琳達: 大家聽好,我有好消息要宣佈。
霍華德: 什麼事?
茱莉: 咦?妳之前說情況緊急,我們今天一定得談談。
琳達: 我剛和泰瑞講完電話。看來這一季我們可以達到收支平衡。
茱莉: 那真是太棒了。我心頭上的重擔終於可以卸下來。
琳達: 沒錯。我們現在可以稍微放心點了。
茱莉: 妳說的沒錯。
break 表『打破』,even 表『相等的』。break even 就是指做生意『損益平衡,收支打平』。
Thirteen months into the business, I finally broke even.
(做這行 13 個月之後,我終於收支打平。)
以下介紹一些使用 break 這個字的慣用語:
break into... 闖入⋯⋯
Someone broke into his shop last night.
(昨晚他的店被闖空門了。)
go broke 破產
此處的 broke 是形容詞,表『破產的』,go 則譯成『變成』,相當於 become。
Unfortunately, the shop went broke and closed.
(很不幸,那家店破產倒閉了。)
In addition, our breakfast cereal division only broke even this year.
此外,本公司的穀類早餐部門今年僅收支平衡。
The thief broke into my house and stole a gold watch.
小偷闖入我家偷走了一只金錶。
Many businesses went broke during the Great Depression.
許多公司於經濟大蕭條期間都破產了。
The car broke down in the middle of nowhere.
這輛車子在荒郊野外拋錨了。
Sally has worked hard to break down the wall of fear and try something new.
莎莉努力打破恐懼之牆並嘗試新事物。
Should a nuclear war break out, it might be the end of the world.
如果核戰爆發,那恐怕會是世界末日。
As a supervisor, you're required to even out the distribution of work among your subordinates.
作為主管,你必須平均分配給下屬的工作。
I'll give you the money even if you can t pay me back.
即使你沒能力還錢,我還是會給你錢。
Even though he is poor, she still loves him.
雖然他窮,她仍愛他。
Matthew earns just enough money to make ends
meet.
馬修所得僅能勉強餬口。
The company tried to increase their profit margin by using poor-quality materials.
這間公司試圖使用低品質的物料來增加淨利率。
Could you please turn down the music? I am trying to take a rest.
可以麻煩你把音樂小聲一點我想要休息一下。
We've run out of coffee, so we'll have to make do with tea.
咖啡沒了,所以我們只能喝茶湊合一下。