【英语多益通】冰山一角英文怎么说?让「决胜女王」来教你

▲ 《决胜女王》。(图/《决胜女王》剧照

文/李海硕

春节将近,如果不想宅在家,不如到外面看场电影吧!最近电影《决胜女王》不仅在台湾获得许多好评,在国外知名影评网站Rotten Tomatoes上更是取得了85%的高分、也在IMDB上取得7.6的分数!这部电影台词很多,值得学习对话也不少,今天就让我们透过电影中的经典台词,学习一些多益英文单字吧!

1. Salem 猎巫Molly Bloom: Do you know how many witches were burnt in Salem?Charlie’s Daughter: How many?Molly Bloom: None. They didn’t burn witches, it’s a myth. They hanged them.Salem是美国猎巫行动最有名的城市,所以只要讲到Salem,就是「猎巫」的代称。而对话所提到的,就是传说中所有的女巫都是用火刑方式处死,但实际上是吊死的。

猎巫要表达的就是受迫害的情境。因为不管是不是真的是女巫,绑上火刑柱后绝对难逃一死。但这段却说大多不是被烧死而是被吊死的,显示的是Molly用女巫来投射自己两难、受迫害、且受误解的处境

2. Tip of the iceberg 冰山一角Charlie Jaffey: Movie stars, athletes, billionaires, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.Charlie的这句话要描述参与非法赌局的有哪些人,这里提到的tip of the iceberg「冰山一角」,句中的tip指的不是小费,是顶端的意思,但在多益测验中,通常在有小费的情境出现。

Don’t forget to ____ your waitress before you leave. (A) beat(B) tip(C) wave(D) pat解析题意为「别忘了在离开前给女服务生小费。」仅有选项(B) tip可以与后方的「女服务生」相合,(A) beat「打」、(C) wave「挥手」要加上to、(D) pat「轻拍」皆与语意不合。

3. at和against介词连结Molly Bloom: I was raised to be a champion. My goal was to win. At what and against whom, those were just details.

这句有两大重点前者是raise,除了扶养的意思,也有招募之意,像多益测验中就会出现募款餐会fundraiser的情境。另外,Molly说的这句话后方有很棒的平行结构句型:at what(在什么事情上面赢)、against whom(赢过谁)都只是细节(detail)。这句话强调的介词是英文中的关键技能,不同的介词会带来不同的意思,所以一定要加强。

The committee members are working very hard for the upcoming ______. The amount gathered will be used exclusively for the earthquake-stricken victims.(A) conference(B) fundraiser(C) negotiation(D) convention解析:题意为「委员会成员正为即将来临的募款餐会殚精竭虑。募得数量专用地震受灾户。」关键是后方句子的amount gathered(收集到的数量)与后方的earth-stricken victims(为地震所害的灾民)。(A)为会议、(C)为谈判、(D)为大会,仅有选项(B)的募款会符合语意。

Who is the team fighting _____ this Sunday? (A) to(B) at(C) from(D) against解析:题意为「本周日队伍与谁对战?」本题有与谁「对战」之意,故选有「针对」的介词against。

4. 是if I were还是if I was?Molly Bloom: I’m Molly Bloom. Do you know about me?Charlie Jaffey: I read your indictment (控诉) after I got your call last night, and I bought your book.Molly Bloom: Are you taking me on as a client?Charlie Jaffey: I don’t think I can convince my partners to take a flyer on a poker princess.Molly Bloom: If you think a princess can do what I did, you’re incorrect. I’m getting it, you don’t think much of me, but what if every single one of your ill-informed, unsophisticated opinions about me were wrong?Charlie Jaffey: I’d be amazed.

这段是Molly与律师Charlie第一次的对话,对话除了精彩以外,学习点更是满满!对话中有三句英文很值得大家学习,第一个就是为take sb. on as a client(当作为客户)。第二个是convince(取得信任),它的用法有二种,分别是convince sb.to do sth.或是convince sb.of sth.。

第三个就是在对话中,Molly说到的what if every single one of your ill-informed, unsophisticated opinions about me were wrong? 请大家记得在英文的正式用法中,与现在事实相反的be动词要使用were。但在流行文化中,也很常使用If I was的be动词,例如Justin Bieber的歌曲Boyfriend就有一句if I was your boyfriend never let you go。

The manager failed to _____ the board of the solution he came up with.(A) continue(B) convince(C) confront(D) confess解析:题意为「这位经理没能说服董事会他想出来的解决方案。」(A)为持续、(C)为冲突、(D)为认罪、承认,皆与题意不符。后方有介词of,故答案为(B)信服

Tom needs to meet his _____ later in the office. He really treats his customers in the best way he can.(A) friends(B) guests(C) clients(D) colleagues解析:题意为「Tom晚点要在办公室见他的客户,他客户真的是尽心尽力。」(A)为朋友、(B)为宾客、(D)为同事,皆与语意不符,句子后方有customer的线索提醒他对待客户的方式尽心尽力,故选择与顾客意思最相近的选项(C)客户。

____ it not for John’s help, the press conference would not be such a huge success. (A) If(B) Had(C) Were(D) Be解析:题意为「要不是John的帮忙,记者会就不会这么成功。」后方是would加上原型,为现在假设。过去假设应为should, would, could, might加上完成,未来假设则应该为未来式,故已经确定为现在假设式。前方的句子没有Be动词,原本的句子应该为If it were not for John’s help,假设倒装时去掉If,于现在假设中be动词were置于句首。过去假设中则去掉If后Had置于句首。故本题应选答案为(C)。

5. Manage to设法Larry Bloom: You’ve managed to build a multi-million-dollar business using not much more than your wits.Molly Bloom: I’m about to be charged in a federal court.Larry Bloom: Well, nobody’s perfect.

这段是Molly与父亲的对话,最重要的就是第一句中说到的manage to(设法达成某事)。最后一句的nobody’s perfect (没人是完美的)也是对话中常见的句子,用来表示「世事总难全」。

Tim has _______ to book the return tickets for us in the coming long weekend!(A) messed(B) managed(C) messaged(D) misunderstood解析:题意为「Tim设法帮我们在接下来的周末连续假期订到回程票了!」(A)为弄乱、(C)为寄送简讯、(D)为误解,故只有选项(B)设法达成符合句意。

若想要看电影学习英文,像「决胜女王」这样的电影就是不错的选择。电影中的对白不仅丰富多元,而且使用的语句都是现实生活中会用到的。希望各读者除了在这部电影中学到更多的英文外,也能学到Molly的斗士精神,!

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