PETS－2语法讲解(189)

　　The champion won hands down.
　　对话 　　Annie: That tennis final was a bitdisappointing.
　　Velma: Was it? Why?
　　Annie: Well, everyone was expecting amuch closer contest.
　　Velma: What happened?
　　Annie: The champion won handsdown in straight sets.
　　Velma: Her opponent must have had a bad day.
　　Annie: Or perhaps she was just too tired from the previous rounds.
　　安妮：那场网球决赛有点令人失望。
　　维尔玛：是吗？为什么？
　　安妮：嗯，大家都以为比赛会是一场龙争虎斗。
　　维尔玛：结果怎样？
　　安妮：那冠军球手不费吹灰之力，盘盘取胜。
　　维尔玛：她的对手那天一定倒霉透了。
　　安妮：也许她只是因为经过多轮比赛，太过疲倦了。
　　安妮谈到网球决赛结果：The champion won hands down in straight sets。Set 有‘一套’的意思，例如a setof tools是‘一套工具’，网球赛以至少六局为一盘(a set of six or more games)，所以‘一盘’叫aset，而一场比赛则以三至五盘成绩分胜负。The tennis player won the set five tothree即‘那网球手以五比三赢了这一盘’。至于straight一字，本义是‘直的’，常引申解作‘连续的’，作形容词(adjective)或副词(adverb)都可以，例如：Ithas been raining for three straight hours/for three hours straight（雨不断下了三小时）。Thechampion won hands down in straight sets就是说她‘盘盘取胜’。Handsdown（双手放下）本是赛马术语，指骑师眼看自己遥遥，终点已近，不再动手鞭策马匹。因此，handsdown现在常用来说‘轻轻松松’，往往和win字连用，例如：(1) The home team won hands down as the otherteams were not particularly good（由于其它球队表现不济，主队轻易取胜）。(2) The boxer boasted thathe could beat his opponent hands down （那拳师夸口说可以轻易打败对手）。安妮说，最初大家都以为比赛会十分激烈：Everyone was expecting a much closercontest。Close作形容词，一般解作‘接近’；用来说竞赛，常指彼此相差不远或势均力敌。