春天来了,潘妮(Penny)和小倩(Xiao Qian,简称XQ)正商量着在花盆里种点花花草草,点缀下房间。她们打算种些什么呢?一起来看!

情景一:
XQ: 潘妮,终于等到春天了,咱们种点花花草草吧!
Penny: Oh, sounds great. I love flowers so much, so you are clearly the one after my own heart. But, you know, I'm not well up in planting.
XQ: 你说自己对养花不在行,是吗?没关系,种花的诀窍就是把花儿当作宠物来养。
Penny: Come on, Xiao Qian. Raising pets is completely different from planting flowers. You're comparing apples to oranges!
XQ: Compare apples to oranges?咱们不是在说种花吗?怎么又出来苹果和桔子了?
Penny: Actually, when you say someone is comparing apples to oranges, it means he is trying to compare two things that are totally different.
XQ: 哦,原来它表示拿两种完全不同的东西相提并论。我明白了。

[点津]
one's own heart
意为“和某人爱好相同”,相当于汉语的“志趣相投”。

well up in sth.
be well up in sth.常用于口语中,意为“精通某事”,和be good at sth.意思相似。
例:My brother is well up in English literature.我哥哥精通英国文学。

e apples to oranges
这个习语用来表示将两种完全不同的事物进行比较,与汉语中的“风马牛不相及;天壤之别”意义相近。
例:Comparing the average wages of workers and managers is like trying to compare apples to oranges.工人的平均工资跟经理的平均工资简直有天壤之别。

情景二:
Penny: Let me think what I will plant in the pot. You know much about flowers. Please give me some suggestions.
XQ: 哈哈,对于养花嘛,就要出于真心的喜爱,才能养好花。要不你先从仙人掌开始吧!
Penny: Er... Let me think twice about it. I am a green hand at planting, so probably cactus is the best choice.
XQ: 仙人掌生命力顽强,适合培养你的自信心哦!瞧瞧我家的花花草草,它们长势正好呢!
Penny: Wow, they are really beautiful. Xiao Qian, you are far and away an excellent gardener.
XQ: 哈哈,过奖啦!我相信无论做什么事,只要出于真心喜爱,就一定能做好。
Penny: Agree!I am going home and have a crack at planting cactus first.

[点津]
twice about sth.
字面意思是“考虑两遍”,引申为“仔细考虑”.

hand
意为“生手;没经验的人”.

and away
它可不是“很远”的意思,而是表示“无疑地”.
例:This is far and away the best book on how to play table tennis.这本书无疑是关于如何打乒乓球的最好的书。

a crack at sth./doing sth.
该短语意为“企图/尝试(做)某事”.
例:Have another crack at solving the problem.再试一试,把这个难题给解决了吧。

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