M:Hey, Li Hua, are you ready to go?
L:行,我準備好了,可以走了。
M:Ok, let's go!
L:喲,怎么啦?
M:I think my engine is shot. This is not good.
L:什么?有人開槍把你車打壞啦?
M:No! You're right, shot does mean to have used a gun, but here shot means something is broken.
L:對啊,shot是指開槍,原來這兒的意思不同,這兒是指什么東西壞了。那我的電腦壞了,也能用shot這個字啊?
M:Sure. My computer is shot. You can say almost anything is shot.
L:什么東西壞了都能這樣說?
M:Yes, if you hurt your knee, you can say:My knee is shot, or if you hurt your shoulder, you can say:My shoulder is shot.
L:噢,要是你的膝蓋受傷了,你就可以說:My knee is shot;要是你的肩膀受了傷,那你就說:My shoulder is shot.
M:Let's go rent a car. I don't want our whole day to be shot.
L:對,還是去租一輛車吧。噢,毀了一整天也能這樣說呀!
M:Yep. Let's go!
(Michael和李華租了一輛車,現(xiàn)在他們在開往新澤西的路上)
L:Michael,這輛車真不錯,挺穩(wěn)的。再開半小時就到了,太好了!
M:Yeah, I'm glad too, but the damage for renting the car is pretty bad.
L:什么?這輛租的車也壞了?喲,那怎么辦吶!
M:No, the rental car is not damaged! The word damage does mean that, but damage here means the amount of money needed to pay for something.
L:租的車沒有壞,真把我嚇一跳。原來又是我的英文有問題。Damage 這個字很普通,大家都知道是指什么東西壞了。可你指的是為什么東西付的錢。
M:Yes, renting the car is expensive, so the damage is bad. We usually say the damage is bad or not bad.
L:我知道了,價錢貴就是:the damage is bad。價錢不高,那就是:the damage is not bad. 再給我舉個例子吧。
M:When you pay for dinner at a restaurant, you can ask:What's the damage?
L:噢,在飯店里吃完晚飯要付錢的時候可以問:“What's the damage?”所以租車很貴,the damage is bad. Michael,別擔心,我可以幫你付一點。
M:You don't have to, Li Hua. I know the damage for your new computer was pretty bad.
L:你真好心,知道我買新電腦花了不少錢,所以不要我?guī)湍愀?。Michael,沒關系,我能付一點,你還要去修車,也很貴的。
M:Thanks, Li Hua. But I hope the damage for fixing my car won't be too bad.
L:我也希望你修車不至于太貴。得了,別說錢了,趕快開吧。
M:OK, I'll drive fast so that the rest of our day won't be shot.
L:對了,別浪費時間了,我也不想把一天的時間全浪費了。
今天Michael 教了李華兩個年輕人常用的詞,一個是shot。Shot 是指什么東西壞了,或者人體的某個部位受傷了;另外一個詞 是damage。這里的damage不是指損壞,而是指為某樣東西,或某個交易付的錢。