侄子邀请我们夫妇俩去看他的乐队演出。我真不敢相信他现在这么棒! 我记得几年前他还在我姐姐的车库里练习，听起来简直就是噪音，可他们如今已经能在全国巡回演出了！我真替他高兴，这也让我想到一句习惯用语，那就是: come a long way.
Come a long way的意思与这些词字面的意思不太一样。它的意思是“突飞猛进”。就像我侄子的乐队，they have made considerable progress from when they first started playing together. They've come a long way. 他们的水平比刚开始组乐队时进步了一大块，取得了飞越。
下面例子里的主人公参加高中同学会，看到了很多高中同学，包括他的老朋友James。我们来看看他们的聚会有什么惊喜:
例句-1：I went to my high school reunion last weekend. That's where I saw my old buddy James. Twenty years ago he was short, overweight and rather shy. Now he's tall, thin and very outgoing. He even runs his own company. He says his life has gotten a lot better. It's clear to me he's come a long way.
这段话是说: 我上个周末去参加高中聚会，见到了老朋友James. 他可是大变样! 20年前他又矮又胖，而且很容易害羞。可现在他又瘦又高，非常外向，还自己开了公司! 他说自己的生活改善了很多。很显然，他取得了很大的进步和成功。
提起突飞猛进，我觉得最值得一提的就是科技发展。现在的科技每时每刻都在进步，iPhone, iPad, iTouch....快的让我们觉得赶不上! Technology has come a long way compared to 10 years ago. 现在的科技与10年前相比，简直是突飞猛进。
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遇到一个要求严格的上司是好事，不过有时候也会让你头疼。下面的例子里，我们来听听要求严格的消防队长对自己的队员说了什么：
例句-2：You all did pretty well in the practice drills we ran. You made significant progress working quickly and working as a team. That doesn't mean you should be satisfied with your achievement. The reality is that more is expected of you. If you're serious about earning the full respect of this community, you'll need to come a long way from how you performed today.
这段话是说: 你们演习时表现不错，进步很快，有很强的团队精神。但这不是说你们能就此满足。我对你们的期望远不止这些。基于今天的表现，如果想赢得整个社区的尊重，你们还有很长的路要走。
这名消防队长的要求真严格! 我邻居就是一名消防员，而且是一名女消防员! 你知道吗? Years ago women weren't even allowed to be firefighters, they've come a long way. 多年前是不允许女性当消防员的，这方面进步很大。