节目简介

老师问你 “Do you understand the assignment?”，意思是 “你明白布置给你的作业是什么吗？” 不过，如果有人对你说 “You really understood the assignment!”，意思就变成了夸你 “干得真漂亮！”为什么同一句话，时态一变，意思就完全不同？听节目，跟主持人菲菲和 Georgie 一起学习流行语 “understood the assignment” 的意思和用法。

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（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Feifei
Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English, where we explain phrases and expressions used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them, too! I'm Feifei, and I'm joined by Georgie. How are you? What have you been up to this week?

Georgie
Well, something that's really exciting is that I went to a costume party. Um. The theme was 'fairytales', and my friend came as a fairy. She wore these amazing purple wings, she got her makeup and hair done professionally, and she looked incredible. She really understood the assignment.

Feifei
Oh wow, that sounds fun! But what do you mean she 'understood the assignment'? Assignments are usually something we do at school, like essays and coursework, but you're talking about a costume party.

Georgie
Yes. That's because 'understood the assignment' is now being used as a slang phrase, meaning that someone did something very well – they exceeded expectations. So, at the party I went to, lots of people didn't really make much of an effort, but my friend went out and bought accessories, she did her makeup…

Feifei
Right, so she knew what she had to do to impress people, and she achieved that. She understood the assignment.

Georgie
Yes, exactly.

Feifei
Oh, interesting. Well, I'd like to hear some more examples to fully understand the phrase.

Examples
I told my wife I wanted to eat something unusual and special for my birthday, and we had the most amazing meal in the craziest restaurant I've ever been to. She really understood the assignment.

We're hoping to get our bathroom redone this year, and we just got the designs through, and the designer really understood the assignment. It looks so amazing and so relaxing. I can't wait to get it done.

I asked the band to write a catchy, three-minute pop song with an unforgettable chorus, and they totally understood the assignment. I can't get it out of my head!

Feifei
你正在收听的是 BBC 英语教学制作的 “地道英语” 节目。在本期节目中，我们正在学习流行语 “understood the assignment” 的用法。“Understand the assignment” 的字面意思是 “理解一项任务的目标，知道该怎么完成”。不过，它的过去式 “understood the assignment” 已经演变成了一个流行语，用来夸奖某个人 “非常清楚自己的角色和任务，分寸拿捏到位，把事情完成得极其漂亮，甚至大获成功”。

OK, Georgie, I think I've got another example. I asked you to teach us an expression that you might not find in a typical dictionary, and you really understood the assignment.

Georgie
That's a great example, Feifei! And thank you very much. One thing to note is that we usually hear it in the past tense. That's because it's used to comment on what someone has done after it has happened as a way to compliment or praise them.

Feifei
是的。虽然 “understand the assignment” 夸奖一个人 “知道自己要做什么” 也不算错，但人们还是更常在他人成功之后，用这个表达的过去式 “understood the assignment” 来给出评价和赞美。除此之外，我们还可以用类似的表达 “go above and beyond” 来夸奖一个人 “为了追求极致，付出了额外的努力，表现超出预期”。

Georgie
Yes. 'Go above and beyond' means that a person does more than is required for the task.

Feifei
OK, let's recap. We learnt the expression 'understood the assignment', which we can use to praise someone when they knew exactly what they had to do, and did it well.

Georgie
Thanks for joining us. Bye!

Feifei
Bye!