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.5 p5 y0 ~. L+ v$ H- i' x- H( h8 g
M:Your driving is getting better, Li Hua. Hey, you'd better slow down. This is a 35 mile per hour zone.% l6 F6 W m! z2 G
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?
; e$ ^" D. Z" u9 t$ \: R6 ] 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.- D2 h. l' y6 H. {8 ]( v4 D
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?
# C/ c/ I, h0 w: F: c' j M:That's right. "Cop" means police officer.
$ B' P$ ?# ?" h L:警察要来跟我说话!我会不会倒霉呀?我该怎么办呢?
' V: j G! `3 l3 I4 d8 y 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.5 I Y& Y# ^ [, [8 D
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?# s$ s6 B, y; D' r
M:When I say "the cops", I mean the police in general. I'm not talking about any cop in particular.+ M* H+ w0 I1 r: N$ H0 D
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?9 c. |0 z R# E
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"!
1 r) x6 u! T2 [" { 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!
3 R. S) K+ w- Q! \$ j8 ^ M:Li Hua, don't worry. I'm sure this isn't very serious.( I4 J9 O! B& }0 U% L$ j
M:See, Li Hua, I was right. The cop didn't give you a ticket./ b, }6 M% C& d; q
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。( G/ J. a. s4 s( U( U9 ?7 H
M:I told you not to freak out. If a cop sees that you are nervous, he will be even more suspicious of you.
5 d& O+ x+ I3 j" X L:你告诉我什么?叫我别下车?; l& ?4 z( U' C
M:No, I told you not to "freak out". "Freak out" means to panic or to act crazy and excited.# [6 Z- J6 k _
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?
1 ^3 ? `5 Q& I& b6 Y M:That's right. Actually, I was the one who should have been freaking out!3 a/ [1 [$ Q" X% K. Y7 X/ p X$ j
L:你才该感到紧张?为什么?1 ~* P# i. b5 u( @- N
M:Because this is my car, and you only have a learner's permit. I'd be responsible if you got in trouble.
0 f4 q2 l5 h+ t7 V" r! Z( a& e% k# [0 a& Z 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? }' h; F! n# M; M. C; e3 Q
M:Hey! Li Hua, look out for that car!
, S/ u, s D" F% ?2 T/ `" t2 @ 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!
9 y( }( j5 ]) t M:Oh, man! that was close! That guy is crazy! I wish the cops were here to see that!3 ]3 l. ]. G' C! a7 D
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。
5 {: z# a* d4 W ]2 Z. r4 D M:Me too. Now, drive carefully!
# M6 ?# i5 n( ^4 J1 i 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。 |