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。