今天,Michael 和他的中国同学李华约好了在中央公园见面。他们在对话中会用到两个词:drag 和trip。$ `( P& A3 Z+ z! t$ [
L:对不起,Michael,我迟到了。地铁误点了。
# s1 {, ^: |8 y% Z# y' k M: Hey, Li Hua. Don't apologize, it's a nice day to just sit here and relax./ J8 ^& w4 w7 M* D5 r: w
L:对,坐在这里休息休息是挺好的。我也很喜欢这个公园。不过,我们得到大都市艺术博物馆去看摄影展览呐!
" Q4 t" [3 I" P* E9 t M: Oh, do we have to go? I hate going to the museum on such a nice day, it's such a drag.5 M) e" v/ ~. m, u! y; T
L:哟,你觉得这么好的天气去博物馆太没意思,就不想去了?Michael,你答应过我,要是我到这儿来,你就跟我一起去。你说什么drag不drag的,我又没法把你拽着一起去!
; z& H9 V% o) U7 {8 X* w& m M: No, to call something a drag means it is tiresome. K' m' X# e {# \5 l0 r/ @
L:噢,在中文里就是没劲,没意思。Michael,drag不是拉东西的拉吗?你说的drag跟这个drag是同一个字吗?9 |! x% X* \& W
M: Yeah, Li Hua, same word. As another example, we could also call our professor Dr. Smith a drag.
- N1 y- r/ D; [) E( @2 _ L:噢,还可以说我们的教授Smith博士没劲,没意思。这我可不知道,我并不觉得他枯燥无味。
# e: b% s5 @$ L z8 b0 ` M: Of course you would say that. After all, on the first day of class all you did was talk about how cute he was.
. G! p4 d2 h* [# @" E, c. D) @ L:你说我第一天上完他的课后,口口声声夸他长得帅?你别瞎说八道了。. X* Z& j8 ^5 J- _
M: Oh, Li Hua, you're such a drag. You did say he's cute.
$ H# ]6 |3 e/ O, Z( m6 Y7 c L:非要说我认为他很帅。还说我没劲。算了,不跟你说了。Michael,我去看展览了,不管你去不去。
- z; ], \% R# m1 ^' M5 ]2 J M: All right, all right, I'll come.
3 m- k2 [/ V6 j% y (Michael 和李华看完了摄影展)
" Y% } \! S9 R9 n8 S% c' T/ _& ^ L:这个摄影展览真好,可是我还在生你的气呢!3 f5 Z; T0 j, Q+ N* `* E
M: Ok, I'm sorry. Actually, I really enjoyed the photography exhibit. I thought it was a trip.
+ h8 Y2 M9 h/ ^5 R/ m2 L L:我也很喜欢这种超现实主义的艺术。等等,你为什么把看展览叫做旅行呢?我们又没有离开纽约。+ L, l) |2 {& W0 b/ h. m
M: No, the word trip does mean travel, but here it means something that is unusual, in a good way.% }. M% |+ N% ~* h
L:对,trip这个字很普通,是指旅行。原来你说的trip是指不寻常,但又很好的意思。噢,我想起来了。以前有一个教授告诉过我,美国年轻人在60和70年代盛行反潮流的行为。Trip这个词就来自那个时候,是指吸毒后产生的幻觉。对不对?5 w+ U: M0 s+ S6 T
M: Yeah, but its meaning has changed.3 M: m" \; m/ Y) c4 j, i! H
L:现在的意思不一样了。可我现在就知道我们刚才去看的摄影展览可以说是a trip,中文可以说是与众不同吧。其他还有什么也能用trip这个词来形容的呢?- [: e$ L) c4 r* E) U, m k8 p
M: Well, look at that guy over there, sitting on the bench. The long hair and wild clothes. I really like his outfit, so I would call him a trip. But some people may not like this.# r- X* l+ L* s
L:噢,坐在长板凳上的那个留着长头发,穿着很怪的男人?你喜欢他的衣服,所以你认为他与众不同,别有风味。对不起,我可不欣赏。5 ~( [ r- c! z# u9 Q) H5 r
M: That's ok, everyone is different.4 x6 p! G) e" b) h! T
L:对,每个人的爱好不一样。你再给我举个例子吧。
' I& b% o1 k* [( X/ T M: I would also call our photography class professor a trip, her style is a trip.
" C# E" D" c; ?6 X& g! @: D; Z L:对,她是与众不同,她上课的时候总是很激动,跟别的教授不一样。我的男朋友是学小提琴的,他常常练琴练得忘了吃饭,他也能算是个trip吧?
4 S8 y. H, b. ^$ P9 P M: Yeah, he is also a trip. I can't imagine you would like someone who is a drag.
% q5 O$ z0 z$ j& l L:这你可说对了。你要是一个枯燥无味的人,我才不跟你一起出去玩呢。得了,我们该回去做功课了,尽管没劲,书还得念呐。
1 L: R' R* Q* i/ q3 ~# ~( |, } M: Ok, let's go!
; [0 }) E$ {8 D. Y* S$ F 今天Michael教了李华两个常用的词,一个是:drag,意思是没意思,枯燥;另一个是:trip,意思是与众不同,别出心裁,但是含有褒意。 |