2. 1. If you ask me 依我看(不要說:如果你問我)
• if you ask me口語慣用表達,很接近中文的「依我看」,說話
的人自己找一個台階,就有話說了。不要理解為"你要是問我":
• If you ask me, she doesn't really want the job. 依我看,她並不
真正想要這份工作。
• He was nuts, if you ask me. 我覺得他是個瘋子。
3. 2. Ask me another! 我怎麼知道、不知道
(不要說:問我另外的事)
• 用來回答熟人或朋友之間無聊的提問,意是:問點新鮮的; 多此一問;我
怎麼知道;別傻裡傻氣。如:
• A:Then how old is the lady?那麼這位女士多大年紀了?
• B:Ask me another. 我怎麼知道。
• 有時也用來回答一般性提問,意為:不知道(=I don't know)。如:
• A:What's the population of Japan? 日本有多少人口?
• B:Ask me another. 我不知道。
• A:How much does such a computer cost? 那樣的電腦要花多少錢?
• B:Ask me another. 我說不上來。
4. 3. Believe it or not. 真不可思議、你相信嗎
(不要說:信或不信)
字面的意思是,信不信由你。不是強調相信與否;而是一個口頭禪,
接近中文的,真不可思議! 如:
• I asked my boss for a month's holiday and, believe it or not, he
agreed. 我向老闆請一個月的假,真不可思議,他同意了。
• Believe it or not, this mosque is in the heart of London. 你相信嗎
?這座清真寺就在倫敦市中心。
• 有時也說 Would you believe it?
5. 4. That reminds me. 哦,對了
(不要說:那提醒我)
• 這句話發生在對方告訴你某件事,剛好讓你想起另一件事,接近中
文的「哦,對了,還好你提醒我....」
• A: The phone bill is big this month, isn't it? 這個月的話費很高,是
吧?
• B: That reminds me. I have to pay the electric bill, too. 對了,我們
還得交電費。
6. 5. You know what? (助詞,不必翻譯)
• "You know what是大多數美國人的口頭禪。是一個典型的不能按字面意思來理解的
句子。不妨把"You know what?看成是"Guess what?
• You know what有時帶點負面情緒,說出來有助於情緒宣洩,例如:She thinks
she's the center of the universe and the whole world should revolve around her.
You know what? She's absolutely wrong. 她覺得自己是宇宙中心,所有人都應該
圍著她團團轉,你知道嗎,她大錯特錯!
• "You know what? 有時可以是中性,比如你突然想到一個點子的時候,你可以說
"You know what? We should try this." 你知道嗎?我們應該試試。
7. 6. I have an idea. 我有個主意
• 這是一句正面提供意見的好話,多說了人緣一定好。
• A: I can't understand these directions. 我看不懂這些說明。
• B: I have an idea. Let's ask Jim. He's an expert. 我有辦法。我們
去問Jim吧,他是這方面的專家。
15. 5. 講義不夠分。
• There aren't enough handouts to go round.
6. 你可不可以幫我將這份文件影印10份?
• Would you mind running off 10 copies of this document for
me?
16. 7. 你說的有些道理,我會接受你的建議。
• There's something to what you say; I'll take your advice.(?述
等)有點道理
8. 犯錯在所難免。你怎麼回應所犯的錯誤才重要。
• Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that
counts.
17. 9. 明天就到我辦公室來,我們再想想辦法。
• Just come into the office tomorrow and we'll take it from
there.
10. 我確信你不會愚蠢到會相信那種事。
• I am sure you are wiser than to believe that.
18. 11. 單一一次的失敗,對我沒有影響。
• I am none the worse for a single failure.
12. 我想談談我的意見,儘管我的想法不一定對。
• I have my opinion such as it is.
22. 處理人身攻擊
• "It'd be great if we can all try and be professional about
this - let's focus on the issue at hand...“ 如果我們能試著
專業點就會很好,我們應該把重點放在眼前的問題上...
• "Name-calling is unnecessary. Let's just move on.“ 罵人
是沒必要的,我們繼續吧。
24. • "We're colleagues and things will go smoother if
we work together.“ 我們是同事,如果我們共同合作,事
情會做得更加順利。
• "This isn't getting us anywhere. Let's take a break
and come back tomorrow fresh.“ 這樣無濟於事,我們
休息一下,明天再回來討論吧。
25. • "This isn't constructive at all. Shall we take a look
at what we can do instead of what we can’t?” 這一
點也沒有建設性的,我們來看看我們能做些什麼吧,而不是不
能做什麼。
• Have you experienced such situations? How did
you deal with them? 你以前經歷過這樣的情況嗎?你是
如何處理的?