【英语早间课堂】A Chace in a Million

 Good morning , my buddies¹. I'm so glad to meet you via network. I'm hoping that we could spend a wonderful morning together.大家好，我是Juliet, 很高兴又和大家在空中见面了。希望能和您在此度过一个美好的清晨。

【直击主题】 This morning I'd like to talk about an idiom which can express little possibility of doing something. What's it ? Let's listen to a simple situation dialogue.

A : Do you thing you can get the project?

B : It's a chance in a million. I hear John is interested in it. A : I see. After all , John is the boss's son.

B : But, anyway, I will have a try .

【答疑解惑】

Okay, guys , have you spotted² it? It is " A CHANCE IN A MILLION". "A chance in a million" 直译就是“一百万中的一次机会”，wow , a million一百万，才得到a chance, it's really hard to get it and it's really takes time. So the Chinese for it are : 很小的机会，微乎其微的机会，一丝机会，一种粗俗的说法还可以说成是：狗屎运。

【咬文嚼字】

What's more, a chance in a million is an phrase belonging to a noun form. And in a million is preposition phrase which modifies "chance". As we know, 既然是介词短语修饰限定了前面的名词，some people maybe think that " a" should be changed to " the". Nope, do don't think so for an idiom is a set expression from people's life , which can't be judged if it's right or wrong in grammar rules sometimes. This is just what I want to emphasize. 这正是我要强调的一点，a chance in a million 中的 in a million 是介词短语，作后置定语，修饰前面的 chance, 照常理来说，就然有了修饰与限制，那么就应该定冠词 the， 而不是不定冠词 a. 但是我们要知道习语使人们在生活中的口头语言，很多是无法用语法规则去言论他的对错的。So it's fine that we just keep it in our mind by rote³ : a change in a million.

【学以致用】

How should we use it? Since it's a phrase of a noun form, verbs can be put in front of it as object . For example: HVE A CHANCE IN A MILLION which equals to have almost no chance or GIVE A CHANCE IN A MILLION. 意思是有个微乎其微的机会，给予很小的机会。Let's look at example sentences. We haven't a chance in a million of winning. 我们胜利的机会微乎其微。Political experts gave him little chance of winning the nomination⁴, because most Democrats⁵ didn't know him. 政治家说他赢得提名的机会很小，因为大部分的民主党人士不认识他。 Since it is a phrase of a noun form, it can be used as predicative. For example : It's a million of chance.这是个千载难逢的机会。

【拓展视野】

Of course we have many ways to take place of " a chance in a million " . Let's have a summary.

1 a poor chanceFor example: A chance of getting the job were por, so the young man felt gloomy about the future. 得到这份工作的机会很小, 所以这位青年人感到前途渺茫。

2 a slim chanceFor example: Her chance of success is slim. 她成功的机会很小。

3 little chance ( 备注： 这个短语前面不要加 a .)For example: On the face of things, Ms Menchú has little chance of winning. 从许多方面看，门楚夫人获胜的机会都很小。 4 little possibilityFor example: There's little posibility of being the case or coming about. 还是有很小的机会存在或发生的。

5 The odds⁶ against somebody. For example: The odds are against us. 我们成功的机会很小。

【小题大作】

Let's come to the dialogue study. Please listen to the recording⁷ and write down the key phrases. A : Do you thing you can get the project?

B : It's a chance in a million. I hear John is interested in it. A : I see. After all , John is the boss's son.

B : But, anyway, I will have a try . And now have you done. Let's come to the phrase accumulation.

【日积月累】

1 get the project 得到这项工程做2 a chance in a million 极小的机会3 I see . 我明白了。

4 after all 毕竟5 have a try 试一试6 be interested in 对......感兴趣【口语句型】

1 I hear + 宾语从句 我听说......

2 Do you think + 宾语从句 你认为......怎样？

【会话翻译】

A: 你认为你能得到这个工程吗？

B : 机会很小，我听说John 对它很感兴趣。

A : 我知道了，毕竟John是老板的儿子。

B : 但是不论如何，我也要试一试看看。

All right , it's time to say goodbye to you. Have a nice day . Thank you for your listening this time. See you next time. 好了，又要和大家在空中告别了，祝您有个愉快的一天，感谢您的这次收听，下次再会。

【温故知新】

【翻译练习】

1 Please translate the following sentence into English. All right , everyone have a try to translate the following sentences into English. 1 尽管巴斯曼夫人熟知这个情况,但她仍然认为自己的想法仍有百万分之一的可能性。 2 真是走狗屎运,他本该在那一天摔断了他的腿。

I'll give you some tips which could help you do it. 1 第一句用个从属连词讲真个句子翻译为让步状语从句，从句中的关键短语是 “be acquainted with”, 主句用同位语从句进行翻译。

2 第二句要进行意译。真个句子上形式主语和主语从句进行，在从句中用上虚拟语气。

Let's look at the answers:

1 Though Mrs Bussman was fully⁸ acquainted with this story, she thought that there was a chance in a million that she might be right.

2 It was a chance in a million that he should have broken his leg on that particular day.

2 请用不同的方式改写下面这句话。

If we have seen a black flower, it's a chance in a million.

若我们见过黑花,那是百万分之一的机会。 Let's look at the answers: It's a poor chance in a million for us to see a black flower. We would get little chance of seeing a black flower.

There 's little possibility of seeing a black flower.

It's a slim chance for us to see a black flower.

【口语练习】

1 Please translate the dialogue in Chinese into English orally.

A: 你认为你能得到这个工程吗？

B : 机会很小，我听说John 对它很感兴趣。

A : 我知道了，毕竟John是老板的儿子。

B : 但是不论如何，我也要试一试看看。

2 Please read the dialogue until you can blurt⁹ it out while listening to the recording.

【听力练习】

Please listen to the dialogue and make a dictation. A : Do you thing you can get the project?

B : It's a chance in a million. I hear John is interested in it. A : I see. After all , John is the boss's son.

B : But, anyway, I will have a try .

 

转自可可英语

1 buddies   

n.密友( buddy的名词复数 )；同伴；弟兄；（用于称呼男子，常带怒气）家伙v.（如密友、战友、伙伴、弟兄般）交往( buddy的第三人称单数 )；做朋友；亲近（…）；伴护艾滋病人

参考例句：

• We became great buddies. 我们成了非常好的朋友。 来自辞典例句
• The two of them have become great buddies. 他们俩成了要好的朋友。 来自辞典例句

2 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

3 rote   

n.死记硬背，生搬硬套

参考例句：

• Learning by rote is discouraged in this school.这所学校不鼓励死记硬背的学习方式。
• He recited the poem by rote.他强记背诵了这首诗。

4 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

7 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 blurt   

vt.突然说出，脱口说出

参考例句：

• If you can blurt out 300 sentences,you can make a living in America.如果你能脱口而出300句英语，你可以在美国工作。
• I will blurt out one passage every week.我每星期要脱口而出一篇短文！