美國(guó)習(xí)慣用語：919 acid test 關(guān)鍵性的測(cè)試

我有個(gè)朋友，做得一手好菜，每次朋友聚會(huì)她都專門負(fù)責(zé)掌勺?，F(xiàn)在她考慮自己開飯館，不過她做事很謹(jǐn)慎，想先試試自己有沒有這個(gè)本事。這讓我想到一個(gè)習(xí)慣用語：acid test.

Acid test意思是關(guān)鍵性的測(cè)試。我朋友廚藝不凡，但開飯館可不是廚藝好就行，她決定先承辦一些公司或家庭宴會(huì)，看看自己有沒有本事提供全套服務(wù)。

這對(duì)她開飯館的計(jì)劃來說，就是關(guān)鍵性的測(cè)試。這種測(cè)試在商業(yè)中常見，比如下面這個(gè)公司：

例句-1：This company has been conducting surveys about their new product ideas. One of them is for an umbrella with a battery-operated light in its handle. Respondents expressed interest in keeping dry while being able to see where they're going in the dark. But would they actually buy such an invention? That would be the acid test.

這段話是說：這個(gè)公司一直在對(duì)一些新的產(chǎn)品理念進(jìn)行調(diào)研。一個(gè)理念是在雨傘把兒上安裝用電池的燈。受訪者都說，他們?cè)敢獯騻銜r(shí)一舉兩得，即不被雨淋濕，又能在黑夜里看到路。不過，他們會(huì)不會(huì)掏錢買這種新產(chǎn)品呢?那將是具有決定性的關(guān)鍵問題。

看來，對(duì)消費(fèi)者心理的初期調(diào)研并不是那么重要，關(guān)鍵是要看產(chǎn)品預(yù)售的情況。如果賣得好，公司就會(huì)大規(guī)模生產(chǎn)和宣傳，否則，這個(gè)產(chǎn)品理念就只能是空中樓閣。

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在下面這段話中，一位政客的影響力將受到考驗(yàn)。我們來聽聽：

例句-2：Representative Miller has been talking about stopping immigrants from working in the city. Those views have clearly helped her gain the support of conservative voters. Yet next week's primary election will be her acid test. That's when we'll find out whether she can appeal to enough independent voters to become her party's candidate for mayor.

這段話意思是：市議員米勒一直大談不讓移民進(jìn)入本市工作。很顯然，這種觀點(diǎn)幫她贏得了保守派選民的支持。不過，下周的初選將是她政治前途的關(guān)鍵風(fēng)向標(biāo)。到時(shí)候，我們就能看出她是否能贏得足夠獨(dú)立選民的支持，代表她所在的政黨去競(jìng)選市長(zhǎng)。

Acid test原本的意思是酸性測(cè)試。在19世紀(jì)中期，美國(guó)興起淘金熱。淘金者在找到酷似黃金的金屬后，就會(huì)拿酸性物質(zhì)來測(cè)試一下，看看別是鐵或銅。所以，acid test后來就被引伸為“關(guān)鍵性測(cè)試”