Larry和李華正走在公園里,兩人準(zhǔn)備穿過(guò)公園到地鐵站去。今天李華會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ):gooey和retro.
LL: Oh no! I just stepped in something gooey! Gross!
LH: 怎么啦!Larry!你踩到什么啦?gooey是什么?該不是鳥(niǎo)糞吧?
LL: Something that is gooey is sticky and wet like glue or chewing gum. As a matter of fact, I think that the gooey thing I stepped in is actually chewing gum.
LH: 呃,你踩到口香糖啦!口香糖又濕又黏的,真是夠惡心的!原來(lái)gooey就是指這種東西。我最討厭那些人把吃過(guò)的口香糖隨便吐在地上。真沒(méi)有公德。
LL: I hate it, too, especially because gooey things like chewing gum are really hard to clean up. Now, I'm going to have to walk around with a gooey pink spot on the bottom of my shoe.
LH: 就是啊。這些黏呼呼的口香糖一旦沾上了,是很難洗掉的。也許你可以等到晚上口香糖干掉后,可能會(huì)比較容易從鞋底掰下來(lái)。
LL: That's a good idea. I'll try and peel it off later tonight.
LH: Laryy, 你就別再發(fā)火了。想一想,口香糖沾上鞋底,總比沾上頭發(fā)要好一些吧?
LL: I can imagine. Has that ever happened to you?
LH: 嗯,是有那么一次。我還在念小學(xué)的時(shí)候,班上的一個(gè)男孩把一瓶膠水倒在我頭上,黏呼呼的膠水把我頭發(fā)全沾上了。我媽媽花了好幾個(gè)小時(shí)才把我的頭發(fā)洗干凈呢!
LL: That's awful! You must have been so upset!
LH: 就是啊!我哭了好久。第二天我也拿了一大罐黏稠的水彩倒在那個(gè)男孩的衣服上作為報(bào)復(fù)。誰(shuí)要他先倒膠水在我頭發(fā)上!
LL: That's terrible, Li Hua!
LH: 我也知道這樣做是不對(duì)的。可是你知道嗎?那個(gè)男孩再也沒(méi)敢欺負(fù)我了!
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LH: Larry, 我喜歡你這雙新鞋。真好看!
LL: Thanks! I bought them to replace the shoes that were all gooey from the gum I stepped in. I liked these because they are kind of retro.
LH: Retro? 那是什么意思???
LL: Retro means similar to something from the past. These shoes are retro because they look like the shoes people used to wear in the 1950s.
LH: 噢,retro是指那些與過(guò)去流行的東西很類似,那不就是“仿古”的意思嗎?我也注意到,一些仿古的衣服或飾品通常都有特殊的風(fēng)格。
LL: Yeah, some people even go to special stores to buy actual vintage clothes that are twenty or thirty years old.
LH: 哇!到特殊的商店去買二,三十年前的衣服?。∥译m然喜歡仿古風(fēng)味的衣服,可是我還真不明白為什么有人會(huì)花錢買一件20年前的舊衣服。
LL: I don't understand it, either. I prefer to buy a new shirt that looks old-fashioned instead of one that actually is old.
LH: 當(dāng)然了!我也寧可買式樣是仿古的新衣服。我才不要花大錢去買那些古董衣服呢。
LL: Some car manufacturers are making retro cars now, too. Chrysler makes a couple of cars that look like cars from the 1940s.
LH: 對(duì),我也見(jiàn)過(guò)克萊斯勒出的那種汽車。式樣象四十年代的車。真的很酷!
LL: Yeah, I like them too, but in this case, I actually prefer real vintage cars. A retro new car just isn't the same as a real classic car.
LH: 你寧可買幾十年前的老車呀?式樣仿古的新車跟老車有什么不一樣哪?是結(jié)構(gòu),還是材料不一樣?
LL: It's hard to explain, but sometimes nothing compares to the real thing.
LH:衣服嘛要買老款式的新衣服。汽車嘛要買真正的老車。Larry,你真怪!
今天李華學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。第一個(gè)是gooey,是形容那種濕乎乎,又很黏的東西。另一個(gè)常用語(yǔ)是retro,就是仿古,或復(fù)古的意思。