李华是在纽约上大学的中国学生。今天她的美国同学Michael 陪她练习开车,准备去考驾照。他们在路上几次遇到惊险的情况,尽管这样,李华还是学到了两个常用语,一个是:cop; 另一个是:to freak out.. N- c. s# N% I4 ^: X" Z
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M:Your driving is getting better, Li Hua. Hey, you'd better slow down. This is a 35 mile per hour zone. + c) D( Z0 ^7 Y2 ~: O$ s1 k1 w% U/ D& t
L:这地区每小时只能开35英里呀?我是不是开太快啦?哟,我的天呐,警察车跟在我后面,那怎么办呐?( f! F6 P; w6 N' ?
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M:Calm down, Li Hua. Just find a parking lot and stop the car. The cop will follow us, and come over to your window to talk to you.0 W9 Z! @' @7 k6 o- v! D" d' X
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L:哪儿有停车的地方呀!行,就停在这里吧!你刚才说谁会过来跟我说话?是警察吗?9 V4 T2 Q4 d; G2 k
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M:That's right. "Cop" means police officer. ( N* Y% K* g1 _ $ }2 I( H5 R' D- y% E [6 NL:警察要来跟我说话!我会不会倒霉呀?我该怎么办呢?& D) p" q' E" J5 }% J: }( e% g. H
% H# V6 m) t: xM:Calm down! Sometimes the cops stop people just to warn them, not to give them a ticket. You weren't going very fast anyway.! u) l* S7 f: M
. v% z, Z4 J; s% ]- x1 NL:你说警察可能过来只是警告我一下,不一定会给我罚单呀?但愿如此,我好象是没有开太快。Michael, 你刚才说"cops", 那警车里到底有几个警察呀? ( U7 I" r1 u$ d* c& G$ O; k! v: r+ G; M3 Y# [
M:When I say "the cops", I mean the police in general. I'm not talking about any cop in particular. 4 v2 g4 ?; t6 p6 }& J 1 k% Z' j/ A' S4 C: Z2 c1 RL:噢,cop 这个名词用复数的时候,cops, 可以总的指警察,而不是指某个警察。 我就把车停这儿吧。 Michael, 我能称呼警察"cop"吗?% O3 A7 Q4 m4 [$ w, l3 l
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M:No! The word "cop" is too informal. You should show respect when talking to the cops. Call him "officer", don't call him "cop"! ' `( S- y/ r/ R ( b, p1 R9 n2 R! w" _$ W. EL:天哪!原来"cop"是很随便的称呼,你干吗不早告诉我呀!我可不要惹警察生气!) n, ^$ u h( G `: g
. ]& {+ E( v# r* a" R1 ^M:Li Hua, don't worry. I'm sure this isn't very serious./ S" P$ g8 C, q# c7 b$ W
2 ~" T* J5 n3 e4 j8 o/ E9 D! xM:See, Li Hua, I was right. The cop didn't give you a ticket. 9 \& }8 R( n/ b# n3 o6 H& N' j$ U1 p8 t. _ / c9 _# C4 f/ X' E( KL:谢天谢地,他没有给我罚单。他要罚我好多钱的话,那我就糟糕了。 7 |* O. ^4 v2 {* x/ [ 5 W+ G6 J: ]" N7 p) w0 n3 [M:I told you not to freak out. If a cop sees that you are nervous, he will be even more suspicious of you. ) M8 O7 w- M- Z! n; s 2 u6 i4 d& B9 S- q1 A) v0 dL:你告诉我什么?叫我别下车? ! V' M8 H4 O, f8 r R4 Z; h! I9 r: h! W( @6 V
M:No, I told you not to "freak out". "Freak out" means to panic or to act crazy and excited.+ R5 J+ w, p6 i+ E) P2 e9 ^% G h
, E+ |& E% O& _L:是啊, 我经常听到一些人说 freak out,原来是指过于激动,显得非常紧张。对不对?4 k. T. {1 [$ i1 C, B7 S8 q
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M:That's right. Actually, I was the one who should have been freaking out! % b! W; N& l6 u( f. ] ; c" s: @' ~4 I6 h0 tL:你才该感到紧张?为什么? 4 Y7 Z8 e: b7 L# s* [; H% Y# L5 w
M:Because this is my car, and you only have a learner's permit. I'd be responsible if you got in trouble. $ x4 x- H3 b0 d5 s : s) A; U1 X5 s' g. Y, N2 ~! _L:这我就不懂了。是的,这是你的车,我只有一张学开车的许可证。可是,我开车出了问题,为什么警察会怪你呀?你为什么要freak out? 5 f& W* Q; q4 B! r4 P! O ] - r. k7 _4 k$ \M:Hey! Li Hua, look out for that car!; F4 z, \3 W; j) X- o/ m8 Y
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L:Don't freak out, Michael. 我看见那辆车了。不过,那车差一点就撞到我们了!" s- m6 E# R0 G
+ e! I2 O6 j& z- p7 tM:Oh, man! that was close! That guy is crazy! I wish the cops were here to see that! ' Q( r' }6 E" ^ K, @! G$ v! t- _1 z$ \0 W8 c
L:对,刚才是够险的,警察要看到他那么开车,准要给他罚单。不过,今天已经和警察打过交道了,够了。再要跟cops打交道,那我可真是要freak out了。' {5 _2 R! f! Y