單詞背后的故事

“單詞背后的故事”是一個電臺節目，通過講故事和舉例子，讓英語學習者更系統地了解到英語習語的意思與用法。當然，要學以致用才能真正掌握這些習語哦。本期節目將介紹與數字“1”有關的習語——注意咯，太簡單的小編就不再解釋啦，我們要向“一”級難度挑戰！Ready? Go!

Today I will tell about

expressions using numbers， let us start with the number one. Numbers can be tricky， on the one hand， they are simply numbers; on the other hand， they have meanings. I 1)for one use these expressions a lot.

Many people consider themselves 2)number one， the most important person. They are always looking out for number one， and taking care of number one. It is as if they are the 3)one and only person on earth. Some people， however， are not so self-centered， my borther is such a person. It is true， no joke， I am not trying to 4)pull a fast one on you. First you have to understand that my brother is 5)one in a million， he is such a nice person， all his friends like him， they consider him 6)one of the boys. Recently， my brother had a bad day at the office. It was just 7)one of those days， nothing went right， so he stopped at a local bar， a drinking place after leaving work. My brother planned to have a glass of beer with his friends， 8)a quick one before he went home. But a quick one turned into one or two， and soon those became 9)one too many. As my brother was leaving， he ordered a last drink， 10)one for the road. His friends became concerned， one by one， they asked him if he was able to drive home safely.

Now my brother is a wise and calm person; he is 11)at one with himself， he recognizes when he has had too much alcohol to drink， so he accepted an offer for a ride home from a female friend.

At one time， in the past， my brother had been in love with this woman. She is a great person: kind， thoughtful and intelligent， all good qualities 12)rolled up into one， but sadly， their relationship did not work. He always used to say， “ 13)One of these days I am going to marry this girl.” But that never happened. For one thing， she did not love him as much as he loved her. It was just 14)one of those things. The situation was regretable， and my brother had to accept it. But even now， he considers her 15)the one that got away， however， they are still friends， and because my brother had been kind to her， she felt that 16)one good turn deserves another， he was good to her and she wanted to help him in return. So she drove him home.

If my brother had driven home from the bar that night， his number would have been up; something bad would have happened. Thankfully he made it home safely， and he and the woman are back to 17)square one – they are back to where they started， being friends.

Notes

1) for one 作為其中一個，舉例來說

2) number one 頭號人物，重要人物

3) one and only 唯一的，真正的，[美俚]情人

4) pull a fast one on sb. [美俚]欺騙某人，搗鬼

5) one in a million 萬里挑一，杰出的（one in a thousand 百里挑一，杰出的）

6) one of the boys/girls 群體中廣受歡迎的男/女生

7) one of those days 倒霉的日子

8) a quick one [美俚]匆匆一口喝下去的酒

9) one too many 多余的一個，[美口]過量的酒

10) one for the road [口]臨走前的最后一杯酒

（以示送行）

11) at one with oneself 心平氣和，清楚自己的想法

12) roll up into one 合為一體

13) one of these days 總有一天

14) one of those things 命中注定的事

15) the one that got away 喜歡但得不到的人或事，也可用來指本已到手卻在最后一秒逃脫的獵物

16) one good turn deserves another 禮尚往來，善有善報

17) square one 起點，原點