PETS－2语法讲解(183)

　　He’s definitely not in the running for the job.
　　对话 　　Oliver: Do you know who's being considered for the director's job?
　　Franz: I think one or two senior people in my department may well be.
　　Oliver: I know for a fact that Margaret Naylor is on the list.
　　Franz: What about Henry King?
　　Oliver: He's definitely not in the running for the job because he
　　hasn't got enough experience yet.
　　Franz: But I think he should be worth considering for promotion in a couple years' time.
　　奥立佛：你知道获考虑出任理事职位的人是谁吗？
　　弗朗茨：我所属部门有一两个高级职员很有可能上榜。
　　奥立佛：我可以肯定的是，名单上有玛格丽特．内勒。
　　弗朗茨：亨利．金呢？
　　奥立佛：他绝对没有机会获聘，因为他还没有足够经验。
　　弗朗茨：我想，两三年之后，他就应该可以获得晋升了。
　　He is definitely not in the running for the job一语，假如删去in the二字，意思会有什么分别？Run for是动词词组(phrasal verb)，意思是‘竞逐’，例如：He announced his intention to run for the presidency（他宣布有意竞逐总统职位）。这个意思的run也可作名词，例如:He made a run for the presidency（他竞逐总统职位）。He is definitely not running for the job即‘他绝对没有竞逐这个职位’。成语in the running却是‘很有机会获胜’的意思；‘完全没有机会’或‘被淘汰’，则是out of the running，例如：(1) Only three of the candidates for the teaching post are still in the running（申请教师席位者，只有三人有机会获聘）。(2) Lacking in experience, Henry King knows that he is out of the running for the job（亨利?金缺乏经验，自知没有机会获聘）。
　　留意今天那段对话里for a fact和may well 这两个说法。For a fact的意思是‘确实’或‘肯定’，用以强调说话者深信某事是真的，I know for a fact等于I am certain，例如：I know for a fact (= I am certain)that she doesn't love you/She doesn't love you. I know it for a fact（她并不喜欢你，这一点我可以肯定）。May 是‘可能’，加上well一字，则是‘很可能’，也作might/could well，例如：He may well know who that woman is（他很可能知道那个女人是谁）。