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. j2 _* B5 O7 `; G+ e& i: T) o% E7 p
M:Your driving is getting better, Li Hua. Hey, you'd better slow down. This is a 35 mile per hour zone. ( ?3 I. i0 } _4 ^5 o* T* f 0 ]* Z: @' d# p4 }( W' |! u) YL: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?' g) \. l: F# j9 @
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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." Y! X; [; s& m. h) C; J
7 {4 s% y, J0 k& U z2 j3 OL: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? 6 G# E! q u; u9 _! o( s0 y7 z! Y3 ], ]: n' ?7 B
M:That's right. "Cop" means police officer. 9 m2 E) ^' R. H- s5 H/ J ! x8 P d& w& f. x2 ~' ]: O, dL:警察要来跟我说话!我会不会倒霉呀?我该怎么办呢?7 D/ w1 w& k* w1 a
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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.# I& I, G- U" R* }8 J
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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? & V" q% N/ f7 @$ ~ 2 w& q6 r! t/ `5 qM:When I say "the cops", I mean the police in general. I'm not talking about any cop in particular. " E$ b- B- ], \7 K$ w% c2 g/ p: K6 X( v6 ^' p q) }/ Y# S2 S
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?- A" ^; N) i$ ]# H8 ^2 H8 ?: ?
6 i n. F) ?) w( |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"! ! E6 A2 ~/ |0 u6 B4 N6 M / O2 b& L0 a& P9 P! X; ~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! # ?, E$ [$ b1 O& y6 u5 @4 S$ I $ k% M0 K. n, [M:Li Hua, don't worry. I'm sure this isn't very serious." K0 s9 K/ f( d+ W# `
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M:See, Li Hua, I was right. The cop didn't give you a ticket.6 w1 w: o9 s9 L
9 m+ [) t q t4 zL: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。 ' |; P9 [, e% p- w8 }3 C6 q7 M9 J/ `; z& u
M:I told you not to freak out. If a cop sees that you are nervous, he will be even more suspicious of you.! Y" L/ ?8 L& T7 Z2 v
5 q, \* e9 c. yL:你告诉我什么?叫我别下车?* M/ S3 A9 t! J& s5 m3 _: e0 c/ ~
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M:No, I told you not to "freak out". "Freak out" means to panic or to act crazy and excited. * Z: ^1 ^% v4 x2 ?7 n: ^# V* _. T- X+ S1 Z: @ B& h7 N
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? * `( S, [& s" \# n' B8 i9 N9 |! C' Z2 _6 w1 Y% H
M:That's right. Actually, I was the one who should have been freaking out!2 v+ C* x) j. r
$ o- ?( b+ V% OL:你才该感到紧张?为什么?. G2 L, F0 ~; k- |4 j
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M:Because this is my car, and you only have a learner's permit. I'd be responsible if you got in trouble.) {9 K& b& A. j
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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?: i$ R/ q# T% y+ e
2 Z* N- N' e1 y. _# TM:Hey! Li Hua, look out for that car!; z* ?1 E3 N/ y) N
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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! ) ?/ {( m x8 A# v' V. u0 {; z: j' {0 F) e% K0 P+ b0 U4 ~
M:Oh, man! that was close! That guy is crazy! I wish the cops were here to see that!' C% Z, v9 I: A4 S6 l% D7 h4 B$ ~* f; M