文章献给准备过英语专业四级的同学,给同学一些听力习题练习,希望大家考试成功。
今天,Michael 和他的中国同学李华约好了在中央公园见面。他们在对话中会用到两个词:drag 和trip。
L:对不起,Michael,我迟到了。地铁误点了。
M: Hey, Li Hua. Don't apologize, it's a nice day to just sit here and relax.
L:对,坐在这里休息休息是挺好的。我也很喜欢这个公园。不过,我们得到大都市艺术博物馆去看摄影展览呐!
M: Oh, do we have to go? I hate going to the museum on such a nice day, it's such a drag.
L:哟,你觉得这么好的天气去博物馆太没意思,就不想去了?Michael,你答应过我,要是我到这儿来,你就跟我一起去。你说什么drag不drag的,我又没法把你拽着一起去!
M: No, to call something a drag means it is tiresome.
L:噢,在中文里就是没劲,没意思。Michael,drag不是拉东西的拉吗?你说的drag跟这个drag是同一个字吗?
M: Yeah, Li Hua, same word. As another example, we could also call our professor Dr. Smith a drag.
L:噢,还可以说我们的教授Smith博士没劲,没意思。这我可不知道,我并不觉得他枯燥无味。
M: Of course you would say that. After all, on the first day of class all you did was talk about how cute he was.
L:你说我第一天上完他的课后,口口声声夸他长得帅?你别瞎说八道了。
M: Oh, Li Hua, you're such a drag. You did say he's cute.
L:非要说我认为他很帅。还说我没劲。算了,不跟你说了。Michael,我去看展览了,不管你去不去。
M: All right, all right, I'll come.
(Michael 和李华看完了摄影展)
L:这个摄影展览真好,可是我还在生你的气呢!
M: Ok, I'm sorry. Actually, I really enjoyed the photography exhibit. I thought it was a trip.
L:我也很喜欢这种超现实主义的艺术。等等,你为什么把看展览叫做旅行呢?我们又没有离开纽约。
M: No, the word trip does mean travel, but here it means something that is unusual, in a good way.
L:对,trip这个字很普通,是指旅行。原来你说的trip是指不寻常,但又很好的意思。噢,我想起来了。以前有一个教授告诉过我,美国年轻人在60和70年代盛行反潮流的行为。Trip这个词就来自那个时候,是指吸毒后产生的幻觉。对不对?
M: Yeah, but its meaning has changed.
L:现在的意思不一样了。可我现在就知道我们刚才去看的摄影展览可以说是a trip,中文可以说是与众不同吧。其他还有什么也能用trip这个词来形容的呢?
M: Well, look at that guy over there, sitting on the bench. The long hair and wild clothes. I really like his outfit, so I would call him a trip. But some people may not like this.
L:噢,坐在长板凳上的那个留着长头发,穿着很怪的男人?你喜欢他的衣服,所以你认为他与众不同,别有风味。对不起,我可不欣赏。
M: That's ok, everyone is different.
L:对,每个人的爱好不一样。你再给我举个例子吧。
M: I would also call our photography class professor a trip, her style is a trip.
L:对,她是与众不同,她上课的时候总是很激动,跟别的教授不一样。我的男朋友是学小提琴的,他常常练琴练得忘了吃饭,他也能算是个trip吧?
M: Yeah, he is also a trip. I can't imagine you would like someone who is a drag.
L:这你可说对了。你要是一个枯燥无味的人,我才不跟你一起出去玩呢。得了,我们该回去做功课了,尽管没劲,书还得念呐。
M: Ok, let's go!
今天Michael教了李华两个常用的词,一个是:drag,意思是没意思,枯燥;另一个是:trip,意思是与众不同,别出心裁,但是含有褒意。