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大家都知道Michael 这个美国学生正在学中文。他和中国学生李华约好每个星期
至少在一起活动一次。今天他们决定到一个公园去滑冰。李华会学到两个常用语：
loser 和to bug。
L: 今天的天气真好呀！正是运动的好天气。我已经好久都没有滑冰 了。
M: You're a very good skater. I just keep falling down.
L: 学滑冰总是会摔跤的。多练习练习就好了。
M: I know, but I feel like such a loser. I keep getting passed by little kids. They laugh
at me.
L: 小孩肯定比我们滑得快，别怕他们笑话你。你刚才说你觉得自己 是什么？
Loser? 滑冰又不是比赛，怎么会输掉呢？
M: I said I feel like a loser, it means that I feel like a failure. It doesn't mean I lost a
game.
L: 你是说loser 就是一个人做某件事总是做不好。嗯，我们在中文 里常说："我
怎么老学不好，真是个笨蛋"。这跟loser 的意思 差不多吧？不过，Michael，我肯
定你在滑冰方面不是个笨蛋，你只 要多练习就行了。
M: Thanks for the encouragement, Li Hua. But I've always been kind of a loser at
sports. Growing up, I was always picked last for the baseball and soccer teams.
L: 原来你在体育方面从小就不行。不过，Michael，在其他方面你 一点也不笨。
M: What do you mean, Li Hua?
L: 这还不明白吗？女孩子都很喜欢你呀，你还有其他好多朋友呀。
M: You're right, I do have a lot of friends. But if they could see how many times I fell
down today, I'm sure they would not want be friends with such a loser.
L: 得了吧，Michael，要说笨蛋，那天晚上我们见到的那个人才是呢。他自以为
挺帅，老是想去和女孩子搭讪，可是，谁都知道他是个 没出息的人，谁都不要和
他交朋友。Michael，我们能叫这种人 loser 吗？
M: Yeah, very good, Li Hua. That guy really is a loser. He never studies at all. I think
he's in college just to party.
L: 他从来不念书呀？Michael，你还滑不滑？
M: I guess so...Just wait up for me, in case I fall down again. Okay, let's go!
(滑完冰以后)
L: Michael，运动一下真舒服。
M: Yeah, you had been bugging me about going skating for so long, I guess it was
about time that I came along with you.
L: 什么是bugging ? Bug 不是小虫子吗？
M: No, bugging means to bother or annoy someone about something. I didn't mean it
in a serious way, I was just kidding.
L: 噢，to bug 就是为了某件事去麻烦别人，让人讨厌。Michael, 你 再举一个例
子好吗？
M: Sure. You can say that something is bugging you, such as an assignment that you
haven't been able to finish or a problem that you cannot solve. You could also...
L: 等等，让我先弄清楚你说的。你是说，我没能完成的功课，或者解决不了的问
题都可以用to bug 这个动词。那就是说："This assignment is bugging me"，或者是：
"This problem is bugging me"，对 不对？
M: Yes, you can also say that a habit someone has really bugs you.
L: 我知道，象Mary，她老是打断我说话，让我很烦，很讨厌。
M: You could say "It really bugs me when Mary interrupts me in the middle of a
sentence." I can also say it really bugs me when you try to tell me what to do.
L: 嗨，我告诉你该怎么做是为了你好。老实说，it bugs me that you never listen to
me.
M: It seems that you've learned how to use "loser" and "to bug". Let's go home.
李华今天学了一个名词"loser"，指一个人老是不会做某件事；她还学了一个动词
"to bug"，意思是为了一件事老是去麻烦别人，让人讨厌。这次这次[流行美语]就
学习到这里，我们下次再见。 |