流行美语 (Popular American) 345

Larry陪李华去买电脑。今天我们要学两个常用语：do the trick和a grain of salt.

LH: Larry, 你觉得我应该买PC还是苹果？

LL: Well, I'm not a computer expert, but I think Macs are a lot more user¹ friendly.

LH: 我也老听人说苹果机怎么怎么好，可是我从没用过苹果，而且PC价格也比较便宜。

LL: Well, they are both really good computers. I think either one would do the trick.

LH: Do the trick? Larry, 我买电脑是查资料，学论文用的，可不是为了玩游戏。

LL: Actually Lihua, when you say that something does the trick, that means that it will be successful, or good enough.

LH: 哦，do the trick就是足以达到预期效果的意思。你是说不论PC还是苹果，都够我用的了。

LL: Right! Here's another example. Joe doesn't need to live in a big house. Since he lives by himself, a small apartment will do the trick.

LH: 我明白。这句话意思是，Joe反正是一个人过，有个小公寓就够了，用不着住大房子。那 Larry, 你说我们去哪家店买电脑呢？

LL: Well we could go to a big computer store, but the Internet will do the trick too. You can order your computer online.

LH: 上网定购？不好，不好，要不，咱们上苹果专卖店去转转，我去玩玩苹果机，你也可以看看是不是买个iPhone.

LL: That's OK. I don't need a lot of fancy² features on my phone. My simple old cell phone still does the trick.

LH: 老实说，你那手机再不换，就要变成古董了。你上星期不是说不好用了吗？

LL: Actually, just the battery broke. But I went to the store and got a new battery, which did the trick.

LH: 所以你就换了块电池准备接着用？我真服了你，省钱固然没错，可也不能太落伍呀！现在的新手机上什么功能都有，你就不想要？

LL: Who needs all this technology? When I want to be entertained, reading a book always does the trick.

LH: 对了，苹果公司新推出的iPad, 就有读电子书的功能，要不你买个iPad吧！

LL: As far as I'm concerned, Lihua, old-fashioned³ paper books still do the trick.

******

Larry和李华来到百思买看电脑。

LH: 嗨Larry! 你觉得这台电脑怎么样？我需要的功能上面都有，价钱也还可以，只要2000块。

LL: Two thousand dollars? That sounds pretty expensive to me. Are you sure it's worth it to buy such an expensive computer?

LH: 当然值了，你没听刚才那个店员说么，这是他最喜欢的一款电脑，强力推荐。

LL: Well, the salesperson⁴ always wants you to buy the most expensive item, so I would take what he says with a grain of salt.

LH: A grain of salt? 加撮盐？你什么意思啊？

LL: When you slightly doubt something you are told, you can say that you take it with a grain of salt.

LH: 哦，with a grain of salt意思就是有所保留，半信半疑。你是说店员总想把贵的商品推销给顾客，所以他的话不能全信？

LL: Right. Here is another example. Emily always exaggerates⁵ about her talents, so when she told me she is fluent in Japanese, I took it with a grain of salt.

LH: 没错，Emily总喜欢夸大其词，所以她的话不能全信。

LL: So Lihua, what are the features that make this computer so good?

LH: 产品介绍上说，这款电脑的电池可以连续用15个小时，是市场上其他电脑的两倍。

LL: You know, companies often make exaggerated⁶ claims about their products, so I would take that with a grain of salt.

LH: 可是我朋友Tammy买的就是这个牌子的电脑，说特别好。

LL: But Lihua, Tammy only uses computer to check emails. I would take her opinion on computers with a grain of salt.

LH: 可你也不是高科技专家啊，就看你那只老古董的手机就知道了。

LL: That's true. I don't know much about technology, so I would take all my advice with a grain of salt.

LH: 别担心，你对手机、电脑这类高科技产品的建议，我总是反着听的，只要是你说不买的东西，买了一定没错。

LL: Haha... very funny....

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是 do the trick, 意思是足以达到预期效果。另一个是 a grain of salt, 意思是有所保留。

1 user   

n.用户，使用者

参考例句：

• The company is the biggest user of oil.该公司是最大的石油用户。
• The umbrella keeps the rains off the user.雨伞使撑伞人免受雨淋。

2 fancy   

n.想像力，幻想；喜好，爱；adj.想像的，时髦的，华丽装饰的，奢侈的；技巧的；vt.想象，自认为，喜好

参考例句：

• He seemed to have taken quite a fancy to her.他似乎相当喜欢她。
• I have a fancy that it's going to rain.我想大概要下雨。

3 old-fashioned   

adj.旧式的，保守的，挑剔的

参考例句：

• Why do you still dress in an old-fashioned mode?你为什么还穿款式陈旧的衣服？
• Here is an old-fashioned pump for drawing water from a well.这里有一个旧式水泵可从井里抽水。

4 salesperson   

n.售货员，营业员，店员

参考例句：

• A salesperson works in a shop.售货员在商店工作。
• Vanessa is a salesperson in a woman's wear department.凡妮莎是女装部的售货员。

5 exaggerates   

（使）扩大( exaggerate的名词复数 )； （使）增加； 夸大； 夸张

参考例句：

• I think he exaggerates the parallelism between the two cases. 我认为他夸大了两件事的相似之处。
• People will not believe a man who always exaggerates. 人们不会相信老是夸大其词的人。

6 exaggerated   

adj.言过其辞的

参考例句：

• Inevitably, the press exaggerated the story. 新闻界照例又夸大了这件事。
• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated. 他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。