L:Michael,大家都说纽约人开车不守规矩,我看华盛顿的人也好不了多少。刚才那辆车差一点撞到我!
. C& S7 }/ ?+ w9 O8 w M: Yeah, I saw that. Crossing the streets in New York and Washington is dangerous. But getting ticked off about it won't do you any good.
+ i- \9 I& M# ^: B& D" f$ ?% @ L:对,在纽约和华盛顿穿马路是很危险。你说什么对我没好处?Ticked off?
4 _# i( k4 z* l3 F- N( w( |; ?- _ M: Yes, Ticked off means to get angry or annoyed at something. Getting angry at the drivers will not do you any good.
' V8 q& P% O: L' | L:噢,ticked off的意思是为什么事情生气。你刚才说的是我对开车的人生气没有什么好处。看来让我ticked off的事还挺多。* |# v4 E- H3 ]# ^# b' N/ u
M: Yeah, like when your boyfriend broke up with you right before we started classes.: k8 u& U! m! E2 h# \3 Y4 P" H* J
L:你还提醒我这事!我以前那男朋友刚开学就跟我分手,当时我真的非常生气。不过,Michael,我觉得你也很爱生气。$ G5 w9 d, g% C) t4 p
M: Well, I got pretty ticked off a few days ago when the professor gave me a low score on the exam.
8 O) ], N, t8 p% f; y8 U L:对,和你同班的中国同学王光告诉我你那天非常生气,因为那个教授给你的考试判分判得很低。Ticked off这个说法很好,以前我就知道用angry这个字。
( ?6 [, a4 b; h* s: R+ a1 i- B M: Hey, are you hungry? We haven't eaten in a while.
- K. M+ ^& K5 i& b L:刚才好生气,连肚子饿也忘了。走,去吃点东西吧!
- ]9 }9 x+ p+ K. k4 Z, r& S (Michael和李华吃完饭以后)
}& d3 M: X- k$ r% _5 U7 K; F M: Now that we have eaten, let's walk to the White House. It's not too far from here.
- v. l6 `2 T2 V6 q1 S. \ L:到白宫去?太好了,除了照片外,我还没有看到过真的白宫呢!
6 b% |5 y( Q* ~! l# i" v M: Watch out Li Hua! Get back!; O9 \* c' }0 U) Q8 j
L:哟!我的天哪!我的天哪!真吓死我了!我以为这下我可完了!4 G1 W% [) E) L3 X L: I8 ~* x
M: Oh, my god! Are you okay? Geez, that was really a close call.
3 `. C5 s- L# P" s4 G0 ?( F L:Michael,我都差一点被车撞了,而你还在说什么close call,这跟打电话根本没有关系!
& ^$ @% @4 C# M; _3 u2 @) p: i9 q M: No, that's not what I meant by close call. I meant that the car nearly hit you.
7 R& O9 @; @* q5 E z5 g L:对啊,那车差一点就撞上我了,这就是close call?
* g+ Z- D+ I; @' u$ G) x M: Actually, Li Hua, close call means that you narrowly avoided danger. Something bad could have happened to you, but you narrowly avoided a bad situation.& G/ O* w: y0 ^1 b
L:原来close call就是说,差一点发生倒霉的事,我算是逃避了这倒霉事。我可以说,今天我差一点没被汽车撞了。对不对?7 @/ @0 z" i1 K0 _
M: Yeah, that's right.
/ n( @3 B2 C! i5 L b$ Z- ] L:那close call是不是一定用在跟生命危险有关的场合呢?( j" o0 R2 x; }+ W" K
M: Not really. Let me give you another example. The paper you and I turned in this week was almost late. That was also a close call./ l* C* v `; P: Z
L:对,那个教授让我们在星期二前把学术报告交给他,我们是星期一晚上去交的,差一点就过了限期,这也可以说是close call。下回我可再也不敢这么做了。
' ?) h+ ?: o# D M: Here we are! The White House!
+ F7 h; y0 I B( L6 r L:太好了!白宫到了,那我们赶快走把。
6 s7 L6 k2 G7 h% [8 Z, ^ 今天Michael 和李华在对话中用的一个常用语是ticked off,意思是为了什么事情生气;另一个是close call,意思是差一点没发生倒霉的事,或是差一点完不成该做的事。 |