內容簡介

Neil 穿著背心短褲，頭戴吸汗帶，一身跑步行頭來到錄音間還對菲菲說他要“bust a gut 弄破內臟”。真嚇人！他到底在干什么？聽節目，學習一個和“努力工作”有關的習慣表達。

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（關于臺詞的備注: 請注意這不是廣播節目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能沒有體現錄制、編輯過程中對節目做出的改變。）

Neil
Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English. I'm Neil and joining me is Feifei.

Feifei                                                 
大家好！

Neil
In this programme we have an expression which means 'to make a great effort to achieve something'.

Feifei
Neil, why are you wearing that running gear in the studio? Neil 穿著一身跑步的行頭來上班，好像有點兒不太合適。I'm not sure that shorts and a vest are appropriate for the workplace! As for those sweatbands…

Neil
Well, Feifei, it's because I'm desperate to get fit. You see, I'm running a marathon at the end of the month and I've barely started training. I'm really going to have to bust a gut to be ready in time.

Feifei
Yes, you really do need to start training but surely busting a gut is not going to help!

Neil
I'm not going to bust my gut literally! To bust a gut means 'to make a huge effort to achieve something'. Imagine working so hard your stomach – or gut – actually breaks!

Feifei
Urgh! Here are some examples of the expression 'to bust a gut'.

Examples
We're going to have to bust a gut to get this report done by tomorrow. We're only half-way through and it's already 7pm.

The problem with today's millionaire footballers is they're not prepared to bust a gut for their national team.

There are train strikes and the traffic is terrible. I had to bust a gut to get here on time today.

Neil
To bust a gut – to make a great effort to achieve something.

Feifei
To bust a gut 的意思是非常努力得做某事以達到目標，可以理解為漢語里常說的“拼了命地干活，玩兒了命地工作”。從例句中可以看出，to bust a gut 即可以用來描述體力活動也可以描述非體力的活動和事情。

Neil
Yes so come on Feifei. We need to bust a gut to get this programme finished so I can go out for a training run.

Feifei
Alright, alright, we're done now – go and bust a gut.

Neil
I'm off – bye!