Career Choices /职业选择
Summary
express confusion or uncertainty:表示困惑或不确定- I've been wrestling with the question of… I can't make up my mind. I'm in a fog. I'm up in the air. I'm really in a bind. I can't make my mind up. I feel I'm split in two. I'm pulled in two directions. I don't know what to do. I'm really torn. I'm all mixed up. My future is nuclear. I'm practically in tears. I'm of two minds about it. Who knows?
- talk about finding a solution:谈论解决之道
- get my act together. get it all figured out. get on the right track. get rid of all the doubt. straighten everything out. sort it out. think it out. work it out. think it all through. find an answer.
- say someone looked surprised:说对方显得惊讶
- You should have seen the look on his face when…
- introduce a question:引出问题
- I've been meaning to ask you…
- sympathize with someone:表示同情
- I can imagine what's going through your head.
- express anticipation:表示迫不及待
- I can't wait till…
- say someone looks nervous:说对方表情紧张
- I've never seen you so wound up.
- talk about opposing things:谈两个相反事物
- My career as a fashion designer versus my career as a mother
- say you will do something as well as possible:说自己会尽力而为
- …to the best of my ability
- advise someone to accept an idea:劝告对方接受某项主意
- That could solve your problem. I think that really answers your questions.
- express appreciation:表示感激
- I don't know what I would do without you. I'm lucky to have you all.
Useful Language
- *I really want to go back to work…like we always thought I would.这里like当做连词使用，后面带上整句。尽管英国的（以及某些美国的）语法家坚持认为这里应当用as，但like已经“约定俗成”，在口语中用as反而显得生硬。 * want to go back to work: want更多地表现主观愿望，而need常表示客观的需要，如： She needs to go back to work to help towards buying the house they want. 因此在第二幕中玛丽琳说 … that house we want and need，以示既是心里想要的，又是客观上需要的。 * just sketching: to sketch是画素描画，to draw是画以线条为主的画，通常使用硬笔，而to paint是画水墨、水彩或油彩画。这些画分别称为sketches, drawings及paintings。 * She wants to know when I think I'll be returning to the boutique.句中 I think是插入语，不介入全句结构。又如： Did he tell you when he thought he would finish? I forget where she said she had seen him. I have no idea what he told you he was going to buy. * in the meantime：常译为“同时”，但确切的意思是“在那件事发生以前”。例如： They are trying to get in touch with the office. In the mean time,we'll have to wait. I'm going out for a walk. You can clean up the room in the mean time. meanwhile本与此同义，但更多用于“与此同时”的意思，如： He fell asleep. Meanwhile, the thief was trying to enter the house. I would be working at my math problems. Meanwhile, he would be talking to his girl friend over the telephone. 注意：meanwhile是一个单词，不能分开写，前面不能加介词和冠词。 * you have a decision to make: have something to do表示有某件事要去做，这是动词不定式的一种常见用法。又如： You've got yourself to think about. We have some urgent business to attend to. It feels funny to have nothing to do all day long. * 这一集中动名词的用法多次出现，值得读者注意。如： Being a mother is not easy. 平常多用先行主语：It's not easy being a mother. How did you feel about being away…?在介词后面不用动词不定式。在the fittings, the selling, the pricing 中动名词前面有了定冠词the，则更像一个真的名词，除意思上更具体而不一般，更特指而不泛指外，还有一个重要区别，就是前面有the时，动名词后面不能直接跟宾语，如： the pricing and selling of goods the designing of dresses the rebuilding of the damaged houses * 这一集中过去虚拟语态的例子也较多。在 You should have seen the look on his face when…一句中体现了一个常见的用法，即表示“当时你不在，那件事可好玩了（怪异，可怖，等等），”又如： You should have been there when the fireworks started. You should have seen the school play last Monday. You should have heard the applause when she finished singing. You should have seen the look on their faces when I told them I had just married Tom. * 在 stayed home中，home是副词，而在stay at home中home是名词。“Is John home?”和“Is John at home?”的区别，是在不涉及活动的时候，英语中也用at home，而美语中常用home。美语中用at home常限于有活动的意思时，如：work/design dresses/study at home，而在Is anybody home?中，很少用at。另外，从来不说in home，to home等，千万注意，除非在home前面有冠词，物主代词，主格名词等，如第三幕中的there's no reason why you can't do it from your home。但 to be away from home，是个例外。 * 剧本编者比较留心社会和家庭上的现有问题及趋势，当然不免谈到妇女就业问题。苏珊是“女经理”的典型，埃伦过去曾有职业，经历过一段一面挣钱一面生儿育女的困难，在本集中作了侧面的描述，现在她关心社区事务，从竞选失败到应聘参加学区工作，也有了交代。但玛丽琳应如何回到职业中去呢？作者巧妙安排使她能在家就业，这并非每个年轻母亲都能做到的。
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