今天Larry和李華要到體育館去和幾個朋友打籃球。李華會學(xué)到兩個常用語:stick to something和give something a shot.
(Ambience sound in gym)
LL: Hey, Li Hua, are you looking forward to today's game?
LH: 嗨,其實我的籃球打得不怎么樣。我倒想試試其他的運動。
LL: You'll get better. You've only been playing basketball for a few weeks. You have to stick to something if you want to become good at it.
LH: 對,我才打了幾個星期的籃球!可是你怎么說要我stick to something. Stick不是黏的意思?這跟打籃球有什么關(guān)系???
LL: To "stick to something" means that you continue to do it and don't give up.
LH: 噢!我懂了,stick to something就是堅持不懈,繼續(xù)做某件事。那不就像我們中文里說的“持之以恒”嘛! 你的意思是,要是我想打好籃球,就得不斷地練習(xí)咯!
LL: That's right. You've stuck to practicing English for a long time, and now your English is much better. Right?
LH: 你說的對,我學(xué)英文倒是盡量的多說,不斷地練習(xí)。對了,Larry, 那stick to something除了運動,學(xué)語言,我還可以用在哪些地方呢?
LL: Well, a person can stick to a decision, too. If I decide to learn Chinese, and I stick to my decision, that means I don't change my mind or give up.
LH: 噢,如果一個人堅持自己的決定,也可以說stick to one's decision。那一個立場不堅定,經(jīng)常flip-flop的人可就不能這么說咯!
LL: That's right. Very good use of the term flip-flop, by the way.
LH: 謝謝。不過有時候要堅持做一件事還真不容易。就好比打籃球,我已經(jīng)不知道我是不是真的喜歡打籃球了。
LL: Remember how hard English was at first? But you stuck to it and now it's much easier, right?
LH: 好象是這樣。你覺得打籃球也會像學(xué)英文一樣,只要我堅持練習(xí),就會越來越容易嗎?
LL: I do. You'll see. So, have you decided to play in today's game after all?
LH: 好吧,我來試試看,也許就象你說的,多練習(xí),我就能打好球!
******
(Sound of dribbling basketball)
LH: Larry, 那個籃球架子太遠了,我肯定投不進!
LL: Come on, Li Hua, give it a shot. It's okay if you miss.
LH: Larry,我是在投球耶!你怎么叫我給它一槍?"Give it a shot" 那是什么意思???
LL: To give something a shot is to go ahead and try something, even if you don't expect to be successful.
LH: 嗨,我還以為give it a shot是開槍呢!原來,give it a shot就是試一試,不管會不會成功。好吧。那我就投嘍!可是我一定投不進啦!
(Sound of basketball into the basket)
LL: Hey, look, you made it! That's three more points for our team! See, it never hurts to give something a shot.
LH: 哇!太棒了!我居然投進了!對了,Larry, give it a shot我是不是還能用在其他什么地方?
LL: Just about anything. For instance, I'd like to give sailing a shot, even though I've never sailed a boat before in my life.
LH: 你想學(xué)開船啊!我倒想試試開飛機呢!
LL: Hey, slow down. We all know what your driving is like. I don't think it's a good idea for you to fly a plane.
LH: 嘿!我的開車技術(shù)有什么不好?再說,剛才是你告訴我,不管結(jié)果如何,都應(yīng)該去試一試的??!
LL: Maybe if you stick to driving for a while and get better at it, then you can give flying a shot.
LH: 哎呀,其實我也是說說而已啦。我根本就沒錢去上飛行課。不過如果有機會,我會去試試的!
今天李華學(xué)到兩個常用語。一個是stick to something.就是堅持不懈,繼續(xù)做某件事。第二個常用語是give it a shot. 這是試一試的意思,哪怕你認為不會成功,但也可以一試。