VOA慢速英語:數(shù)字相關(guān)短語二

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Now, the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.

Last week, I told about the number one. Today, I will tellabout expressions using other numbers.

Some problems are difficult to solve. But there are a lotof number expressions that can help. For example, ifwe "put two and two together" we might come up withthe right answer. We know that "two heads are better than one" -- it is alwaysbetter to work with another person to solve a problem.

Sometimes "there are no two ways about it" -- some problems have only onesolution. You cannot "be of two minds" over this.

But with any luck, we could solve the problem in "two shakes of a lamb’s tail" -- we could have our answers quickly and easily.

Numbers

Sometimes we can "kill two birds with one stone" -- that is, we can completetwo goals with only one effort or action. But we must remember that "twowrongs don’t make a right" -- if someone does something bad to you, youshould not do the same to him.

If you are going out with your girlfriend, or boyfriend, you do not want anotherfriend to go along on your date. You can just say to your friend: "two’scompany, three’s a crowd."

When I was a young child in school, I had to learn the three R’s. Theseimportant skills are reading, writing and arithmetic. These three words do notall start with the letter “R,” but they have the sound of “R.” My teachers used togive "three cheers" when I did well in math. They gave praise and approval for a job well done.

Some of my friends were confused and did not understand their schoolwork.They were "at sixes and sevens." In fact, they did not care if they finished highschool. They saw little difference between the two choices. "Six of one, half adozen the other" -- that was their position. But they were really happy whenthey completed their studies and graduated from high school. They were "inseventh heaven." They were "on cloud nine."

"Nine times out of ten," students who do well in school find good jobs. Somework in an office doing the same things every day at "nine-to-five jobs." You donot have to "dress to the nines" -- or wear your best clothes -- for this kind ofwork.

Last year, one of my friends applied for a better job at her office. I did not thinkshe would get it. I thought she had "a hundred-to-one shot" at the job. Otherpeople at her office thought her chances were "a million-to-one." One reasonwas that she had been caught "catching forty winks" at the office -- she sleptat her desk for short periods during the day. But her supervisor appointed herto the new job "at the eleventh hour" -- at the very last minute. I guess "herlucky number came up."

This VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories was written by Jill Moss.

I’m Faith Lapidus.