VOA流行美語 Unit 159:flying colors和to butter up

經過一個星期的緊張考試，學期結束了，Larry和李華正在很輕鬆地吃午飯。今天李華會學到兩個常用語：flying colors和to butter up。

LL: Well, Li Hua, how do you think you did on your English exam? I'd be willing to bet that you passed it with flying colors.

LH: 我想我英語考試考得還可以。你剛纔說你敢打賭我一定會通過，但是with flying colors是什麼意思啊？ Flying就是飛; colors是顏色, flying colors，我可不懂。

LL: Oh, to pass a test or an exam with flying colors means that you did a really great job.

LH: 噢，flying colors就是非常出色。你的意思是我英語考試一定考得非常出色。是不是出色，我可不知道，其實只要及格，我就很高興了。

LL: Come on, you had me for a tutor. I'm sure you did well!

LH: 你輔導我英語，我就一定會考得成績優異？你真的對自己的輔導這麼有信心啊？

LL: That's not a very appreciative attitude, Li Hua. Whether or not you pass the exam with flying colors, I still put in a lot of time helping you.

LH: 跟你開個玩笑嘛！我知道你花了很多時間和心血來輔導我的英語。我怎麼會不感謝你呢！不管我考的好不好，我都應該謝謝你呀。

LL: You helped me a lot, too. I'm not sure if I passed my Chinese exam with flying colors, but I'm sure that I got at least a B+.

LH: 你肯定你的中文考試能得個B+? 那已經算是很出色了。對了，你剛纔是怎麼說來啦？ 噢，我想起來，flying colors。好了，現在一切都結束了。暑期裏，你不需要再苦苦地讀中文了！

LL: I know, I'm so glad this semester is over.

LH: 就是啊。學期結束真讓我感到輕鬆。 這個星期我什麼也不想做了。

LL: We both deserve a break. Even if we didn't pass all our courses with flying colors, we both worked really hard all semester.

LH: 我同意，儘管我們不見得每門功課都成績優異，我們都已經盡最大的努力了，應該休息一下！

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LH: 嗨，Larry，你看起來好帥！是不是今晚有約會啊？

LL: No, I don't have a date tonight. Why are you being so nice? Are you trying to butter me up for something?

LH: 說你帥，還要問我爲什麼對你這麼好？你真是疑神疑鬼的。還說我想什麼來啦？Butter up, butter不是黃油嗎？什麼意思呀？

LL: To butter someone up is to be really nice to him so that you can ask him for something.

LH: 其實，我猜到了，to butter up就是爲了得到好處而拍人馬屁的意思。哼，我纔不會那麼做呢！

LL: I know you weren't trying to butter me up, Li Hua. I was just joking with you.

LH: 好吧，只要你知道，我是誠心誠意的讚美你，不是另有企圖，別有用心就好了。

LL: I know you're not like that, but there's a girl in my Chinese class who is.

LH: 真的啊？你的中文班裏有個女孩就是這樣的人？她怎麼啦？

LL: She was really nice to me one day. She offered to help me with my homework and everything. It turns out, she was just buttering me up so that she could ask me to help her move to a new apartment.

LH: 原來她是想讓你幫忙搬家啊！其實她沒有必要幫你做任何事，直接了當請你幫忙不就行了嘛！也許她不好意思。

LL: I guess, but what bothers me is that she ignored me until she needed my help with something. She was only nice to me when she was buttering me up to ask for help.

LH: 原來如此。她過去從來不理你，到了要你幫忙的時候纔來拍馬屁。那她也真是太會利用人了。

今天李華學到兩個常用語。第一個是flying colors，這是指的是什麼事情做得很出色。另一個常用語是to butter up，這是指爲了得到好處而拍人馬屁。