)她好象也能湊合過(guò)。
我們剛結(jié)婚那會(huì)兒,兩個(gè)人沒(méi)多少錢(qián),家里開(kāi)支卻很多。It wasn't easy squeaking by. 一分錢(qián)掰成兩半花的日子確實(shí)不好過(guò)。那會(huì)兒我們還年輕,在英語(yǔ)里,叫Salad Days, 意思是少不更事的青春年華。
To squeak by這個(gè)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)是二十世紀(jì)上半葉出現(xiàn)的,想想看,squeak指的是勉強(qiáng)發(fā)出來(lái)的聲音,所以,用 squeak by來(lái)指勉強(qiáng)通過(guò),僥幸獲勝,也就不難理解了。