And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.This program explores words and phrases in the English language.And today we talk about an expression that comes from the world of vehicles and the engines that power them.In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder is said to be firing when the fuel inside it is ignited, or lit.With that small, contained explosion, the engine starts and the car is ready to go!Most engines have four cylinders.Some very powerful vehicles have six or even eight cylinders!That brings us to today's expression: to fire on all cylinders.When you are "firing on all cylinders," you are working or functioning at the greatest possible level of efficiency, speed or productivity.In other words, you are at your peak performance.You cannot do much better.
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。在本节目中，我们探讨英语中的单词和短语。今天，我们要谈论一个源自汽车和驱动汽车的发动机的世界的短语。在内燃机中，当气缸内的燃料被点燃时，我们称之为气缸燃烧。随着小范围的可控的爆炸，发动机启动，汽车准备出发了！大多数发动机有四个气缸。有些非常强大的汽车有六个甚至八个气缸！这就引出了今天的短语：to fire on all cylinders。当你“firing on all cylinders”时，你就是在以最高的效率、速度或生产效率工作。换句话说，你正处于最佳状态。你做得最好。
