Hello, I‘m Feifei and this is The English We Speak.

大家好，我是菲菲，欢迎收看BBC地道英语。

And hello, this is Rob. And it’s an important day in the office today, isn’t it Feifei?

大家好，我是罗伯。今天可是办公室的重要日子，是不是，菲菲？

Err, is it?

呃……是吗？

Yes, it is! Remember that big project we’ve all been working on?

当然是！还记得我们一直做的那个大项目吗？

Errr. A big project?

呃……什么大项目？

Yes, well it’s crunch time.

好吧，现在可是“crunch time”。

Oh great – I’m starving. I’ll get my crisps.

哇偶，太棒啦———我饿了，我们吃薯片吧。

No, I didn’t say ’lunch time’.

不，我不是说“午餐时间”。

I know. You said ’crunch time’ – time to start crunching these delicious crisps. I love crisps.

我知道，你说的是“嘎吱嘎吱时间”，就是嘎吱嘎吱吃薯片的时间嘛，我最爱薯片了！

No, no, no – I didn’t mean it’s time to crunch crisps. Crunch time is an important or critical time when a decisive or difficult decision has to be made. And it’s crunch time for our big project.

不，不是的——我不是说吃薯片的时间。“Crunch time”是指要做重要决定的关键时刻。今天就是我们大项目的关键时刻。

If you say so, Rob. Why don’t I finish these crisps while we hear some examples of the expression ’crunch time’?

既然你这么说了，罗伯，我们为什么不吃着薯片，听一些有关“crunch time”的例句呢？

We’ve reached crunch time in our relationship – I’m going to ask my boyfriend to move in with me. I wonder what he’ll say?

我们的关系要发生重要转折了。我要跟我男朋友说搬来和我同居，我很好奇他会不会答应。

The team are doing well but come crunch time, will they score that vital goal?

这一队配合得很好，不过现在可关键了，不知道他们会不会得到这关键的一分？

It’s crunch time for us tomorrow – that’s when we find out if our building plans have been approved.

明天可是我们的大日子——到时候就知道我们的建筑计划是不是得到批准了。

This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English. We’re finding out about the expression ’crunch time’, which describes an important moment in a situation where a difficult or decisive decision has to be made.But, Rob, I’m still not clear why it’s crunch time for our big office project?

这里是BBC地道英语，我们正在讨论“crunch time”的用法，这个短语是指到了要做出一个艰难或重要决定的关键时刻。不过，罗伯，我现在还是不明白为什么今天是我们办公室项目的关键时刻。

Come on, Feifei, you know – the project we’ve been working on for months.

拜托，菲菲，你知道——就是我们坚持了几个月的项目呀。

Oh, you mean the biscuit project?

哦，你是在说那个“饼干项目”吧？

Exactly! We have to decide today which biscuits we’re going to buy for our meetings. And if we don’t order them today, we won’t have anything to eat in tomorrow’s meeting.

当然！我们今天已经确定了开会要买哪种饼干。如果我们今天不下单，明天开会就没什么可吃的了。

So, Rob, your crunch time is just about what you’ll be crunching tomorrow. You really need to change your priorities. I think I’ve reached ’crunch time’ in this programme.

所以，罗伯，你的“关键时刻”就是指我们明天“嘎吱嘎吱”吃什么……你真的要认清“当务之急”了，我觉得我们到了节目的“重要时刻”了。

What’s that? You’ve got a big decision to make?

什么重要时刻？你要做什么重要决定了？

Yes - to finish this programme or finish my crisps?

是的——我那们是要结束节目，还是要吃薯片呢？

Shall we just eat the crisps?

我们去吃薯片好吗？

OK. Bye.

好的，拜~

Bye. Pass them over then!

拜拜~这一段“剪掉”哈！