李華和Larry在學生中心的咖啡館里休息。今天李華會學到兩個常用語:cop out和to get worked up.
LL: Hey Li Hua. Some friends and I are planning to go camping and hiking next month. Do you want to come along?
LH: 嗯...去露營啊?嗯,下個月我可能會很忙耶!噢!對!那個周末我已經(jīng)答應幫我鄰居照顧他的狗。
LL: What? I didn't even tell you when we're going! Sounds like a cop-out to me!
LH: 對,你還沒有告訴我是哪個周末。不過,A cop? cop不是警察嗎?我不去露營和警察有什么關系?
LL: No, no, I don't mean "cop" as in "police officer". A cop out, is a weak excuse for not doing something.
LH: 噢,原來cop out是想推脫做某件事,但是理由又很牽強。哎呀,好啦!我招了,我是不喜歡露營!要走那么多路,又會被蟲咬,還得睡睡袋,而且我還聽說美國有很多熊呢!
LL: Bears? Don't tell me you won't go just because you're afraid of bears. That's an even stupider cop out.
LH: 好啦好啦!跟熊沒有關系,我就是懶惰!不喜歡露營嘛!
LL: That's what I thought. Well, it's better to be honest than to cop out. So do you understand what "cop out" means now?
LH: 嗯,我想我大概懂cop out的意思了!給你舉個例子吧!我的朋友Jeanna老是說她想學中文,可是當我主動提出要教她時,她又總是說沒時間。這就是cop out嘍!
LL: Yeah, that sounds like a cop out to me. Most people just aren't willing to put the time and effort into really learning another language.
LH: 說到學外語,Larry,我記得不久前,你也叫我教你讀中文報紙,怎么樣?你明天有時間嗎?
LL: I, um... I think I'm busy tomorrow. The plumber is coming to my house sometime in the afternoon, so I have to wait for him, and...
LH: 得了吧! 什么等工人來修水管?誰會相信這種借口。你這才是真正的cop out!
******
LH: (Growls) 嗨!這些學中文的學生,我真不想教了!怎么考試考得這么糟!我看啊,這學期他們一個也別想拿A!
LL: Calm down, Li Hua. Don't get so worked up over it.
LH: 你要我別work up?你是說我不必那么努力,那什么意思呀?
LL: No, I don't mean you have to work harder. I mean, you shouldn't get worked up. To get worked up means to get angry or excited.
LH: 噢,don't get worked up是別生氣的意思!不生氣?你看看他們寫的中文有難看,而且還老是寫錯別字。
LL: Let me see those. Hmm... Wow, this isn't bad at all. I can tell they're a lot better than they were a few weeks ago. Don't get so worked up over a few small mistakes!
LH: 你覺得他們比幾個星期前進步多了?我看看...嗯,也許你說的對,也許我對他們要求太高了。
LL: That's right. I can tell most of these students want to learn Chinese. If you always get worked up when they make mistakes, you won't notice when they improve.
LH: Larry,你說的對,大多數(shù)學生都是真的想學,我不應該看到他們的錯誤就生氣,應該多多鼓勵他們。
(Sound of distant argument)
LH: 嘿!Jack和Ben兩個人在那兒那么生氣吵什么啊?
LL: Oh, nothing. It's election year, and those two are always getting worked up over politics.
LH: 噢,我知道美國人在競選總統(tǒng)方面意見不一致,但是沒有想到有些人會爭的面紅耳赤。
LL: Yeah, sometimes when you get worked up about something, it shows that you really care about it. Just like you with your students!
LH: 那倒是,關心某件事才會激動,就象我很在乎我學生的成績。說到學習,Larry你準備好上中文課了嗎?
LL: Um... well... OK. No more cop outs. Let's get started.
今天李華學到兩個常用語。一個是cop out,意思是用牽強的借口來逃避做某件事。另一個常用語是to get worked up,就是為某件事生氣。
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