第一， 迷你對話

A: Sue and Lily have both taken dancing lessons. They want to be famous dancers, I think.

Sue 和Lily都選擇了舞蹈課，我想她們將來想當舞蹈家。

B: Yet Sue is not a patch on Lily because she’s not as diligent and clever as Lily.

Sue比不上Lily，因為她沒有Lily那么刻苦和聰明。

A: I think you are holding a brief for Lily.

我覺得你在有意維護Lily。

第二， 地道表達

hold a brief for

1. 解詞釋義

Hold a brief是在“在訴訟中當某人的辯護律師為其辯護”，引申為“為某人或某事辯護”“為……大聲疾呼”“主張……”。

2. 拓展范例

e.g. I hold no brief for severe punishment.

我不贊成嚴懲。

e.g. I hold no brief for people with extreme views.

我不支持持極端觀點的人。

第三， 咬文嚼字

as… as：和……一樣

e.g. This film is as interesting as that one.

這部電影和那部電影一樣有趣。

e.g. Your pen writes as smoothly as mine.

你的鋼筆書寫起來和我的一樣流暢。

be a patch on：不如……，比不上……

e.g. What they accomplished was not a patch on what they had planned.

他們的成就遠不如預期。

e.g. Her latest novel isn't a patch on her others.

她這部新小說比以前所寫的差得遠。