no standing 与free-standing:
no standing 意思是不准在此停车,即使司机还在车上也不行。也就是“don't stop”或“no car at all”,通常用在大城市交通十分拥挤的地方。至于“no parking”,意思也是不准在此停车,但司机还可以坐在车里一段时间,必要时,可随时移动车子,也就是“you may stay in your car for a short period of time。”
例如:Walking along the street, I saw a “no standing” sign。
走在路上,我看到一个“不准停车”的路牌。In New York City there are many “no standing” signs (posted) on the streets。
在纽约市,路上有许多“不准停车”的牌子。
“No parking” signs sprang up around the school campus。
校园里出现一些“不准停车”的路牌。
spring up = appeared 也就是说:……Signs were put up around……但是free-standing是形容词,意思是独立式的,多指为特别用途而盖的单独建筑物或指一大建筑特的某种装饰。
例如:
There is a new free-standing restaurant near the downtown area。
在市中心区附近有座新的独立餐馆
Mr. A built a free-standing shoe store behind the mall。
A先生在采购中心后面盖了一栋独立鞋店)The free-standing design does not overpower the rest of the buildings surrounding it。(这种独立式的设计,不会影响其他建筑物的外观。)(overpower=distract压倒或扰乱)
break the house与housebreak:
housebreak 是指训练狗、猫等宠物,使其能在指定的地点大、小便,以保持家里的卫生。
例如:The dog (或cat) has been housebroken。或My dog is housebroken。(多半用被动语态)但也有人用主动语态。
例如:
Pet owners should housebreak their dogs and cats。
宠物主人应该训练狗猫的卫生习惯。
或者可以说 Housebreaking is necessary for cats and dogs。
但是“break the house”是指破坏了房子。
例如:
Accidentally, he broke the house by backing up his car。
他倒车时,意外碰坏了房子。(broke=damaged)
The house was broken by a hurricane。
风破坏了房子。
但用在赌场(casino)时,又指赢了一大笔钱(won lots of money)
kick off与 tip off:
kick off意思是指任何事情的正式开始,有时也指球赛。
例如:
Our school has recently kicked off a mass fundraising campaign。
我们学校最近发动一次大规划的筹款运动。
We will kick off the no-smoking drive。
我们将要发动戒烟运动。
They are going to kick off the football game tomorrow。
他们明天正式开始足球赛。
多半是用主动语态,有时也用被动。
例如:
The fund–raising campaign was kicked off by a millionaire。
一位百万富翁发起捐款运动。
但是,tip off 虽然也指开始,不过多半是指篮球开赛前,裁判开球让两边球员跳球。例如:The players tipped off the basketball game at 2:00 yesterday afternoon。
篮球赛于昨天下午两点开始。
注意:to tip(someone)off意思又是通知某人(to inform someone)
例如:
I will tip him off about this breaking news。
我要告诉他最新消息。(breaking=latest)
有时也用tip off him about……