紧接
上一讲
,我们来看看英语怎么表达“出乎意料”这个意思吧。
1.
the last person/thing/place (that) you would expect
: one that you did not expect, so that you are very surprised
备注:这是较口语化的用法。
例:
Mary's the last person you'd expect to be
stopped for drunk driving.
(你怎么也想不到玛丽会酒后驾车!)
It's such a quiet little village—it's the
last place you'd expect something like this to happen.
(这是个如此宁静的小村庄,你怎么也想不到这儿会发生这样的事。)
2.
catch somebody off guard/catch somebody unawares
: to happen or do something when someone is not expecting it and not
ready to deal with it
备注:类似的用法还有
"catch
somebody unprepared", "catch somebody by surprise", "take
somebody unawares"
等等。
例:
They were caught unprepared
by the
crisis. = The crisis caught them unawares.
(危机发生,他们毫无准备,措手不及。)
I was caught unawares by the hug and the
kiss he gave me.
(他对我又亲又抱,我有点措手不及。)
The question caught me completely unawares.
(这个问题问得我措手不及。)
Her rude comments really caught me off
guard.
(她出口成“脏”,令我大吃一惊。)
The news caught me by surprise.
(这个消息使我大吃一惊。)
3.
contrary to expectations
: if
something happens contrary to expectations, it is the opposite of what people
expected to happen
备注:这是很正式的说法。
例:
Contrary to expectations, the play was a
big success.
(出乎大家意料,这部戏相当成功。)
contrary to somebody's expectations
Michael won the competition, contrary to
everyone's expectations.
(出乎大家意料,迈克尔在比赛中取胜。)
4.
unannounced
: happening
unexpectedly, because no one was told about it
例:
The teacher gave the students an
unannounced test.
(老师来了个突击考试。)
Investigators from the health department
made unannounced visits to the hospital in March.
(
3
月份,卫生部调查人员对这所医院进行了突击检查。)
arrive unannounced/show up unannounced
They arrived announced at my door.
(他们突然出现在我家门口。)
My brother is famous for showing up at our
houses unannounced, usually around dinner time.
(我弟弟经常空降别人家,尤其是在饭点。)
5.
in your wildest dreams
: if something
happens that you did not expect in your wildest dreams, it is so good that you
never thought that there was any possibility that it could happen
例:
In our wildest dreams, we could not have
expected how successful this program would be.
(我们做梦也想不到,这个计划会这么成功。)
never in somebody's wildest dreams
(注意后面接的句子要倒装!)
Never in her wildest dreams had she
imagined she would win the gold medal.
(她做梦也想不到自己会得金牌。)
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it
would be so much fun.
(我做梦也想不到,那儿会这么有意思。)
6.
more than you (had) bargained for
:
if you get more than you had bargained for, you have more problems or
difficulties while doing something than you had expected or prepared for
例:
The job ended up being more than I had
bargained for.
(这份工作比我想象的要难。)
Their summer vacation turned out to be much
more expensive than they'd bargained for.
(他们暑假开销比预想的贵多了。)
We got more than we bargained for when we
bought the house. There's so much work to be done!
(真正买房子比想象的要复杂,要处理很多事。)
I got more than I bargained for when I
signed up as a volunteer.
(当一名真正的志愿者比想象的要难。)