迷你對話：

A: Which school is your children in?

你的小孩現在在哪兒上學？

B: She is now in a private school.

她在一家私立學校上學。

A: Oh, it costs too much. It's more expensive than the pulic school.

喔，那收費很高。比公立學校貴得多。

B: It's idea of my husband. He is always banging the drum for better schools.

這是我丈夫的主意。他總是一味鼓吹好學校，好教育。

A: But the private school amount to better schools.

可是私立學校并不就是等于好學校。

地道表達：beat the drum(s)：竭力鼓吹；熱烈支持

支持范例：

Eg. A few of us club members took a bunch of tickets out and beat the drum for the play with our friends.

我們俱樂部的幾個成員把一大把票子拿到外面去和我們的朋友一起作推銷宣傳。

Eg. He is beating the drums for himself, trying to raise campaign money and find groups to support him.

他開展宣傳，為自己大吹大擂，盡力募集競選資金并尋覓支持他的團體。

視野拓展：

Beat the drums for中的介詞for可以用作against，即：beat the drums against，后面可以接something，也可以接somebody。

Eg. They beat the drums against the new policy.

他們竭力反對新政策。

Eg. I spent a lot of time beating the drum against their plans for the future.

我花了很多時間竭力反對他們對未來的計劃。

詞海拾貝：

1. a private school：私立學校

2. a public school：公立學校

3. amount to：等于，合計

Eg. In fact, your ambiguous words amount to a refusal.

實際上,你說的那些模棱兩可的話等于是拒絕。

Eg. Their expenses amount to fifty dollars.

他們的消費共計五十元。

Eg. It doesn't amount to a row of beans.

這實在不算什么。