Larry和李華到學(xué)校附近一家新開的墨西哥快餐店吃飯。今天李華會學(xué)到兩個常用語:cash cow和tickled pink。
LL: Wow! This place is a real cash cow! Look how crowded it is!
LH: Cash cow? 什么是cash cow? 我知道cash就是錢,現(xiàn)金;cow是一頭牛。噢,我懂了,cash cow就是一頭很有錢的牛。意思就是,這里生意這么興隆,錢賺很多。對不對?
LL: That is right! A cash cow is a business that is very profitable. This is obviously a popular place, so they must be making a lot of money.
LH: 沒錯,這家餐廳一定很賺錢。你看,要是這里每小時來200個客人,每人平均消費7美元,那就不得了了!
LL: That's $1,400 an hour! This place is definitely a cash cow. I wish I owned a business like this.
LH: 嗯,我也希望自己能有這樣一個賺錢的搖錢樹呢。
LL: You know what? The new movie theater that they just opened by campus is another real cash cow.
LH: 對耶!學(xué)校旁邊那家新開的電影院,是這附近唯一的一家,所以大家都上那兒去看電影。他們肯定也很賺錢。
LL: Tickets are really expensive, too, but we don't have a choice because there aren't any other movie theaters nearby.
LH: 真沒辦法,就因為這是這兒唯一的一家電影院,盡管票價貴,大家也別無選擇!他們變成了賺錢的影院,a cash cow!可苦了我們這些窮學(xué)生!
LL: At least they give student discounts on weekdays. That makes it a little bit easier on us.
LH: 看來,我們最好在星期一到星期五之間去看電影。這樣可以享受優(yōu)惠價。不過這對戲院本身也有好處么!這樣一來,學(xué)生就愿意在生意比較清淡的時間去看電影嘍!
LL: You should be a businesswoman, Li Hua. It seems like you really understand these things. If you own a business, I'm sure it will turn out to be a cash cow.
LH: 也不見得啦!我其實對做生意沒太大興趣。
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LL: I'm tickled pink with the food here. What do you think, Li Hua? Do you like Mexican food?
LH: 我很喜歡墨西哥菜,好吃極了。你說你tickled pink ?Tickle是搔癢的意思,pink是粉紅色,你是說這道菜太辣了?
LL: No, I mean that I really like the food. To be tickled pink by something is to be really pleased by it.
LH: 噢,原來,tickled pink是指非常高興,很滿意的意思。嗯,我也很喜歡這里的菜。I am tickled pink too。
LL: Oh, I almost forgot to tell you: I got a really good job for the summer. I'm really tickled pink about it.
LH: 你找到一份非常好的暑期工?那太好了。我真替你高興。那你什么時候開始工作呢?
LL: I'll take a couple of weeks off after exams and then start work at the beginning of June. I told my mom and she was tickled pink too.
LH: 考完試休息幾個星期再工作。這安排真是不錯。別說你媽聽了高興,誰聽了都會替你高興。我還不知道暑期干什么呢!
LL: Aren't you going to visit Vancouver?
LH: 對,我是要去溫哥華看我哥哥,但是我得先打工,賺了錢才能去呀!聽說學(xué)校圖書館有暑期工作。
LL: That sounds good. You could sit in the air-conditioned library all summer and read and play on the Internet. You should be tickled pink to get a job like that!
LH: 對,要是他們要我的話,我可以一個暑期坐在有空調(diào)的圖書館里看書,玩互聯(lián)網(wǎng)。有那么一個工作,我當(dāng)然高興啦!
今天李華學(xué)到兩個常用語。一個是cash cow,這是指非常賺錢的生意。也就是搖錢樹。另一個常用語是tickled pink,是讓人非常高興,非常愉快的意思。