Larry和李華兩人正開著車,準(zhǔn)備到鄉(xiāng)下的一個(gè)農(nóng)場去騎馬。今天李華會學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語:boonies和country bumpkin.
(Car driving on country road)
LH: Larry,我們要去的那個(gè)農(nóng)場到底還有多遠(yuǎn)啊?
LL: Unfortunately, it's way out in the boonies. It will take at least two hours to get there.
LH: 兩個(gè)小時(shí)?我的天??!還要那么久???我在車上已經(jīng)坐的腰酸背痛了。對了,你說這個(gè)農(nóng)場在boonies, 那是一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)的名字嗎?
LL: No, "boonies" is a slang term for any place that is very far from any major city or town.
LH: 噢,boonies就是指離城市很遠(yuǎn)的鄉(xiāng)下地方,也就是很偏僻的地方,我們中文里說那些地方是“前不著村,后不搭店”。
LL: This farm is in the boonies, but I've heard that it's very beautiful and that they have really nice horses.
LH: 哇,那兒風(fēng)景很好,還有很好的馬,真是太棒了!要到這樣的地方去,車開多遠(yuǎn)都無所謂!
LL: Yeah, I'm kind of excited about going horseback riding, too.
LH: 嘿,說真的,Larry,幸好我給我們兩個(gè)人準(zhǔn)備了午餐,要不你想,在那種地方 - in the boonies - 大概連麥當(dāng)勞都沒有噢!
LL: I'm not sure that's such a bad thing, Li Hua.
LH: 我知道,像麥當(dāng)勞這種快餐店的東西還是少吃為妙。不過我的意思是,在那么偏僻的地方恐怕很難找到吃午飯的餐館吧。嘿!Larry,你看,那片田野好美噢!
LL: Yes, it is. It's really nice to get out of the city once in a while. I especially like driving on country roads. There's hardly any traffic out in the boonies.
LH: 就是??!在鄉(xiāng)下開車,既能欣賞景色,享受新鮮的空氣,又不必?fù)?dān)心塞車。我已經(jīng)好一會兒沒看到其他車了。偶然出一次城真讓人心情開朗。
******
LH: Larry, 你覺不覺得那個(gè)在農(nóng)場工作的女孩和城市女孩很不一樣?她的穿著很樸素,臉上也沒有化裝,一點(diǎn)都沒有特意打扮的樣子。
LL: Yeah, she was definitely a country bumpkin. Were you able to understand her? She had a bit of a country accent.
LH: 嗯,我是有點(diǎn)聽不太懂她說的話;她有一點(diǎn)鄉(xiāng)村口音。你說她是個(gè)country bumpkin,那是什么意思?
LL: A country bumpkin is someone who is from the countryside. The term usually refers to someone who is relatively simple and unsophisticated.
LH: Bumpkin就是生活在農(nóng)村那些很純樸的人。那Larry,你有沒有在城市里碰過從農(nóng)村來的人?
LL: Sometimes. The other day, there was a guy on the subway who was such a country bumpkin that he couldn't figure out how to buy a ticket. He said that he'd never been on a subway before!
LH: 那人又沒有乘過地鐵,第一次當(dāng)然不知道怎么買地鐵票嘍!我剛來美國的時(shí)候,我也不知道怎么買地鐵票??!
LL: That's true. Hey, Li Hua, do you know any country bumpkins?
LH: 我有一個(gè)住在鄉(xiāng)下的表姐。她和我那些住在大都市里的親戚很不一樣。我想她應(yīng)該算是個(gè)country bumpkin吧!
LL: I have an uncle who owns a farm in Idaho. He's really a country bumpkin. He hates the city and he prefers to wear jeans and a cowboy hat. I think he'd rather ride a horse than the subway.
LH: 我還不知道你有個(gè)叔叔在愛達(dá)荷州。他還有個(gè)農(nóng)場,真有意思!說不定,下回我們可以去你叔叔那兒玩,過過農(nóng)村生活,做個(gè)country bumpkin!
今天李華學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語。第一個(gè)是boonies,指的是離都市很遠(yuǎn)的農(nóng)村。另一個(gè)常用語是:country bumpkin 是形容生活在農(nóng)村的那些很純樸的人。