33. snowball

　　听到snowball,我们脑子里就会出现孩子们冬天在雪地里扔雪球玩的情景,这当然是 snowball这个词的原来意思。可是,snowball 也可以当动词用来形容某一样东西很快就变得越来越大,就像滚雪球那样。下面的这个例句就是用snowball来形容一家餐馆的生意在最近几个月变得越来越好:

　　Sally's happy about how her new seafood restaurant is doing. Business was slow at first but it's really snowballed the last couple of months: now you have to wait in line to get a table. 萨莉对她新开的海鲜饭馆很满意。一开始,生意很清淡,但是最近几个月来生意越来越好。现在你要座位还得排队等。

　　下面是一个主管某个政客竞选的人对他的助手说的一番话:

　　The latest polls show that public opinion is starting to snowball in favor of our opponent. We need to find some more good things to say about our candidate and find them quick. 最近民意调查显示,选民越来越倾向于我们的对手了。我们必须再找些有利于我们候选人的事情来加以宣扬,而且还要尽快地行动。

　　34. snow job

　　snow job就是用拍马屁、夸张等手法来“欺骗”或“说服”别人。在美国,人人都要买各种各样的保险:健康、房子、汽车保险等。那些保险公司的推销员靠着他们的三寸不烂之舌向顾客推销,说得天花乱坠,你一不小心就会上当。 下面这个人就差点儿上了当:

　　This guy kept telling me how much I'd save with his company. But when I read the policy he was selling, I realized he was giving me a snow job. So I told him thanks but no thanks. 这个人一再对我说,要是买他们公司的保险我会省多少钱。但是,当我看了他推销的保险政策后,我才明白他是在骗我。所以我告诉他,谢谢,我不要。

　　几乎在生活的各个方面,你都得十分小心不要上当。下面是一个人对竞选议员表示怀疑:

　　That new man who's running for Congress makes a lot of promises about what he'll do for the people. But I keep having this uneasy feeling that he's only giving us a snow job. 那个刚参加竞选国会议员的人做了许多保证,说他以后要为公众做些什么事。但是,我总感到不安,觉得他只不过是在欺骗我们。

　　35. to call the shots

　　我们经常会问别人:你们家里谁说了算?也就是谁做最后决定。美国人经常用“to call the shots”来表达这个意思。to call the shots也就是“做最后决定;下命令”的意思。to call the shots的原来意思是“军官下令部队开枪”。但是现在to call the shots已经在日常用语中常常出现。请听一个公司雇员在讲他公司里的事:

　　The three partners who own our company are supposed to have equal say in running it. One of them, though, old Mister John, is the one who calls the shots and tells us what to do.我们公司三个老板在经营方面应该是有同样发言权的。但是最后做决定的总是老约翰先生,每次都是由他来告诉我们干什么。

　　有些男人很不喜欢女人当他们的领导,但是有时也无可奈何。下面就是一例:

　　Some men in the office thought no woman could be strong enough to be boss. But a week after Miss Smith took charge, they learned she was going to call the shots and they'd better listen. 办公室里有些男的雇员以为没有一个女子有足够的能力来当领导。但是,在史密斯小姐主管工作一个礼拜以后,他们知道她说的话就是命令,因此还是服从她为好。

　　(文/李景莉；英语辅导报高三年级版2004-2005学年第16期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)