李華和Larry因?yàn)楸╋L(fēng)雪,都不用去上班,倆人商量該干點(diǎn)什么。今天我們要學(xué)兩個常用語:fish out of water和have a crack at something.
LH: Larry, 下大雪真是太好了,堆雪人、打雪仗比上班好玩多了。
LL: Yeah it's really nice that we don't have to go to work or class. But I am a little worried that I might freeze to death in the snow!
LH: 凍死在雪里?你也太夸張了吧。下雪天兒其實(shí) 一點(diǎn)兒都不冷,多穿兩件衣服就行了。
LL: Lihua, I'm from the southern United States, where it never snows. I feel like a fish out of water in all this snowy weather.
LH: 你說什么?感覺自己象是a fish out of water? 這是什么意思呢?
LL: When you are in a strange environment, or feel like you are out of place, you can say that you feel like a fish out of water.
LH: 哦,a fish out of water感覺好象離開水的魚一樣不自在,跟周圍陌生的環(huán)境格格不入。
LL: Exactly! For example, Roger grew up living in the city, so he felt like a fish out of water when his girlfriend took him on a camping trip.
LH: 我剛從中國到美國來讀書的時候,那才叫不適應(yīng)呢!
LL: Right! I bet when you came to America for the first time and were in a totally new environment, you felt like a fish out of water.
LH: 絕對的!不過,我很快就認(rèn)識了很多象你這樣的好朋友, 沒過多久就適應(yīng)了。So I don't feel like a fish out of water anymore.
LL: That's great, Lihua! You know, I felt that way too when I visited New York. I grew up in a small town, so I really felt like a fish out of water in the big city.
LH: 不提過去那些事兒了,快穿上衣服,我們出去玩雪!
LL: Ok, Lihua. If I freeze to death, will you tell my parents that I love them?
LH: 好了,Larry, 別鬧了。在雪地里玩兒一會兒是死不了人的!
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LH: Larry, 你想先玩什么?是堆雪人還是滑雪橇?
LL: I've got a great idea! Let's build an army of snowmen. We will make a snow version of the Terra Cotta Warriors!
LH: 兵馬俑?Larry, 你知道兵馬俑一共有多少個嗎?我們還沒堆完,雪就化光了。
LL: Come on, we'll never know for sure unless we try! Let's have a crack at it.
LH: Have a crack at it? 這是什么意思啊?
LL: When you try to do something that is not very likely to succeed, you can say that you "have a crack at it." Crack is spelled c-r-a-c-k.
LH: 你是說,明知不太可能用雪堆出兵馬俑來,你還是想試試看, to have a crack at it?
LL: Right! Or for example, even though I knew it was unlikely that I would win American Idol, I decided to have a crack at it anyway and try out for it.
LH: 慢著慢著,你去參加美國偶像的選秀了?我怎么不知道。Larry, 我了解你唱歌的水平,你當(dāng)選美國偶像的機(jī)會,恐怕還不如我們用雪堆出個兵馬俑來的機(jī)會大呢!
LL: Don't worry, even though I might not have a great voice, I can make up for it with my hot dance moves.
LH: 你的熱舞?那就更可怕了。不過言歸正傳,Larry, 我以前聽人說過"take a stab at something"這跟have a crack at something是一個意思嗎?
LL: Yes. They mean the same thing.
LH: 那你能不能給我舉個不會讓我做惡夢的例子?
LL: Sure. My math teacher gave the class a really hard problem to do. Even though he knew we probably wouldn't be able to do it, he told us to take a stab at it anyway.
LH: 這位數(shù)學(xué)老師真夠損的,明知學(xué)生做不出來,還要他們?nèi)ピ?。那我可以說,明知教你跳舞是浪費(fèi)時間,可我還是決定要take a stab at it?
LL: Very funny. Now come on, let's start making these snowmen!
LH: Larry, 你還是自己堆吧,我要去那邊山坡上滑雪了。
今天李華學(xué)了兩個常用語。一個是fish out of water, 意思是在陌生的環(huán)境里覺得格格不入,不自在。另一個是have a crack at something, 或是 take a stab at something, 意思是明明知道可能不會成功,可還是要去嘗試一下。