华秀红

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20070912 Wednesday September 12, 2007

英语中的数词趣谈

初学英语的人都知道one, two, three, four, five……是1,2,3,4,5……的意思,是数词,表示数目的大小。但在英语中,有时这些数词并不表示具体的数目,而另有其他含义。请看下面几句。 
1)That old man is a one. 那老头是个古怪的人。 
2)He is a one in a thousand. 他是个出类拔萃的人物。 
3)They were made one. 他们结为夫妻。 
在以上的例句中,one不但不再是数词,而且词义也发生了很大变化。像这样不表示数目的数词,英语中还有不少。 
4)Everyone sprung to his feet, but he was over in two twos.人们都跳起身来,但倾刻之间他便断了气。 
5)They entered musical-hall in twos and threes.他们三三两两地进入音乐厅。 
6)The baby was creeping about on all fours.婴儿匍匐着到处爬。 
7)Is your hat five and ten? 你的帽子便宜吗? 
8)His room is always at sixes and sevens. 他的屋子总是乱七八糟。 
9)He is now behind the eight ball.他现在处于困难境地。 
10)She’s dressed up to the nine for some grand party.她已经穿上崭新的服装,准备参加大宴会。 
11)Ten to one the train will be late. 这趟车可能要晚点。 
除此之外,常用的还有: 
be at one  一致,同心协力 
in ones   一个一个地 
by twos   成双成对的 
two by four  微不足道的 
put two and two together  根据事实判断 
have one over the eight   酩酊大醉 
two upon ten 把眼睛睁大点(以防盗窃) 
like sixty    快速地;剧烈地 
the upper ten (thousand)上层社会;贵族 
chasing eight and quarters  追逐名利 
six to one 相差悬殊 
Posted by mmxxx_hxh ( Sep 12 2007, 10:34:17 PM CST ) Permalink Comments [1]

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