The english we speak(BBC教学)第302期:Bust a gut 拼命努力
Neil's wearing a vest, shorts and sweatbands in the recording studio. It's because he's in training for a marathon — but he has less than a month to prepare. He uses an expression that means 'to make a great effort'.
尼尔穿着背心短裤、头戴吸汗带来到演播室录节目。这是因为他正在进行马拉松训练，但是他的准备时间只剩不到一个月了。他用了一个表达方式来表示“付出巨大努力”。Neil: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Neil and joining me is Feifei.
尼尔：大家好，欢迎收听地道英语节目。我是尼尔，今天和我一起主持节目的是菲菲。Feifei: Hi everyone.
菲菲：大家好。
Neil: In this programme we have an expression which means 'to make a great effort to achieve something'.
尼尔：本期节目我们要讲一个表示“付出巨大努力去实现目标”的表达方式。Feifei: Neil, why are you wearing that running gear in the studio? I'm not sure that shorts and a vest are appropriate for the workplace! As for those sweatbands...
菲菲：尼尔，你为什么在演播室里穿着跑步装备？我不确定短裤和背心在工作场所是否合适！至于那个吸汗带……Neil: Well, Feifei, it's because I'm desperate to get fit. You see, I'm running a marathon at the end of the month and I've barely started training. I'm really going to have to bust a gut to be ready on time.
尼尔：菲菲，因为我极需要进行健身。你看，我月底要参加马拉松，可是我刚刚开始训练。为了能及时做好准备，我必须要拼命努力。Feifei: Yes, you really do need to start training but surely busting a gut is not going to help!
菲菲：对，你确实要开始训练了，但是毁了肠子肯定没有用！Neil: I'm not going to bust my gut literally! To bust a gut means 'to make a huge effort to achieve something'. Imagine working so hard that your stomach — or gut — actually breaks!
尼尔：我不会照字面意思毁了我的肠子的！bust a gut这个短语的意思是“为了达到目标付出巨大努力”。想象一下，因为工作太拼命，你的胃或是肠子确实可能会坏掉的！Feifei: Urgh! Here are some examples of the expression 'to bust a gut':
菲菲：呃！下面来听几个例句：Examples
例句We're going to have to bust a gut to get this report done by tomorrow. We're only half-way through and it's already 7pm.
要在明天完成这份报告，我们必须要拼命努力。现在已经7点了，而我们只完成了一半。The problem with today's millionaire footballers is they're not prepared to bust a gut for their national team.
问题是现在的百万富翁球员并不准备为国家队拼尽全力。There are train strikes and the traffic is terrible. I had to bust a gut to get here on time today.
因为发生了火车相撞事故，交通状况非常糟糕。所以为了今天能按时到达这里，我不得不拼命努力。Neil: To bust a gut — to make a great effort to achieve something.
尼尔：bust a gut就是拼命努力去实现目标。Feifei: As you can see from the examples, we can use 'to bust a gut' to talk about non-physical activities as well.
菲菲：从例句中可以看出来，我们也可以用这个短语来谈论非体育活动。Neil: Yes so come on Feifei. We need to bust a gut to get this programme finished so I can go out for a training run.
尼尔：没错，菲菲，快点吧。我们要拼命努力把这期节目做完，然后我就可以去进行马拉松训练了。Feifei: Alright, alright, we're done now — go and bust a gut.
菲菲：好吧，好吧，我们现在已经做完节目了，去拼命训练吧。Neil: I'm off — bye!
尼尔：我走了，再见！
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重点讲解：
1. as for 至于…；
例句：As for my past, I'm not telling you anything.
关于我的过去，我什么都不会告诉你。
2. bust a gut 努力（做…)；
例句：You can bust a gut sixteen hours a day, seven days a week, but if your product is lousy, you've wasted your time.
你可以一周7天、一天16小时地拼命劳作，但是如果产品质量低劣，你就白费时间了。
3. on time 准时；按时；
例句：The lazy student never do his homework on time.
这个懒惰的学生从没有按时做他的家庭作业。
4. be prepared to do sth. 愿意（做…）的；
例句：He's prepared to match against all comers.
他已准备好和所有前来比赛的人进行较量。
