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2024.05.22 04:21
第五部 第四课: to make a killing , to break even
- 今天李华和 Michael 在讨论做生意的事儿．李华会学到两个常用语： to make a killing 和 to break even.
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- Li Hua, what are you looking at on the Internet?
- 哦，我想在网上买个做豆腐的机器．我和一个朋友想做了豆腐週末拿到农民集市上去卖，疑？你说，有人会买吗?
- Of course people would buy your tofu! You'd make a killing!
- Make a killing? 哎，做豆腐和杀人有什麼关係啊？
- No, I said you'd "make a killing". "To make a killing" means to earn a lot of money quickly through business.
- 哦～， to make a killing 就是通过做生意赚了许多钱！哎， Michael, 这麼说，你认為我们这个生意能做得成，是不是？嗯～，我不知道美国人是不是爱吃豆腐呢？
- 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.
- 对哎，好多美国人啊，现在健康意识很强，不吃肉，爱吃豆製品． Michael, 你说得没错，这一带啊中国人也很多，肯定有人会买新鲜豆腐的，能不能再给我举个例子呀？
- 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.
- 你叔叔几年前买了好多地，然后有钱人在这些地上盖房子，所以他就通过房地產生意赚了好多钱呀！他可真有远见吶！
- You can also say to make a killing in the stock market, in the insurance business or even in the tofu business!
- 哦～， to make a killing in the stock market 就是通过买卖股票赚了好多钱， in the insurance business 就是保险业．嗯，可是，我想啊，靠卖豆腐大概不会 make a killing -- 赚不了太多钱啦。
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- Don't worry about losing money, Li Hua. At the very least, you will break even.
- 哎，你说我至少会什麼啊？ break even?
- "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.
- 哦～，那就是既不赚钱，也不亏本．嗯，做豆腐的机器不是太贵，所以，你说得对，要做到收支相抵，也就是 break even, 应该不会有问题。
- 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.
- 哟，你倒想得好，不赚不赔没什麼损失，还能吃好多新鲜豆腐！你啊，不就是想不出钱白吃豆腐嘛！对不对？
- What? I don't care that much for tofu. Stop being silly and use this phrase in a sentence.
- 嗯..., 哎，有了．我和我朋友 Regina 上个星期第一次去大西洋赌城玩．开始呢，我们各自出了 50 美元，可是不到一小时啊，全输光了．后来呢我们两人各出 10 美元，合在一起，结果，终於把 100 美元又赚了回来．所以， In the end, we broke even.
- Oh! Wow. $50. Good thing you were able to break even, or you'd have to sleep in a cardboard box on the sidewalk.
- Michael, 别小看人哪！输了 50 美元，我就得睡在马路上的纸箱裡呀？哎，不过啊，说实话， 50 美元是不少钱吶，我本来啊就不该去赌钱。
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- 今天李华学到两个常用语，一个是： to make a killing，意思是「做生意在短期内赚了很多钱」．另一个是： to break even，意思是「做生意没有亏本，也没有赚钱」。
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