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.# E2 `' Y/ J- {4 W. |3 X
# V+ {, b# ?! ^M:Your driving is getting better, Li Hua. Hey, you'd better slow down. This is a 35 mile per hour zone.' ?( }0 d& U( c* r3 V0 q4 F
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L: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? 1 W4 h' {6 q9 o$ W) h* L; T$ F: h* W. [; V9 N4 N, Q
M: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. - o' h* _* i- p% _$ U( K: d3 s& ~7 k6 A' G/ c3 u
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? + |/ O& H4 F1 ^5 B, J* |9 r( A6 N Y- r
M:That's right. "Cop" means police officer. ?5 A, b* h$ C$ D: L! b* G, A7 J, B5 I
L:警察要来跟我说话!我会不会倒霉呀?我该怎么办呢?1 b( H$ R% \+ p+ l
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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. $ b* N0 H! c `! ~& }$ z2 L9 ?4 |. u9 T3 ^$ W) N
L: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?; Q( G0 i, f. J0 I Z
7 H$ H6 E- z5 [; TM:When I say "the cops", I mean the police in general. I'm not talking about any cop in particular.; V# _1 p7 t' H! I3 e8 v# d9 r
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L: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?. I( M$ C+ `$ s% X
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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"!4 ~3 _1 G$ k2 C: \4 b
+ K% m3 F9 e0 Z7 P' G( l/ `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! 6 ~0 X9 U2 |1 E5 ^+ ~% F8 S! |1 l4 L0 t
M:Li Hua, don't worry. I'm sure this isn't very serious.- i9 G4 m8 b( u6 x; b6 O; c% T+ M# ~
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M:See, Li Hua, I was right. The cop didn't give you a ticket." R* f' F6 E6 m
" s5 Y3 w- l. L4 ^' O: J2 WL: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。 ) V" v( U, k z2 j. V O& F3 @4 \4 V { 0 V W4 K& A/ I/ y9 ]& \3 ZM:I told you not to freak out. If a cop sees that you are nervous, he will be even more suspicious of you. * m- r& ~: F H! E/ u" [- O6 P' e6 U, [& @; \; R* h) m# ^; `% y. A. r
L:你告诉我什么?叫我别下车?5 ^5 `6 x! Y' A: ]
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M:No, I told you not to "freak out". "Freak out" means to panic or to act crazy and excited. T# E7 z- U6 S! W8 W6 c- v ( }5 Y3 P" Q/ W2 Y) R+ s) ~% O1 rL: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?$ a0 h0 N2 S- N. V, o; N& P8 n
4 M5 ~& \# L% b8 u L" q- b* DM:That's right. Actually, I was the one who should have been freaking out!. S5 w ]7 N& T+ Q" J' l
7 h# }5 P7 |* ?L:你才该感到紧张?为什么? 9 u4 z9 D' f+ V5 f: G- D4 H6 u : U, i. [ y% g6 ~# m9 ]/ eM:Because this is my car, and you only have a learner's permit. I'd be responsible if you got in trouble. 5 p$ c/ ]7 L P6 e6 }2 ~1 O1 m) k. T& e# n
L: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? : e: Z7 K# v" _6 t' y+ d" D0 v$ I; A% @( B2 ^& M2 V* s- N3 Q" [
M:Hey! Li Hua, look out for that car!9 W. J' w" m; s: c' E. R
$ C& {9 M9 M DL: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! 1 z, B/ l5 l8 l0 d, k# P% w% }0 }7 R, a! } W' S
M:Oh, man! that was close! That guy is crazy! I wish the cops were here to see that!/ k7 }2 |- G+ M# Z/ z( t4 C