美語三級跳: 017A 寵物初級課程

所屬教程:美語三級跳

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Tom和Mindy剛搬進(jìn)新家，打算養(yǎng)只寵物。可是Tom喜歡狗，Mindy喜歡貓，倆人一時決定不了到底養(yǎng)什么。

Professor: Say Winnie, are you a dog person or a cat person?

老實說，養(yǎng)貓養(yǎng)狗太費事兒，我都不喜歡!

Tom: I love this new house, Mindy! I can't wait until we get a dog.

Mindy: A dog? I don't like dogs. We're going to get a cat, Tom.

Tom: Cats are so boring. You can't even teach them any tricks.

Mindy: Dogs are worse. They're barking all the time.

Mindy說，她不喜歡狗是因為狗太吵，總是bark--叫喚。對了，professor Bowman，中國人說狗“汪、汪”地叫，美國人怎么說狗叫呢？

Professors: In America, people say “ruff-ruff”.

哈哈，還真挺像的! Tom說養(yǎng)狗好，因為狗能學(xué)tricks - 把戲和本領(lǐng)，能逗主人開心。

Professor: That's right. Winnie, there is an English expression about dogs and tricks. It is: You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

我知道! You can't teach an old dog new tricks表面意思是“老狗學(xué)不了新把戲”，其實就是指積習(xí)難改，固守陳規(guī)的人很難接受新鮮事物。

Tom: Mindy, dogs are much more loyal than cats.

Mindy: Maybe, but dogs are a lot more work. You have to take them for a walk every day, and sometimes they bite.

Tom: Don't worry, we'll get a nice one. Dogs are man's best friend.

Mindy: Well if we get a dog you are going to need a friend because I'll be really mad!

Professor: So Winnie, why does Tom think dogs are better than cats?

他覺得狗比貓更loyal - 忠誠。不過Mindy覺得養(yǎng)狗太麻煩，每天都要出門遛狗，弄不好狗還會bite - 咬人。

Professor: That's right. Have you ever heard the phrase "His bark is worse than his bite"? It means someone is not as bad as he sounds. For example, "The teacher said he would give the student bad grades for not doing her homework. But his bark was worse than his bite, and he didn't actually do it."

哦，老師雖然口頭上說要懲罰不完成作業(yè)的同學(xué)，但卻沒有真的那么做。所以His bark is worse than his bite就是指“刀子嘴，豆腐心”，雖然說了狠話，但不會真的去做。

Mindy: Tom, why don't we get one cat and one dog?

Tom: Oh no, we can't do that. They won't get along at all, so we have to choose one or the other.

Mindy: That's true. Cats and dogs are always fighting.

Tom: Come on ..... Let's go to the pound right now and adopt a dog.

Professor: Winnie, why does Tom say that they can't get one dog and one cat?

他說，貓和狗don't get along--不能和睦相處，到一塊兒就打。

Prof: Yes. If two people are always arguing, you can say that they "fight like cats and dogs."

哦，原來形容兩個總是吵架的人時，也可以說他們"fight like cats and dogs"，真有意思! 不過聽起來Tom是鐵了心要養(yǎng)狗，他提出馬上去"pound", 動物收養(yǎng)所，adopt a dog - 領(lǐng)養(yǎng)一只狗。

Tom: Mindy, if we get a dog, I promise I will do all the work.

Mindy: Hmmm ..... you promise to walk the dog and feed it every day?

Tom: Yes. And I'll buy all the things for the dog, like its collar and its leash.

Mindy: Uh ....well alright. We can get a dog. But if it doesn't behave, I'm going to keep it on a short leash!

Tom保證承包養(yǎng)狗的所有工作，包括喂食和遛狗，還說會買遛狗用的leash--皮繩和collar--項圈兒。但Mindy說 she's going to keep the dog on a short leash, 這是什么意思呢？

Professor: It means to maintain close control over someone's activities.

哦，keep someone on a short leash就好比用皮繩緊緊牽著狗，也就是說要密切控制某人的一舉一動。我看啊，如果Tom領(lǐng)來的狗狗不聽話，Mindy也會keep Tom on a short leash!

Professor: Let's listen next time to find out.

這次的美語三級跳就播送到這里。