与“棒球运动”有关的习语.docVIP

Baseball is燗merica抯 national sport. So it is not unusual that many popular expressions come from baseball. But first let me explain a little about the game. Each baseball team has nine players. The pitcher of one team throws the ball to a batter from the other team. The batter attempts to hit the ball. If he misses it, it is called a strike. If a batter gets three strikes he loses his turn at bat and it抯 called out. The batter also is out if he hits the ball in the air and an opposing player catches it. But if the batter hits the ball and it is not caught, the batter tries to run to one or more of the four bases on the field. The batter can run to all four bases if he hits the ball over the fence or out of the ball-park. Such a hit is called a home-run. Now, here are some common expressions from baseball. Someone who is on he ball s intelligent and able to do a good job. A person who threw a curve ball did something unexpected. Someone who steps up to the plate is ready to do his or her job. A person who struke out attempted something but failed. We also might tell the person that three strikes and you are out. But someone who hit a homerun or hit it out of the park did something extremely well. (注:在棒球运动中,pitcher意为投手,batter意为击球手,ballpark意为棒球场。) 短语串记 1. on the ball 据《迪克逊新棒球词典》记载，这个词组源于20世纪早期的美国棒球运动。如果一名投手出手不凡，为对方的接球手制造了不少“麻烦”的话，我们称之为have a lot on the ball，这也许与投手可能会做的旋转动作或其他一些花样和假动作有关。后来，这个词组逐渐演变为今天的含义：有能力应对即将出现的局面。正因为on the ball体现了一个人的处事能力，所以在口语中，它常表示“机灵，有见识，在行”。 eg：The new publicity manager is really on the ball.?新任宣传部经理的确精明干练。 2. throw a curve ball curve?意为“曲线”，因此threw a curve ball意为“投出曲线球”。在棒球运动中，投手投出曲线球后，球在空中方向会发生变化，让击球手无法及时反应。因此美国俚语中“a curve ball”意指“意外的难题”。 eg：The weather threw a curve ball at their outdoor picnic and they had to eat indoors.?天气忽然变得很糟糕，他们不得不中断室外的野餐，而到室内吃。 3. step up to the plate 在棒球运动的大菱形内场上，人们注目的焦点在球场下端的角上。这是个十四英寸见方的木块或者橡胶，称为本垒（home plate），也可以简称为垒（plate）。击球手就站在这块plate上面，击打投手向他投掷的球。当一名棒球运动员准备击球的时候，他就拿起球棒踏上本垒，英文的说法就是:step up to the plate。因此，该习