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。
Michael这个美国学生今天好象什么事都不太顺当。他的中国同学李华也发现他好象有心事。到底是什么事呢?你听了Michael和李华的对话就知道了。他们在对话中会用到两个美国年轻人常用的说法,一个是to bomb;另一个是to mess up。
L:Michael,怎么啦?你好象有心事。
M: I think I just bombed my history test. I don't think I'm going to pass.
L:噢,你怕刚才历史测验会不及格。嗨,没必要,这又不是大考。Michael,你刚才说什么“bombed my history test”,bomb不是炸弹,或是爆炸吗?你可不要开这样的玩笑,现在大家对安全问题都很敏感。
M: No, I said I bombed my test, that means I did very poorly, and probably will get a very low mark.
L:考得不好,分数低,这我都听懂了,就是那个词bomb用在这里有点怪。我想,这就是中文里说的考试考糊了。那除了考试外还能用在哪里呢?
M: Well, sometimes we might say a movie or a play "bombed". That means that no one wanted to see it, and it probably lost a lot of money.
L:噢,还可以指电影,或话剧太次,没有人要看,卖座率太低。我上星期去看了一次电影,剧院里没几个人。后来我才看到报纸评论说这部电影太糟了。我能不能说:“The movie I saw last week bombed”?
M: Sounds like it bombed to me. Remember the play we went to a few weeks ago? The actors were terrible!
L:对,你说几个星期前去看的那场话剧,有几个话剧演员简直是太糟了。That play really bombed!我说得对不对?
M: Absolutely! Hey listen, Li Hua, can we please change the subject? I don't want to think about failure right now. What would you like to eat? It's my treat.
L:你不要再谈这种丧气的事情,没问题!要请我吃饭,行,我吃沙拉和三明治。不过,Michael,你真是得省点钱,要是老是考试不及格,研究院会把你开除的!
M: Please! Don't mention tests!
L:跟你开玩笑嘛!
M: Ah, here's my hamburger. Ack! They messed up my order! There are onions on this burger!
L:你说什么呀?他们把你的汉堡包怎么啦?
M: I told them not to put onions on my burger, but they forgot. Therefore I said that they "messed up my order". I can also just say "they messed up."
L:噢,你叫他们不要放洋葱,他们忘了。所以,to mess up就是做错了事,对吗?
M: That's right. Also, "to mess up something" can mean to break or damage something.
L:噢,to mess up something还可以指把什么东西弄坏了。昨天,和我同房间的学生问我借自行车,等她还我的时候,自行车的链子 断了。我是不是可以说:“She messed up my bike”?
M: Sure! Hey, you'd better tell her to buy you a new chain.
L:对啊,我是让她去买新链子,可是她说都是我不好让她差一点没 出严重的车祸。
M: What? She broke your bicycle, and she's angry at you? That's just wrong!
L:她就是那样的人,上回她把借来的电视机给弄坏了。
M: She messed up the TV she borrowed? You don't need a roommate like her.
L:虽然她弄坏了我的自行车,其他方面她还是很好的。嗨,Michael,你能帮我修自行车吗?
M: Well, I'm really out of luck today. I bombed my test, they messed up my burger, and now I have to repair your bike!
L:这也算什么倒霉呀!没几分钟你就修好了。我先谢谢你了!
M: Ok, ok!
今天李华学到两个常用语,一个是:to bomb,另一个是:to mess up