Someproblemsaredifficulttosolve.Buttherearealotofnumberexpressionsthatcanhelp.Forexample,ifweputtwoandtwotogether,wemightcomeupwiththerightanswer.Weknowthattwoheadsarebetterthanone.Itisalwaysbettertoworkwithanotherpersontosolveaproblem.有些问题难以解决,但是很多数字短语会有所帮助。例如,如果我们根据事实推理(puttwoandtwotogether)我们就能得出正确答案。我们知道人多智广(twoheadsarebetterthanone),通常情况下,与他人合作解决问题比自己单干更好。Sometimestherearenotwowaysaboutit.Someproblemshaveonlyonesolution.Youcannotbeoftwomindsoverthis.有时候一些问题别无选择(therearenotwowaysaboutit),只有一个解决办法,你就不能对此犹豫不决(oftwominds)。Butwithanyluck,wecouldsolvetheproblemintwoshakesofalamb'stail.Wecouldhaveouranswersquicklyandeasily.但幸运的话,我们能迅速(twoshakesofalamb'stail)解决问题。Sometimeswecankilltwobirdswithonestone.Thatis,wecancompletetwogoalswithonlyoneeffortoraction.Butwemustrememberthattwowrongsdon'tmakearight.Ifsomeonedoessomethingbadtoyou,youshouldnotdothesametohim.有时,我们能一箭双雕(killtwobirdswithonestone),也就是说,我们通过一次努力或者行动就能达成两个目标。但是我们必须要记住:负负不得正(twowrongsdon'tmakearight),如果有人冒犯了你,你不应该以牙还牙。Ifyouaregoingoutwithyourgirlfriend,orboyfriend,youdonotwantanotherfriendtogoalongonyourdate.Youcanjustsaytoyourfriend:two'scompany,three'sacrowd.如果你和男(或女)朋友出去约会,不希望另一个朋友搅合你们的约会。你只需对这个朋友说:“俩人结伴,三人添乱(two'scompany,three'sacrowd)。”WhenIwasayoungchildinschool,IhadtolearnthethreeR's.Theseimportantskillsarereading,writingandarithmetic.ThesethreewordsdonotallstartwiththeletterR.ButtheyhavethesoundofR.MyteachersusedtogivethreecheerswhenIdidwellinmath.Theygavepraiseandapprovalforajobwelldone.当我还在上学的时候,我必须学习三个“R”,这三个重要技能就是阅读,写作和算术。这三个词并不都以字母R开头,但是发音都含有R。当我数学表现不错的时候,我的老师通常会为我欢呼三声(givethreecheers),这是人们对一项做得好的工作给予的表扬和肯定。Someofmyfriendswereconfusedanddidnotunderstandtheirschoolwork.Theywereatsixesandsevens.Infact,theydidnotcareiftheyfinishedhighschool.Theysawlittledifferencebetweenthetwochoices.Sixofone,halfadozentheother–thatwastheirposition.Buttheywerereallyhappywhentheycompletedtheirstudiesandgraduatedfromhighschool.Theywereinseventhheaven.Theywereoncloudnine.我有一些朋友被弄得晕头转向,不懂自己的功课,他们简直就是乱七八糟(atsixesandsevens)。实际上,他们不在乎是否读完高中,他们认为两者是半斤八两(Sixofone,halfadozentheother)没有区别--这就是他们的观点。但是,当他们完成学业高中毕业时真是欣喜若狂。注:inseventhheaven/oncloudnine:字面意思是第7个天堂,九霄云外,寓意都是欣喜若狂;喜出望外;兴高采烈。Ninetimesoutoften,studentswhodowellinschoolfindgoodjobs.Someworkinanofficedoingthesamethingseverydayatnine-to-fivejobs.Youdonothavetodresstothenines,orwearyourbestclothes,forthiskindofwork.在学校表现好的学生十有八九(Ninetimesoutoften)都找到了不错的工作,一些人每天朝九晚五(nine-to-five)的在办公室做着同样的工作,做这些工作你不必衣着光鲜(dresstothenines)。Lastyear,oneofmyfriendsappliedforabetterjobatheroffice.Ididnotthinkshewouldgetit.Ithoughtshehadahundredtooneshotatthejob.Otherpeopleatherofficethoughtherchanceswereamilliontoone.Onereasonwasthatshehadbeencaughtcatchingfortywinksattheoffice.Shesleptatherdeskforshortperiodsduringtheday.Buthersupervisorappointedhertothenewjobattheeleventhhour--attheverylastminute.Iguessherluckynumbercameup.去年,我一个朋友申请了她办公室一个更好的工作,我认为她得不到这个工作,这种可能性很小(ahundredtooneshot)。她办公室的其他人也觉得她的机会微乎其微(amilliontoone),其中一个原因是她在办公室打盹(fortywinks)被抓现行,但是她的主管在最后时刻(attheeleventhhour)把这项新工作指派给了她,我猜她是中彩了(luckynumbercameup)。