Michael是个美国学生,在纽约上大学。他的一个要好同学是从中国大陆来的李华。今天Michael刚好在校园里碰到李华。李华会在谈话中学到两个常用语:couch potato和nuts。1 } W' W9 ]( \: W4 q
; J) t+ Y& y. v2 A
L:嗨,Michael, 你上哪儿去呀?7 I, r+ |, _3 s
. q5 t+ w& U; u' X4 c A
M:I'm going to meet Jon at the subway. You've met Jon, haven't you? " I: e8 d! ^0 u $ G8 K6 H; u& |$ aL:嗯,是不是上次在一次party上你给我介绍的那个带眼镜的人?' L( I6 S& _- H3 t4 F% d6 F" J! k6 y
2 i+ P+ _5 o! X$ q5 D" `& U0 b
M:Yes. I want to drag him out to do something. You know, he's such a couch potato.0 }' g; d% D+ F' {6 F
; I: Q) P$ L9 F( P# @: R
L:他是什么? Couch potato? 什么是couch potato? 他爱吃土豆?- i' K$ ` C5 Q5 T- l% `
" c$ B7 f, O7 J( \: B+ `
M:No, couch potato is an expression used to describe someone who sits in front of the TV all the time eating junk food, such as potato chips.7 [ c/ X9 @; l3 d! P3 N
6 [! D2 z2 E$ u# W" Y
L:噢,原来coach potato是指一个人老坐在电视机前吃零食。这个常用语挺有趣。那couch potato是不是只能指人呀?+ ^1 b& T9 y' ]
6 d& e& h2 p" F' `
M:Yes, it is only used to describe people, those who are lazy and unmotivated.% d( t9 _$ K' _9 c+ `; H
9 d/ U8 V2 `* a; S
L:噢,只能指人,指那些懒懒散散,没有动力的人。好,下回我就叫我哥哥couch potato。他老是看电视,一看就看到三更半夜,吃的东西撒在地毯上,沙发上,到处都是。 " \1 m* r# D+ `* H, V % ]! m- n4 _( SM:My father's like that too. My mother is always angry with him. But he doesn't care.% K$ O! y. ?' O# r+ r& F4 `$ _
# U9 u' d$ u7 J, r: k
L:哟,你爸爸也是这样呀!要我是你妈,我也会生气的。 ' V( G# d1 b; f5 I* x4 V! z e) L: q1 z1 L1 w# o! IM:But sometimes, after a really hard week at school, I also just want to collapse and be a couch potato. : e* R8 v$ v+ f5 `2 g' `+ q+ ~+ ~' q4 e) G& m+ w
L:一个星期在学校念书实在很累了,回家当一回couch potato,我想这还是可以的,只要不是每天这样就行了。 g: v9 e3 K. _( `
, | B* s l# iM: Yes, I agree. Li Hua, would you like to join us? Jon and I are going to play tennis. " t+ ` |( R; e% ], I; n( w & m( i! W, [. r( _& J# YL:你们要打网球呀,那太好了,我正在学打网球呐。 : b% x2 |# F% y$ c2 v* G, P' T$ X# m/ j* [4 L
M:That's wonderful. You know, some people think I'm nuts to have a friend like Jon. % P: _! c" Z6 W5 | " ?" q! P0 W; F7 m) W0 DL:有的人认为你是什么? Nuts?Nuts不是花生,杏仁那样的果仁吗?你跟Jon交朋友跟吃花生有什么关系呀?7 \+ ^5 Y0 x* }+ P$ g1 ?- r
. U% q& Z D5 w: y/ J
M:No, nuts here means someone who is crazy. , y, t' M! ~ S/ w 0 B4 ?$ i6 Q" w* s5 iL:原来nuts在这里是说一个人做的事很怪。大概就象中文里说的:你疯啦!对吗?* d/ j% l' N% C
5 v, v: r/ M, E& x) @& r- c' RM:That's right. Jon can be rude, and he also argues a lot. Sometimes he does drive me nuts.% M5 m- W6 R: I% W: k
! t7 ~& K. C5 e I
L:他看起来不象会对别人无礼,爱跟人争论的人哪!你刚才说drives me nuts 是什么意思啊?5 v& n4 {! z4 }# p9 s1 A
. i! a2 q& e( p* V* ^8 T
M:Drives me nuts means he makes me crazy. 6 K& b3 d$ `# L- Q+ e1 R# m4 P2 ?3 d9 e+ W/ Q" z
L:噢,还可以说drive me nuts, 或者是drive someone nuts。嗨,Michael,那天我上移民局去办手续,排队好长,我站了一小时,我真是火死了。我能说:They drove me nuts 吗? 5 P4 m; g, L- [; `3 ^6 j. b( `) F3 I; u j% U) B
M:Of course. You know, my mother used to make me clean my room every night when I was in high school and that drove me nuts., ^" P8 c/ m1 M: [' j2 o