李华是在纽约上大学的中国学生。今天她的美国同学Michael陪她练习开车,准备去考驾照。他们在路上几次遇到惊险的情况,尽管这样,李华还是学到了两个常用语,一个是:cop;另一个是:to freak out.
+ I$ t( l: _+ A M:Your driving is getting better, Li Hua. Hey, you'd better slow down. This is a 35 mile per hour zone.
6 W& ^9 x& S1 Z L:这地区每小时只能开35英里呀?我是不是开太快啦?哟,我的天呐,警察车跟在我后面,那怎么办呐?
' l$ {# ^( u+ \7 C( Q3 C M:Calm down, Li Hua. Just find a parking lot and stop the car. The cop will follow us, and come over to your window to talk to you.
+ O7 p0 L1 F- W+ J; Z# p0 K- i4 o3 j L:哪儿有停车的地方呀!行,就停在这里吧!你刚才说谁会过来跟我说话?是警察吗?! H/ u9 B6 s- | u0 i) f
M:That's right. "Cop" means police officer.
3 n2 f# }" t9 `* D' Z/ K; v9 J L:警察要来跟我说话!我会不会倒霉呀?我该怎么办呢?
# o6 W' V( ^% Q$ {7 c. Y7 F M:Calm down! Sometimes the cops stop people just to warn them, not to give them a ticket. You weren't going very fast anyway.0 v d- E- i, P, J
L:你说警察可能过来只是警告我一下,不一定会给我罚单呀?但愿如此,我好象是没有开太快。Michael,你刚才说“cops”, 那警车里到底有几个警察呀?1 l& Z5 L+ D, ^5 g
M:When I say "the cops", I mean the police in general. I'm not talking about any cop in particular. H9 r' T& N' A5 u/ j _" p
L:噢,cop 这个名词用复数的时候,cops,可以总的指警察,而不是指某个警察。我就把车停这儿吧。 Michael,我能称呼警察“cop”吗?& S) O9 l5 Z$ D
M:No! The word "cop" is too informal. You should show respect when talking to the cops. Call him "officer", don't call him "cop"!
5 W2 k) t6 U x) _/ O' N( q6 J" ~ L:天哪!原来“cop”是很随便的称呼,你干吗不早告诉我呀!我可不要惹警察生气!
' o6 B! q* R H: ^6 y2 g5 l M:Li Hua, don't worry. I'm sure this isn't very serious.% V- Y) a- S% ] `/ |, e
M:See, Li Hua, I was right. The cop didn't give you a ticket.
& i3 k" u% x9 {( T5 H0 d L:谢天谢地,他没有给我罚单。他要罚我好多钱的话,那我就糟糕了。% v. X% l" n2 l# \4 r2 q
M:I told you not to freak out. If a cop sees that you are nervous, he will be even more suspicious of you.
6 _1 v9 o3 Z* w9 o% k7 D8 R L:你告诉我什么?叫我别下车?
7 n( i& v4 Q7 w( i: u, ]: _! U M:No, I told you not to "freak out". "Freak out" means to panic or to act crazy and excited.
$ e8 W. w& k2 S1 X% v% [* W+ v2 L( @: ? L:是啊,我经常听到一些人说freak out,原来是指过于激动,显得非常紧张。对不对?4 e }6 V; @/ s9 w) }" n) |
M:That's right. Actually, I was the one who should have been freaking out!
% |$ j% @! j$ G% F/ ^ L:你才该感到紧张?为什么?
& j# Y" G. V( U+ r0 Q M:Because this is my car, and you only have a learner's permit. I'd be responsible if you got in trouble.
# ~" \ Z; }+ I+ d! |6 B L:这我就不懂了。是的,这是你的车,我只有一张学开车的许可证。可是,我开车出了问题,为什么警察会怪你呀?你为什么要freak out?# ~. B* v; c) ?, f% R: v* B
M:Hey! Li Hua, look out for that car!
* P6 j% M' D" d2 w3 X- N! L( p. L L:Don't freak out, Michael. 我看见那辆车了。不过,那车差一点就撞到我们了!
W" w& C& b+ k6 W0 v& G% R M:Oh, man! that was close! That guy is crazy! I wish the cops were here to see that!% b0 h$ `% o. s1 |( z% c
L:对,刚才是够险的,警察要看到他那么开车,准要给他罚单。不过,今天已经和警察打过交道了,够了。再要跟cops打交道,那我可真是要freak out了。6 y0 ^ q0 T( j
M:Me too. Now, drive carefully!) `* u, }- M/ ]- Y
今天这两个年轻人真是够惊险的。不过,李华学到了两个非常有用的词汇: cop,警察;to freak out,非常紧张和激动。 |