生活中地道的英語英語
no standing 與free-standing:
no standing 意思是不準在此停車,即使司機還在車上也不行。也就是“don't stop”或“no car at all”,通常用在大城市交通十分擁擠的地方。至於“no parking”,意思也是不準在此停車,但司機還可以坐在車裡一段時間,必要時,可隨時移動車子,也就是“you may stay in your car for a short period of time。”
例如:
Walking along the street, I saw a “no standing” sign.
走在路上,我看到一個“不準停車”的路牌。
In New York City there are many “no standing” signs (posted) on the streets.
在紐約市,路上有許多“不準停車”的牌子。
“No parking” signs sprang up around the school campus.
校園裡出現一些“不準停車”的路牌。
spring up = appeared 也就是說:……Signs were put up around……但是free-standing是形容詞,意思是獨立式的,多指為特別用途而蓋的單獨建築物或指一大建築特的某種裝飾。
例如:
There is a new free-standing restaurant near the downtown area。
在市中心區附近有座新的獨立餐館
Mr. A built a free-standing shoe store behind the mall.
A先生在採購中心後面蓋了一棟獨立鞋店)The free-standing design does not overpower the rest of the buildings surrounding it。(這種獨立式的設計,不會影響其他建築物的外觀。)(overpower=distract壓倒或擾亂)
break the house與housebreak:
housebreak 是指訓練狗、貓等寵物,使其能在指定的地點大、小便,以保持家裡的衛生。
例如:The dog (或cat) has been housebroken。或My dog is housebroken。(多半用被動語態)但也有人用主動語態。
例如:
Pet owners should housebreak their dogs and cats。
寵物主人應該訓練狗貓的衛生習慣。
或者可以說 Housebreaking is necessary for cats and dogs。
但是“break the house”是指破壞了房子。
例如:
Accidentally, he broke the house by backing up his car。
他倒車時,意外碰壞了房子。(broke=damaged)
The house was broken by a hurricane。
風破壞了房子。
但用在賭場(casino)時,又指贏了一大筆錢(won lots of money)
kick off與 tip off:
kick off意思是指任何事情的正式開始,有時也指球賽。
例如:
Our school has recently kicked off a mass fundraising campaign。
我們學校最近發動一次大規劃的籌款運動。
We will kick off the no-smoking drive。
我們將要發動戒菸運動。
They are going to kick off the football game tomorrow。
他們明天正式開始足球賽。
多半是用主動語態,有時也用被動。
例如:
The fund–raising campaign was kicked off by a millionaire。
一位百萬富翁發起捐款運動。
但是,tip off 雖然也指開始,不過多半是指籃球開賽前,裁判開球讓兩邊球員跳球。
例如:The players tipped off the basketball game at 2:00 yesterday afternoon。
籃球賽於昨天下午兩點開始。
注意:to tip(someone)off意思又是通知某人(to inform someone)
例如:
I will tip him off about this breaking news.
我要告訴他最新訊息。(breaking=latest)
有時也用tip off him about……