当然meal ticket原始含义为饭票，餐券
.I need a meal ticket for lunch.
我要一张餐券去吃午饭。
引申含义为：
提供生活来源的人或事物;赖以为生的手段或事物；饭票，衣食父母
If you say that something or someone is a meal ticket, you mean that they provide a person with money or a lifestyle which they would not otherwise have.如：
I can't lose my meal ticket.我可不能丢了饭碗。《致命女人》
His chosen field was unlikely to be a meal ticket for life
他选的这一行是不可能赖以为生的。《柯林斯高阶英汉双解学习词典》
不过，meal ticket既可以指人，也可以指物。举两个例子：
I really want to quit the job, but it’s my meal ticket for life.
我真的想放弃这份工作，但是我要靠它过活。
He suspected that he was just a meal ticket for her.
他感到对她来说自己不过是一张餐券。
There were times when he suspected he was just a meal ticket to her.
有时他怀疑自己只是她的饭票而已。
I know why you broke up with Michael. You don’t need Michael as a meal ticket any more. 我知道你为什么和Michael 分手，你不需要他当你的长期饭票了。
I don’t think Lily really loves David, she just takes him as a meal ticket.
我觉得莉莉不是真正地爱大卫，她只是把他当一个长期饭票。
The only reason she is staying with me is because I am her meal ticket.
她跟我在一起的唯一原因，就是我是她的长期饭票。
As a model, my face is my meal ticket, so I can't afford to have any blemishes!
作为一名模特，我的脸就是我的“饭票”，所以不能有任何的瑕疵。
A radio announcer's voice is his meal ticket.
电台播音员的嗓子就是他的饭碗。
A degree has never been a meal ticket, but the recession is making life for graduates tougher than ever.
文凭从来都不是赖以赚钱的工具，但是经济衰退使毕业生的生活更加艰难了。
He was wealthy. I think she saw him as a life-long meal ticket.
他很有钱，我想她把他看成了长期的“饭票”！
His rich wife is his meal ticket.
他靠他有钱的太太生活。
Gone are the days when a university degree was a meal ticket for life.
大学文凭就是一张终生饭票的日子一去不复返了。
下面着重对这个句型进行分析：Gone are the days when +句子
这个句型也非常好！ 短短的句子用了两个高级语法，如果你能学会套写进作文里，将会非常出彩：
1.表语位于句首，引起的完全倒装。
Fresh in their minds are the results of the latest once-a-decade census, which were released on May 11th.
5月11日公布的最新十年一次的人口普查结果让他们记忆犹新。
还原成正常语序是：
The results of the latest once-a-decade census, which were released on May 11th // are // fresh in their minds.
Also unclear is why Microsoft has gone it alone.（考研英语一 2013 Text 2）
=Why Microsoft has gone it alone// is // also unclear.
同样不清楚的是，微软为什么要单干。
2.when引导的定语从句修饰表示时间的先行词
大家可以积累下来，用在作文里，很出彩。
简单造个句：
Gone are the days when people communicated with their friends by letters.
人们通过书信和朋友交流的日子一去不复返了。
Gone are the days when work was just a stopgap between leaving school and getting married
工作曾经只是毕业和结婚之间的临时过渡，但这样的日子已经一去不复返了。《柯林斯高阶英汉双解学习词典》
如果想强调：早就一去不复返了，还可以加上副词long：
Long gone are the days when ...
Long gone are the days when people communicated with their friends by letters.
人们通过书信和朋友交流的日子早就一去不复返了。
Long gone are the days when she was the lovely Disney star who had long wavy strands.
告别了昔日的一头长卷发，她早已不再是那个可爱的迪士尼明星。
