美國習慣用語：815 has had its day

我先要考考大家。你們都知道，一美元等于一百美分。誰能說出一美分one cent的另外一個名字?(Tickers, and Buzzer Sound) 時間到!如果你說的是penny, 那就對了。Penny以前還挺值錢的，可如今，早就沒人想要了，很多美國人甚至主張讓美分退休。這倒提醒了我。今天我們學習的習慣用語就是：has had its day.

如果說什么東西has had its day, 意思就是這種東西已經(jīng)沒什么用，不再受歡迎，不象以前那么成功了。換句話說，就是過時了。什么是你最喜歡的交通工具?讓我們聽聽下面這個記者的報導。

例句-1：Until very recently, travelers in the U.S. have chosen to get on an airplane for quick and affordable transportation. So has the train had its day? Maybe not. Because of increased security at airports and higher airfares, many passengers have shown a renewed interest in rail service. It may become popular once again.

這個記者說：直到最近一段時間，很多美國人出門旅游，還喜歡坐飛機，因為飛機速度快，價錢又不貴。那是不是說火車已經(jīng)過時了?這可不一定。由于機場加強安檢，機票又不斷漲價，很多游客又開始轉向火車了。沒準火車會重新受到歡迎呢!

沒錯，我就喜歡坐火車。雖然火車不如飛機快，但是坐火車很舒服，而且現(xiàn)在飛機的燃料價格不斷上升，都轉嫁到了乘客的身上，機票越來越貴。

還有什么東西是has had its day，過時的呢?比如說，電報，肯定大家都同意。 Telegram has had its day . 再比如說，報紙。估計有一部分人同意。那Internet因特網(wǎng)呢?因特網(wǎng)如日中天，正火呢，肯定不能說it has had its day. 還有啊，現(xiàn)在大家都上網(wǎng)購物，Shopping mall，購物中心是不是過時了呢?那恐怕也不盡然。

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Has had its day這個習慣用語也可以用在人身上，比如說早已沒人提起的老電影明星，我們就可以說，She has had her day. 下面讓我們聽聽一名消防隊員是怎么說他的老隊長的。

例句-2：I have the greatest respect for the fire chief. Over the last thirty years, he's been a courageous leader. But, frankly, he has had its day. Firefighting has changed and it's time we appoint a successor who can take on new challenges.

這個消防隊員說：我對我們隊長有著無限的敬意。過去三十年來，他一直是我們的領導，勇氣過人。但是坦率地講，他那一套已就過時了。消防工作日新月異，他需要一個能夠接受新挑戰(zhàn)的接班人。

既然有過輝煌的事業(yè)，那么急流勇退也沒有什么不好。我昨天晚上看電視，是兩個喜劇表演的老搭檔。我從小就是看他們的節(jié)目長大的，可是40年過去的，同樣的笑話他們今天還在講。I really believe they have had their day.

大家可能會問，這種說法是從哪里來的? Has had its day，這個習慣用語最早可以追溯到16世紀。Every dog has its day. 意思是所有人都會有得意的日子，也就是我們常說的風水輪流轉。