Exercise 练一练
1. What does fire away mean?:
a) you can ask me anything you want
b) it's safe to fire the gun
c) I think I can smell something burning
2. Which other expression has the same meaning as fire away?
3. Is fire away a friendly or unfriendly thing to say?
Script 文本阅读
You’re listening to British Council’s English Online Podcast and I’m Nina. Today on Language Snacks we take a look at the expression fire away. Let’s listen to the dialogue.
您现在收听的是英国领事馆英语在线栏目，我是尼娜。今天的语言小点心节目我们来学一下fire away 这个短语，一起来听下面的对话。
A: ...so that concludes my presentation today and I will now be happy to answer any questions you may have.
A:...今天我的演讲就到这里，欢迎大家有疑问尽管提。
B: Er, thank you for such an interesting talk. Could I just ask one question about the plans for a new building that you mentioned at the beginning?
B:唔，感谢您今天精彩的演说，我想问针对您开头提到的新式建筑的一些企划提一个问题，不知道我有没有这个荣幸？
A: Yes, of course. Fire away.
A：当然可以，问吧！
The expression fire away is an invitation to ask questions about anything you want. It's often used as a friendly and informal reply to someone who has said 'can I ask you something?', and is the same as saying 'go ahead'.
Fire away 是邀请对方问任何想问的问题的意思。通常是当别人问你“我能不能问您个问题？”时的友好且轻松的回答，也就是相当于说“go ahead”，请问吧。
Informal expressions like this can be used occasionally in formal situations, like the presentation example above, to make you sound relaxed, friendly and confident. It's important that your body language matches this message though, so try to smile when you say it!
像这样的非正式短语informal expressions有时候也可以用在正式场合，如上例演讲中，令人感觉轻松，随意，也更自信。但重点是此时你的身体语言要跟这种友好信号相搭配，说这句话的时候请面带微笑啊！
And that’s it for now – join us again for some more Language Snacks.
好了，今天的节目就到这里，欢迎大家继续关注下期语言小点心。
You’ve been listening to English Online – the podcast for English learners in China.
您正在收听的是英语在线，中国英语学习者的英语学习播客。
Key 参考答案
1. a
2. go ahead
3. friendly
