迷你对话学地道口语第208期:在关键时刻

　　迷你对话：
A: He has come to life in the end.
他终于清醒过来了。
B: Oh, thank God. We all felt frightened by the bad new about him.
哦，谢天谢地。一听到有关的坏消息，我们都吓坏了。
A: Yes. Fortunately, an ambulance passed in the nick of time, and we got him away to hospital.
就是，幸亏一辆救护车经过，我们才把你送到医院。
B: Right. Unless, who know what will happen.
是呀，不然，谁知道会发生什么事情。
A: Wish him to be healthy soon.
但愿他赶快好起来。
地道表达：
in the nick of time
解词释义：
在18世纪以前人们是通过木签（tally）上的刻痕来记账和计时的。这种刻痕叫做notch，也称作nick。此语原作in the nick，而of time是后面加上去的，先表示“在关键时刻”。此语中可以加very一词用于强调。
支持范例：
The army arrived in the nick of time and the town was saved.
军队适时到达，这座小镇得救了。
He got to the station in the nick of time and caught the train.
他及时赶到车站,乘上了火车。
I saw the baby was about to fall off and caught it just in the nick of time.
我看见那个婴儿要跌落了，我恰好把他接住了。
The doctor arrived in the nick of time to save the child.
医生正好在紧要关头赶来救这个孩子。
词海拾贝：
1. come to life：苏醒过来，复苏，有生机，复燃
As the door banged¹, she seemed to come to life again.
当门“砰”地关上的时候，她好像又清醒过来了。
Superstitious² activities have come to life again recently.
近来, 封建迷信活动又死灰复燃了。
You're very cool with your brother, but with your friends you really come to life.
你对你弟弟冷冰冰的, 但跟朋友在一起倒很活跃。
2. in the end：最后，最终
Eg. He decided³ to play along in the end.
他终于决定采取合作的态度。
Eg. The bad boy got his just deserts in the end.
这坏孩子最终得到了应有的惩罚。
Eg. In the end the husband always gained the affection⁴ of his wife.
到后来，丈夫总得获得自己妻子的欢心的。
Eg. In the end he had got mixed up in some shady⁵ affair.
最后，他卷入了一桩见不得人的勾当。

1 banged   

vt.猛击，猛撞（bang的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Two days after the accident she still looked pretty banged up. 事故过去两天后她看上去伤势仍然很重。
• I've banged into the doorpost and hurt my arm. 我撞着了门柱，把臂伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 superstitious   

adj.迷信的

参考例句：

• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
• These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 affection   

n.喜爱；爱慕，感情；倾向，意向

参考例句：

• The handsome young man excited affection in a girl.那位英俊的年轻男子引起了一个女孩的爱慕之情。
• He has a deep affection for his old friend.他对老朋友感情很深。

5 shady   

adj.成荫的，多荫的，可疑的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• This is a shady avenue.这是条林阴大道。
• He's a rather shady person.他是个相当靠不住的人。