李华是在纽约上大学的中国学生。今天她的美国同学Michael 陪她练习开车,准备去考驾照。他们在路上几次遇到惊险的情况,尽管这样,李华还是学到了两个常用语,一个是:cop; 另一个是:to freak out. 4 Z3 K- P7 s5 I1 B' W" N( ]+ O( j& e5 B7 P; z% @% |6 j6 Z* ^
M:Your driving is getting better, Li Hua. Hey, you'd better slow down. This is a 35 mile per hour zone. 8 ?1 j4 i+ ]. }, o7 L- l2 J ; L9 F& H. _$ ^/ x* fL:这地区每小时只能开35英里呀?我是不是开太快啦?哟,我的天呐,警察车跟在我后面,那怎么办呐?2 G1 p. P2 c' ?
% o; e! @' S$ C8 MM:Calm down, Li Hua. Just find a parking lot and stop the car. The cop will follow us, and come over to your window to talk to you. 9 R3 m* b9 w& O& I: v9 k. c8 C9 q! K& L d |
L:哪儿有停车的地方呀!行,就停在这里吧!你刚才说谁会过来跟我说话?是警察吗? * s' a. g# Z4 f& x! a7 ?; A0 i4 w- v7 ?- y* f
M:That's right. "Cop" means police officer.2 z n0 \0 y" |5 @7 ^% M
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L:警察要来跟我说话!我会不会倒霉呀?我该怎么办呢? $ b$ C. Z, b. ] ?/ K- ^ z3 t; D ?9 Y. d- a9 H
M:Calm down! Sometimes the cops stop people just to warn them, not to give them a ticket. You weren't going very fast anyway.8 y( z4 L3 d/ M& ]" ]' k4 ]
4 a! b1 ^+ K; l& j9 y3 uL:你说警察可能过来只是警告我一下,不一定会给我罚单呀?但愿如此,我好象是没有开太快。Michael, 你刚才说"cops", 那警车里到底有几个警察呀?! S! D! @& [+ d% M
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M:When I say "the cops", I mean the police in general. I'm not talking about any cop in particular.1 u% ?, g$ Y5 D7 |4 m# Z
! [# O2 ?. I( s+ E1 vL:噢,cop 这个名词用复数的时候,cops, 可以总的指警察,而不是指某个警察。 我就把车停这儿吧。 Michael, 我能称呼警察"cop"吗? 4 M4 C4 G8 s! p0 a3 g9 N * C/ a: I. o8 p& m: ?M:No! The word "cop" is too informal. You should show respect when talking to the cops. Call him "officer", don't call him "cop"!9 @* L6 O) O m2 }9 Y- H* d$ H. A s
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L:天哪!原来"cop"是很随便的称呼,你干吗不早告诉我呀!我可不要惹警察生气! * m# [2 e6 f" D1 ]% a: ] * a3 x. B" o7 D! s7 gM:Li Hua, don't worry. I'm sure this isn't very serious.5 P3 q/ m: v5 H* |. T
. N: A- N- d. YM:See, Li Hua, I was right. The cop didn't give you a ticket.$ r: a9 t. K+ I! U7 @
1 A% c" J* c9 z7 |7 y% rL:谢天谢地,他没有给我罚单。他要罚我好多钱的话,那我就糟糕了。4 _$ j$ ^; w- V3 B0 T
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M:I told you not to freak out. If a cop sees that you are nervous, he will be even more suspicious of you. 7 K7 P3 S2 P1 @+ ]8 J. p* {: k' v4 [, \! ~# u, Q7 c
L:你告诉我什么?叫我别下车? 8 p4 e& o3 ?$ C# f' ^$ r6 m* Q0 R6 ?6 w+ o8 H
M:No, I told you not to "freak out". "Freak out" means to panic or to act crazy and excited.. V3 F2 ~* n1 R2 T* Q' \1 j$ [" q
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L:是啊, 我经常听到一些人说 freak out,原来是指过于激动,显得非常紧张。对不对? & l' X* d/ `. _' W- v6 g g+ ^) `! q$ r4 p. `: O
M:That's right. Actually, I was the one who should have been freaking out! 3 ~. j; M5 a5 ]) i( y( N1 }, p: b7 K8 a3 r/ x. P
L:你才该感到紧张?为什么? ( ?! @$ E5 M; V& k+ E3 F- w. X, D ) ?1 d& B: B# m! M4 d |" X$ i, gM:Because this is my car, and you only have a learner's permit. I'd be responsible if you got in trouble.5 G4 m7 Q* o+ b) V5 \2 P6 f
( W; R! P* E7 NL:这我就不懂了。是的,这是你的车,我只有一张学开车的许可证。可是,我开车出了问题,为什么警察会怪你呀?你为什么要freak out? $ H h* q) F3 T+ o2 r 3 h6 F+ b! B! Q @/ I9 OM:Hey! Li Hua, look out for that car!2 i' i* ^- W$ D
8 Q4 W1 d4 x8 V# P( {8 s9 R% lL:Don't freak out, Michael. 我看见那辆车了。不过,那车差一点就撞到我们了! - t h5 o- T! `% I2 t! p$ B4 k0 J0 O. _3 p* J
M:Oh, man! that was close! That guy is crazy! I wish the cops were here to see that!! ?8 x, f$ e, n7 H