[流行美語]又和大家見面了。Michael這個美國學(xué)生今天好象什么事都不太順當(dāng)。他的中國同學(xué)李華也發(fā)現(xiàn)他好象有心事。到底是什么事呢?你聽了Michael和李華的對話就知道了。他們在對話中會用到兩個美國年輕人常用的說法, 一個是to bomb;另一個是to mess up。
L: Michael, 怎么啦?你好象有心事。
M: I think I just bombed my history test. I don't think I'm going to pass.
L: 噢,你怕剛才歷史測驗會不及格。嗨,沒必要,這又不是大考。 Michael,你剛才說什么"bombed my history test",bomb不是炸彈,或 是爆炸嗎?你可不要開這樣的玩笑,現(xiàn)在大家對安全問題都很敏感。
M: No, I said I bombed my test, that means I did very poorly, and probably will get a very low mark.
L: 考得不好,分?jǐn)?shù)低,這我都聽懂了,就是那個詞bomb用在這里有點怪。我想,這就是中文里說的考試考糊了。那除了考試外還 能用在哪里呢?
M: Well, sometimes we might say a movie or a play "bombed". That means that no one wanted to see it, and it probably lost a lot of money.
L: 噢,還可以指電影,或話劇太次,沒有人要看,賣座率太低。我上 星期去看了一次電影,劇院里沒幾個人。后來我才看到報紙評論說這部電影太糟了。我能不能說:"The movie I saw last week bombed"?
M: Sounds like it bombed to me. Remember the play we went to a few weeks ago? The actors were terrible!
L: 對,你說幾個星期前去看的那場話劇,有幾個話劇演員簡直是 太糟 了。That play really bombed! 我說得對不對?
M: Absolutely! Hey listen, Li Hua, can we please change the subject? I don't want to think about failure right now. What would you like to eat? It's my treat.
L: 你不要再談這種喪氣的事情,沒問題!要請我吃飯,行,我 吃沙拉和三明治。不過,Michael,你真是得省點錢,要是老是考 試不及格,研究院會把你開除的!
M: Please! Don't mention tests!
L: 跟你開玩笑嘛!
M: Ah, here's my hamburger. Ack! They messed up my order! There are onions on this burger!
L: 你說什么呀? 他們把你的漢堡包怎么啦?
M: I told them not to put onions on my burger, but they forgot. Therefore I said that they "messed up my order". I can also just say "they messed up."
L: 噢,你叫他們不要放洋蔥,他們忘了。所以,to mess up就是做 錯了事,對嗎?
M: That's right. Also, "to mess up something" can mean to break or damage something.
L: 噢,to mess up something還可以指把什么東西弄壞了。昨天,和我同房間的學(xué)生問我借自行車,等她還我的時候,自行車的鏈子 斷了。我是不是可以說:"She messed up my bike"?
M: Sure! Hey, you'd better tell her to buy you a new chain.
L: 對啊,我是讓她去買新鏈子,可是她說都是我不好讓她差一點沒 出嚴(yán)重的車禍。
M: What? She broke your bicycle, and she's angry at you? That's just wrong!
L: 她就是那樣的人,上回她把借來的電視機(jī)給弄壞了。
M: She messed up the TV she borrowed? You don't need a roommate like her.
L: 雖然她弄壞了我的自行車,其他方面她還是很好的。嗨, Michael,你能幫我修自行車嗎?
M: Well, I'm really out of luck today. I bombed my test, they messed up my burger, and now I have to repair your bike!
L: 這也算什么倒霉呀!沒幾分鐘你就修好了。我先謝謝你了!
M: Ok, ok!
今天李華學(xué)到兩個常用語,一個是:to bomb,另一個是:to mess up。這次[流行美語]就到此結(jié)束, 我們下次節(jié)目再見。