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. % m1 y7 n% l9 H- v( E" o+ R! N/ h, M5 `1 ^
M:Your driving is getting better, Li Hua. Hey, you'd better slow down. This is a 35 mile per hour zone. ; x S! `) }7 Y2 u/ N3 p: n# L$ o 6 E" i. W! ~: Z' ~: f& p- O* S6 IL: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?3 g5 p5 v7 J! v% s3 |1 @; e
( _" W P# q, c H, C ?( dM: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. & g0 O6 f, ]: \- S- T0 q( v& V & K# K' j$ ^4 y8 c6 q" yL: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? 3 W0 D8 W2 W5 {1 W" A5 ]* }( r! u& {( q0 F& l$ y
M:That's right. "Cop" means police officer. x3 D* [9 P7 \/ Y2 d6 S5 s* X, u; v0 g4 u" ^ _# D4 d2 |5 a s
L:警察要来跟我说话!我会不会倒霉呀?我该怎么办呢? . }3 F6 P# R2 C- Y/ s$ j - T6 V8 L7 x6 Q h. v3 WM:Calm down! Sometimes the cops stop people just to warn them, not to give them a ticket. You weren't going very fast anyway.0 n( g/ E, z9 ^" \! [
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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? * I' p5 n& Q6 A' @( V2 g * s3 m) k: q" _, y0 I+ yM:When I say "the cops", I mean the police in general. I'm not talking about any cop in particular.' C6 I6 w0 J: t( O; Y- t
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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( }! c, ~" P7 i
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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"!" T% ^( n+ j4 W+ ^3 N
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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! ~: A( x( w- J
6 @- X8 o0 j. W/ {M:Li Hua, don't worry. I'm sure this isn't very serious.2 c0 j' i6 |- T2 Z8 _: [
7 [# u5 k2 `1 x% j1 `M:See, Li Hua, I was right. The cop didn't give you a ticket. 5 p3 G' o: @, h/ e( d# r2 o$ ]) ` 3 e2 A, p5 ` t% l! OL: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。 # L. j% C C9 [/ _, D4 Z+ r3 z4 F! E9 j4 l! d$ z
M:I told you not to freak out. If a cop sees that you are nervous, he will be even more suspicious of you.8 p5 T: ~9 z& B) n( Y- s
: e' h" I* A' s) `; ML:你告诉我什么?叫我别下车? 1 Q7 h( H( E& l% \' z' | " D. l3 e5 N" R: t! d0 B0 XM:No, I told you not to "freak out". "Freak out" means to panic or to act crazy and excited. & j1 x q+ C, w 3 U, J5 f, I! ]5 w& GL: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?/ [# o+ Z9 R, k2 g) o7 Z
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M:That's right. Actually, I was the one who should have been freaking out! & w. N7 l" N' T d) P3 v * s" c$ i0 s; j0 {9 eL:你才该感到紧张?为什么? ( F' _+ \4 q( O+ _; p) i 0 B! Q. I% W' c/ `M:Because this is my car, and you only have a learner's permit. I'd be responsible if you got in trouble.% V* T; O4 v; j8 a: p& [$ f& a; Y
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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?3 p" U: ^8 k. o) q$ C
/ q q. G" j% M( R3 CM:Hey! Li Hua, look out for that car!4 N% x* W: X4 J% e* x% k
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L: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!2 P8 M9 K9 z' S- Q+ z! O, r7 \ j
/ R$ X3 W" @5 r: j8 p/ J1 k( v6 {5 [, ]M:Oh, man! that was close! That guy is crazy! I wish the cops were here to see that!% F# ]; l8 T7 W" w+ ]