流行美语 第 36 课
时间:2019-02-05 作者:英语课 分类:美国之音《流行美语》
Michael 和李华好几天没见了,今天刚好在校园里碰到,两个人就聊起来了。李华
会学到两个常用语:to chip in 和snail 1 mail。
L: 嗨,Michael,Bob 明天开生日party,你去吗?
M: Yes, I'm going with a few friends. We decided 2 to chip in and buy him a leather
jacket. He's been talking about buying a jacket for a long time.
L: 你要和几个朋友一起去参加 party,还要给他买一件皮夹克。可是皮夹克很贵,
你们是不是准备大家凑钱给他买?你刚才说chip in 是不是就是这个意思呀?
M: That's right. To chip in, means 3 to each contribute 4 money to buy something.
L: 那就是我们中国人说的凑钱买东西。
M: Usually you say "chip in" if each person in a group of people gives some money to
buy someone a present.
L: 要是每个人都出一些钱给谁买个礼物,人们一般就会说to chip in。
M: To give you another example, my mother said her colleagues 5 always chip in to buy
gifts to celebrate someone's birthday or when someone has a new baby.
L: 你妈妈的同事往往会凑钱买礼物给过生日的同事,或者给刚生孩子的同事。这
跟上面你说的几个朋友凑钱给Bob 买皮夹克差不多。To chip in 还可以用在其它什
么场合吗?
M: You can also use "to chip in" if you are going out with a group of people for dinner
or a drink.
L: 噢,几个朋友一起出去吃饭,喝酒,每个人出一些钱来付帐也可以说是chip in。
M: Yes, the guys and I usually each chip in a few dollars when we go out for pizza on
Friday nights。Last week, I paid 10 dollars, Bob chipped in $4, John gave $2. There is
one guy who never chips in. He's cheap. It really makes me mad.
L: 等等,上星期五你们几个人出去吃比萨饼,你付了十美元,Bob 出了四美元,
John 出了两美元。还有一个小气鬼,从来不出钱。他真好意思!Why don't you ditch
him, 甩了他不得了!
M: Oh, we've been friends for many years, and it's only a few bucks 6!
L: 哟,既然朋友多年,也就几块钱的事,你不愿意甩了他,那你就别生气啊!
Michael, 你手里拿的是什么?好象是信吧!现在还有人写信呀?
M: I got two letters today from a couple of old friends! I hardly ever get snail mail
anymore.
L: 你收到两个老朋友给你的来信。你说什么?Snail mail, snail 不就是蜗牛吗?
mail 就是信。信和蜗牛又有什么关系呀?
M: "Snail" is an animal known 7 for its slow movement. "Snail mail" means real letters
that you get in your mailbox.
L: 噢,我知道了。蜗牛走的很慢,所以snail mail 就是指通过邮局寄的信。以前
怎么没有听说snail mail 这个说法呢?
M: Well, ever since e-mail became popular, people have used "snail mail" to talk about
paper mail, because it is slower than e-mail.
L: 对,邮局寄的信和电子邮件相比真是要慢多了。叫它"蜗牛信"倒也挺形象的。
M: Yes, everyone is so busy nowadays, no one seems to have time to write snail mail
anymore.
L: 你说得一点不错。大家都很忙,没有多少人还会坐在那儿写信。邮局里送来的
邮件不是账单,就是广告。这些也能叫做snail mail 吗?
M: No, only a letter written to you by a friend or family member can really be called
"snail mail".
L: 噢,人们只有把亲友写的信叫做snail mail。说起写信,我真是应该给我爸爸
妈妈写信了。
M: I'm just too lazy to write snail mail. I think I'll go write some e-mails.
L: 你的亲友都在美国,都有电脑。我的父母在中国,他们还没有电脑,所以,I have
to write snail mails to them。我得走了,下回再聊吧!
M: Okay, bye!
李华今天学到两个常用语,一个是:to chip in,意思是凑钱买什么东西,或者是
凑钱付大家一起吃饭的钱。另一个是:snail mai,这是指通过邮局寄的信。今天的
[流行美语]就学习到这里,我们下次节目再会。
- Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
- Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
- That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
- We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。
- The rich will be asked to contribute money;the strong to contribute labour.有钱出钱,有力出力。
- The three sons also contribute to the family business.这3个儿子也为家族事业做出了贡献。
- He wanted to confer with his colleagues before reaching a decision. 他想与他的同事先商议一下再作出决定。
- She is held in high esteem by her colleagues. 她深受同事的敬重。
- They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
- They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》