美國(guó)之音之流行美語(yǔ)make a killing / break even

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今天李華和Michael在討論做生意的事。李華會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：to make a killing和to break even.

M: Li Hua, what are you looking at on the Internet?

L: 噢，我想在網(wǎng)上買(mǎi)個(gè)做豆腐的機(jī)器。我和一個(gè)朋友想做了豆腐周末拿到農(nóng)民集市上去賣(mài)。 你說(shuō)有人會(huì)買(mǎi)嗎?

M: Of course people would buy your tofu! You'd make a killing!

L: Make a killing? 做豆腐和殺人有什么關(guān)系?

M: No, I said you'd "make a killing". "To make a killing" means to earn a lot of money quickly through some kind of lucrative business.

L: 唷， to make a killing就是通過(guò)做生意賺了許多錢(qián)！ Michael, 這么說(shuō)，你認(rèn)為我們這個(gè)生意能做得成，是嗎？我不知道美國(guó)人是不是愛(ài)吃豆腐吶。

M: Of course! A lot of people who don't eat meat, or who want to eat healthy foods eat tofu. Also, there are a lot of Chinese in this part of town. I'm sure you'll make a killing.

L: 對(duì)，好多美國(guó)人現(xiàn)在健康意識(shí)很強(qiáng)，不吃肉，愛(ài)吃豆制品。Michael, 你說(shuō)得沒(méi)錯(cuò)，這一帶中國(guó)人也很多，肯定有人會(huì)買(mǎi)新鮮豆腐的。Michael, 你能不能再給我舉一個(gè)例子呀？

M: Well, for instance, my uncle Roger made a killing in real estate. A few years ago, he bought a lot of land and then rich people started building houses in the area, and he made a lot of money.

L: 你叔叔幾年前買(mǎi)了好多地，然后有錢(qián)人在這些地上蓋房子，所以他就通過(guò)房地產(chǎn)生意賺了好多錢(qián)！他可真有遠(yuǎn)見(jiàn)吶！

M: You can also say to make a killing in the stock market, in the insurance business or even in the tofu business!

L: 噢，to make a killing in the stock market就是通過(guò)買(mǎi)賣(mài)股票賺了好多錢(qián)，in the insurance business就是保險(xiǎn)業(yè)?？墒?，我想靠賣(mài)豆腐大概不會(huì)make a killing --賺不了太多錢(qián)。

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M: Don't worry about losing money, Li Hua. At the very least, you will break even.

L: 你說(shuō)我至少會(huì)什么？break even?

M: "To break even" means to neither lose nor gain money. If you do some business and are able to cover the costs of the business, but don't make a profit, you are breaking even.

L: 噢，那就是既不賺錢(qián)，也不虧本。做豆腐的機(jī)器不是太貴，所以，你說(shuō)得對(duì)，要做到收支相抵，也就是break even, 應(yīng)該不會(huì)有問(wèn)題。

M: Even if you don't earn a lot of money, if you break even you lose nothing, plus you get to enjoy lots of fresh tofu.

L: 唷，你倒想得好，不賺不賠沒(méi)什么損失，還能吃好多新鮮豆腐！你不就是想不出錢(qián)白吃豆腐嘛！對(duì)不對(duì)？

M: What? I don't care that much about tofu. Stop being silly and use this phrase in a sentence.

L: 嗯...有了。我和我的朋友Regina上星期第一次去大西洋賭城玩。開(kāi)始我們各自出了50 美元，可是不到一小時(shí)全輸光了。后來(lái)我們兩人各出10美元，合在一起，結(jié)果終于把100美元又賺了回來(lái)。所以，In the end, we broke even.

M: (Sarcastically) Wow. $50. Good thing you were able to break even, or you'd have to sleep in a cardboard box on the sidewalk.

L: Michael, 別小看人哪！輸了50美元，我就得睡在馬路上的紙箱里呀？哎，不過(guò)，說(shuō)實(shí)話(huà)，50美元是不少錢(qián)，我本來(lái)就不該去賭錢(qián)。

今天李華學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)，一個(gè)是：to make a killing, 意思是做生意在短期內(nèi)賺了很多錢(qián)。另一個(gè)是：to break even, 意思是做生意沒(méi)有虧本，也沒(méi)有賺錢(qián)。