Toss-up 扔上去
The Very Reverend Keith Jukes tosses a pancake during a race. Photo by Anna Gowthorpe.
今日短語
今日小常識
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent begins in the Christian church. In England, it is also known as ‘Pancake Day’ because traditionally pancakes are eaten on this day. This is because pancakes are made from ingredients that need to be used up (sugar, butter, eggs and flour) before the 40-day fast begins.
懺悔星期二是基督教的大齋期開始的前一天。在英國人們也稱這一天為煎餅節，因為這一天的傳統食品是煎薄餅。而煎薄餅的原材料比如白糖，黃油，雞蛋和面粉在為期40天的大齋期開始前都必須吃掉。
動詞 toss 的意思是扔，擲。如果某個形勢被形容為 a toss-up, 那么就意味著兩種不同結果發生的幾率是一樣的。
例句
It's a toss-up between pancakes and risotto tonight. I'm not sure what to cook yet.
We haven't recruited a presenter yet, but it's a toss-up between Sarah and Julie.
My boyfriend doesn't know what he wants for his birthday yet. It's a toss-up between a new mobile phone and an e-reader.
請注意
The expression 'toss up' comes from the habit of tossing a coin in the air and guessing whether it will fall on 'heads' or 'tails' when we want to decide between alternatives. For example:
短語 toss up 的由來是以前人們把硬幣拋向空中，然后猜一猜是正面 heads 還是背面 tails 朝上。人們往往用這種方式來決定作出哪種選擇來解決問題。比如:
My friend wanted to go to the cinema but I really wanted to go ice-skating instead. We tossed a coin to decide: I chose 'heads' and won!
Neither of them wanted to do the washing up, so they tossed a coin. They decided if it landed on 'heads' she would have to do it, and if it landed on 'tails' he would.
