我侄女最近說(shuō)想當(dāng)律師。我問(wèn)她為什么想當(dāng)律師的時(shí)候,她說(shuō)這樣她就能掙大把鈔票,住豪華公寓,去高級(jí)餐廳,還能環(huán)游世界。她沒(méi)有意識(shí)到,作為律師在職業(yè)生涯初期的工作時(shí)間有多長(zhǎng),他們又得為了工作犧牲多少個(gè)人生活。我想如果她知道了,她想成為律師的興趣可能就可以用下面這個(gè)詞來(lái)形容: fizzle out.
Fizzle這個(gè)詞本身的意思是失敗,而fizzle out, 作為一個(gè)詞組,意思是"歸于失敗,漸漸消失"。
有一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示,很多法學(xué)院的學(xué)生都是這樣。Once they discover how consuming that profession is, their enthusiasm seems to fizzle out. 當(dāng)他們了解到律師行業(yè)有忙后,他們此前的熱情就會(huì)漸漸退去。
在下面的例子里,我們要來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)一對(duì)情侶Chris和Sandy的故事:
例句-1:Chris and Sandy started dating months ago. All of our friends thought they made a great couple. Soon they moved in together and there was talks about them getting married. What Chris hadn't realized was that Sandy had an uncontrollable temper. Soon their relationship fizzled outT. We were sad to learn that another promising lover affair came to an end.
這段話是說(shuō): 幾個(gè)月前,Chris和Sandy開(kāi)始約會(huì)。朋友們都認(rèn)為他們很合適,沒(méi)過(guò)多久,他們就搬到一起住了,還有人聽(tīng)說(shuō)他們快要結(jié)婚了。Chris不知道的是,Sandy脾氣很不好,后來(lái)他們的感情就慢慢淡薄了。我們很失望地看到,本來(lái)特別有希望的一對(duì)情侶并沒(méi)走到一塊兒。
結(jié)婚前發(fā)現(xiàn)不合適,總比結(jié)了婚再離婚好吧! 我有一個(gè)朋友就是這樣,她經(jīng)常在網(wǎng)絡(luò)上認(rèn)識(shí)人,聊天交友??墒钦嬉?jiàn)了面,總發(fā)現(xiàn)那個(gè)人根本就不是網(wǎng)上說(shuō)的那么回事! The dates often fizzle out and my friend goes home depressed, 約會(huì)經(jīng)常不了了之,我朋友還特郁悶。所以說(shuō),尋找另一半得靠運(yùn)氣。
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在美國(guó),經(jīng)常有組織馬拉松或是各種比賽來(lái)為抗擊癌癥募捐的活動(dòng)。下面的例子里,一個(gè)競(jìng)賽組織團(tuán)隊(duì)的資金慢慢枯竭了。這是為什么呢? 咱們一起來(lái)聽(tīng)一聽(tīng):
例句-2:Hundreds of races take place every year to raise money to fight lung cancer. But one organization has been having trouble getting contributions. That's because its president was recently caught stealing and then lying about it. No wonder funding is fizzling out!
這段話是說(shuō):每年都會(huì)有幾百個(gè)競(jìng)賽項(xiàng)目為抗擊肺癌籌集資金。但是其中一個(gè)組織今年募集的資金特別少。結(jié)果有人發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)組織的主席挪用公款,而且還撒謊! 難怪他們籌集的資金越來(lái)越少!
基金的經(jīng)營(yíng)出現(xiàn)問(wèn)題后,一旦主要支持者退出,其他人就會(huì)跟著退出。這就好像去參加一個(gè)派對(duì),一旦有人開(kāi)始離開(kāi),慢慢大家就會(huì)接二連三跟著回家,the party begins to fizzle out, 派對(duì)就會(huì)慢慢結(jié)束。