PETS－2语法讲解(217)

They seem to have a lot in common.
　　对话
　　Theresa: Mandy and Tom seem to be spending a lot of time together lately.
　　Yvonne: Yes that's true. I've seen them at the swimming pool lately and at the cinema.
　　Theresa: They go on regular bike rides together too.
　　Yvonne: They seem to have a lot in common.
　　Theresa: Yes, they clearly like the same things.
　　Yvonne: I wonder if we'll be hearing wedding bells soon.
　　德莉莎：曼蒂和汤姆最近似乎常常在一起。
　　伊凤：没错，我最近在泳池、电*都见过他们。
　　德莉莎：他们还常常相约去骑脚踏车。
　　伊凤：他们似乎很有默契。
　　德莉莎：没错，他们看来都喜欢同样的东西。
　　伊凤：也许，我们不久就会听到婚礼的钟声了。
　　伊凤说曼蒂和汤姆似乎有很多共同的地方：Mandy and Tom seem to have a lot in common。Common除了解作‘普通’，还可解作‘共同’，所以I am but a common man固可译作‘我只是个普通人’，English is their common language却应译作‘英文是他们的共同语言’。把common language译作‘普通话’，其实是一大笑话。In common即‘共有’或‘共同’；要说‘和某某共有/共同’，可用with带出，例如：(1) Mandy seems to have a lot in common with Tom。(2) We are both Scorpios, but other than that we have nothing in common（我们两人都属天蝎座，但此外就没有什么共同的地方）。曼蒂、汤姆嗜好相似，经常走在一起，正合了一句英文成语：Like draws to like/Like attracts like/Like (will) to like。这个like是名词，指相似的人或物，例如：You are not comparing like with like是‘你学的似像非像的’；draw也有‘吸引’(attract)的意思，例如：He felt drawn to the quiet girl是‘他被那沉默的女郎吸引’。伊凤可以说：Like draws to like. I am starting to hear wedding bells for Mandy and Tom（同声相应，同气相求。我看曼蒂和汤姆的佳期近了）。在西方，教堂举办婚礼时会鸣钟，所以to hear (the sound of) wedding bells（听到结婚钟声）是说预料某人将结婚。例如你问一对情侣：Do I hear wedding bells?那就是说：‘你们快结婚了吧？’这是个暗喻，结婚钟声其实未有响起。