大學聯考英語口語輔導

情景1：

-Did you receive my application?你收到我的申請了嗎?

-Yes. It arrived just under the wire.收到了，剛好趕在截止日期前收到。

[習語點津]

wire原指“賽馬比賽的終點線”，所以under the wire的字面意思是“在終點線處”，引申為“在最後期限前”。它和meet a deadline含義相似。

例：I turned in my report just under the wire.我剛好趕在最後期限前交了報告。

情景2：

-Why didn’t you show up yesterday? I waited for you at the south gate for a long time.你昨天怎麼沒來?我在南門等了你好久。

-The south gate? Shouldn’t we meet at the north gate?南門?咱們不是應該北門見嗎?

-Well, we must have got our wires crossed.唉，咱們一定是誤解彼此的意思了。

[習語點津]

get one’s wires crossed原指“電話串線”，這裏引申為“誤解某人説的.話”。

例：We got our wires crossed and I waited for an hour in the wrong place.我們誤解了彼此的意思，我去錯地方了，在那兒等了一小時。

情景3：

-I’ll throw a party next week. You can bring anyone you want.我下週要舉辦一場派對，你想帶誰來都可以哦。

-Great! I’ll bring my sister to the party. She’s a real live wire.真棒!我要帶我姐姐去，她可是個活力四射的人。

[習語點津]

a live wire原指“通電的電線”，用來喻指“活躍而熱情的人”。

例：We need a live wire like him in this department.我們部門需要一個像他這樣生龍活虎的人。

情景4：

-The manager of that company is my classmate in high school. I can pull wires for you.那家公司的經理是我的高中同學，我可以幫你走走後門。

-Thanks, but I prefer to get a job on my own merit.謝謝，不過我希望靠自己的實力找到工作。

[習語點津]

pull wires 字面上有“拉線”的意思，引申為“走後門”，與pull strings同義。

例：By pulling wires he got us the tickets of the match.他走後門給我們搞到了比賽的門票。

情景5：

-Which team do you think will win?你覺得哪支隊伍會贏?

-It’s hard to say! If both teams are playing at their best, the game will go down to the wire.很難説!要是兩隊都發揮出最高水平的話，估計比賽結束時才能見分曉。

[習語點津]

down to the wire表示“直到最後才見分曉”。

例：I think the election will go right down to the wire.我認為選舉要到最後才能見分曉。