纽约英语口语网新版
流行美语
第 12 课:ticked off; close

在纽约上大学的Michael和李华今天在华盛顿参观名胜古迹。他们在对话里会用到两个常用语:ticked off ,另一个是close。

L: Michael, 大家都说纽约人开车不守规矩,我看华盛顿的人也好不了多少。刚才那辆车差一点撞到我!

M: Yeah, I saw that. Crossing the streets in New York and Washington is dangerous. But getting ticked off about it won't do you any good.

L: 对,在纽约和华盛顿穿马路是很危险。你说什么对我没好处? Ticked off?

M: Yes, Ticked off means to get angry or annoyed at something. Getting angry at the drivers will not do you any good.

L: 噢,ticked off的意思是为什么事情生气。 你刚才说的是我对开车的人生气没有什么好处。看来让我ticked off的事还挺多。

M: Yeah, like when your boyfriend broke up with you right before we started classes.

L: 你还提醒我这事!我以前那男朋友刚开学就跟我分手,当时我真的非常生气。不过,Michael,我觉得你也很爱生气。

M: Well, I got pretty ticked off a few days ago when the professor gave me a low score on the exam.

L: 对,和你同班的中国同学王光告诉我你那天非常生气,因为那个教授给你的考试判分判得很低。Ticked off这个说法很好,以前我就知道用angry这个字。

M: Hey, are you hungry? We haven't eaten in a while.

L: 刚才好生气,连肚子饿也忘了。走,去吃点东西吧!

(Michael和李华吃完饭以后)

M: Now that we have eaten, let's walk to the White House. It's not too far from here.

L: 到白宫去?太好了,除了照片外,我还没有看到过真的白宫呢!

M: Watch out Li Hua! Get back!

L: 哟! 我的天哪!我的天哪!真吓死我了!我以为这下我可完了!

M: Oh, my god! Are you okay? Geez, that was really a close call.

L: Michael, 我都差一点被车撞了, 而你还在说什么close call,这跟打电话根本没有关系!

M: No, that's not what I meant by close call. I meant that the car nearly hit you.

L: 对啊,那车差一点就撞上我了,这就是 close call?

M: Actually, Li Hua, close call means that you narrowly avoided danger. Something bad could have happened to you, but you narrowly avoided a bad situation.

L: 原来close call就是说,差一点发生倒霉的事,我算是逃避了这倒霉事。我可以说,今天我差一点没被汽车撞了。对不对?

M: Yeah, that's right.

L: 那close call是不是一定用在跟生命危险有关的场合呢?

M: Not really. Let me give you another example. The paper you and I turned in this week was almost late. That was also a close call.

L: 对,那个教授让我们在星期二前把学术报告交给他,我们是星期一晚上去交的,差一点就过了限期,这也可以说是close call。 下回我可再也不敢这么做了。

M: Here we are! The White House!

L: 太好了! 白宫到了, 那我们赶快走把。

今天 Michael 和李华在对话中用的一个常用语是ticked off, 意思是为了什么事情生气; 另一个是close call,意思 是差一点没发生倒霉的事,或是差一点完不成该做的事。