to call up
to call it a day
我们曾经说过,学习英语的一个困难就是有些英文字一个字就有好几个不同的意思。就拿call这个字来说吧。在一本字典里,call这个字和它所组成的词汇一共有六十九种不同的意思。一个很简单的例子就是:to call up。
To call up的最普通的意思是给某人打电话。但是,to call up也可以解释为:引起一个人的记忆。美国人很喜欢出去旅行,一到夏天,好多人都利用每年的假期到国内外去旅行。每次旅行都带一些具有当地特色的纪念品回家。因此,不少美国人家里都陈列着各国的手工艺品。下面这句话就是一个例子:
例句-1: "Every time I look at that black and gold lacquer box on my desk, it calls up memories of our trip to Bangkok last year."
从这句话我们可以知道,这个说话的人去年访问了泰国。他说:"每当我看到我桌上那个黑色和金色的盒子,我就回想起去年访问曼谷的情景。"
To call up还可以用在军事方面,意思是在紧急情况下调动预备役军队来参加某些行动。佛罗里达州州长就这样做过:
例句-2: "After the hurricane hit the Florida coast, the governor called up the National Guard to help with the rescue work."
这句话的意思是:"在飓风袭击佛罗里达州沿海一带地区后,州长就下令国民警卫队来帮助营救灾民的工作。"
我们再来给大家解绍一个由call这个字组成的俗语:to call it a day。To call it a day的意思是你工作了一天,到晚上你停止工作回家休息,但是准备第二天再回去继续完成昨天没做完的事。说简单一点也就是:结束一天的工作。下面是一个学生在说他正在为英语教授写的一份期终报告的进展情况:
例句-3: "I worked on my term paper until about ten o\'clock last night, but got so sleepy I decided to call it a day. I\'ll finish it this afternoon when I come back from class."
这个学生说:"昨晚我写我的期终报告一直写到十点钟,后来我困不行,就决定不写了。今天下午上完课我再来把它写完。"
我们再来举个例子。这是一个资讯记者在讲他当天的工作:
例句-4: "We\'ve got so much news to handle today that I didn\'t even have time to have lunch. Now I am going to call it a day and go home to have a good rest."
这位资讯记者说:"今天我们要处理的消息多极了,忙得我连吃午饭的时间都没有。今天就到此为止了,我得回家好好休息去了。"
以上我们讲了to call up和to call it a day这两个词。To call up可以解释为:打电话、钩起回忆、征集预备役军人等。To call it a day就是结束一天的工作。
「美国习惯用语」第一百零九课就讲到这里。欢迎下次再一起来学习美国习惯用语。再见。
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