英语听力精选进阶版 6809

Kaz: (Breathless) Hello, I'm Kaz.

Yang Li: And I'm Yang Li. Hey Kaz, 你怎么穿着跑鞋，上气不接下气？出什么事儿了？

Kaz: Wait Li (Gulp for breath¹), let me catch my breath. Yes, I'm wearing my running shoes because I've been running.

Yang Li: 看的出来，你在跑步，怎么了？迟到啦？

Kaz: No it was because of something my boss told me to do.

Yang Li: 你的老板叫你急跑到录音室？Hmm 用得着吗？

Kaz: No no, she said "Kaz, when you start tomorrow's programme, I want you to hit the ground running".

Yang Li: "I want you to hit the ground running" – "我想让你脚一挨地就跑步"这听起来挺危险的。

Kaz: Well, I thought I'd do it literally² – just for fun.

Yang Li: 真的？你会从汽车上跳下来，然后跑到录音室？

Kaz: That's right. I literally hit the ground running!

Yang Li: 但是我觉得你老板应该不会让你真的就这么 'hit the ground running'. I'm sure there's a non-literal meaning?

Kaz: You're absolutely right Li. When she said, "I want you to hit the ground running" she meant "When you start tomorrow's programme, I want you to immediately work very hard on it to make it successful".

Yang Li: 就是说嘛。老板说让你 to hit the ground running 的意思是让你到了录音室以后，马上投入工作，努力把今天的节目做好，有个好的开始。那让我们来听听几个例子吧：

If you want to succeed in your new job, you'll need to hit the ground running from day one.

You guys will have to hit the ground running on this new project.

The President promised that if he was re-elected he would hit the ground running on the question of unemployment³.

Yang Li: Kaz 这个短语 to hit the ground running 是不是从美国来的？

Kaz: Yes, I think you're right Li, but we're beginning to hear it more often in British English.

Yang Li: 美国进口的？

Kaz: Yes, I think it is. You tend to hear it in connection with speed and efficiency⁴ especially on new projects.

Yang Li: Great!

Kaz: But one thing's for certain Li.

Yang Li: What's that?

Kaz: On this programme we always hit the ground running!

Yang Li: 你说得可真对，我们做节目可不马虎。We always give it 110%. 下次节目再见。

Both: Bye!

1 breath   

n.呼吸，气息，微风，迹象，精神，一种说话的声音

参考例句：

• I'm just going out for a breath of fresh air.我正要出去呼吸新鲜空气。
• While climbing up the stairs the old man always loses his breath.那老人上楼时总是气喘吁吁的。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 unemployment   

n.失业，失业状态

参考例句：

• The government will look into how to reduce unemployment.政府将研究如何降低失业率。
• He gave a talk on the theme of teenage unemployment.他就青少年失业的主题作了一次报告。

4 efficiency   

n.效率，效能，功效

参考例句：

• We were most impressed with your efficiency.你的效率给我们留下很深刻的印象。
• Our goal is to achieve the maximum of efficiency.我们的目标是取得最高的效率。