【句子】-- The police have finally released Rex's body.
-- About time! 【Desperate Housewives S2E5】
【发音】 /ðə/ /pəˈliːs/ /hæv/ /ˈfaɪ.nə.li/ /rɪˈliːst/ /reksɪz/ /ˈbɒd.i/ /ˈbɑː.di/ /əˈbaʊt/ /taɪm/
【发音技巧】released Rex's不完全爆破;About time失去爆破;
【翻译】-- 警方终于同意归还雷克斯的尸体了。
-- 早该如此了!
【适用场合】
在英文中,about time就相当于high time,
可以理解成“早就该做这件事情了;这件事情早该做了”;
It is an expression used to emphasize that something should have occurred a long time ago.
细心的同学看下面例句,应该会发现虚拟语气的身影。
eg: It's about time (that) the school improved its meals service.
学校早就该改进餐饮服务了。
eg: It is high time for Europe to take responsibility for its own defence.
欧洲早就应该自己承担防御责任了。
eg: Well, about time you got here—I've been waiting for over an hour!
你早该到了,怎么现在才来,我都等你超过一个小时了。
eg: They finally paid me my money. It's about time!
他们终于把钱付我了,早该这么做了!
eg: It's about time you went to bed.
你早就该上床睡觉了。(现在已经太晚了)
口语中about甚至可以直接读成bout time!
eg: A: "Tom finally moved out of his parents' house."
B: "Bout time! He's 40 years old."
A:“汤姆终于从爸妈家搬出来了。”
B:“早该这么做了!他都40岁了!”
【尝试翻译以下句子,并留言在文章留言区】
It's about time that high schools taught their students about basic banking and finance.