Larry和李華兩人正在做菜,準(zhǔn)備一會(huì)兒帶到朋友家參加party。今天李華會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ):to blow it和to wing it.
(Cooking sounds)
LH: Larry, 那是什么味道?(sniffing) .........哎呀,糟了!是豬排烤焦了啦!
LL: What? Oh no! I ruined them. They're stuck to the bottom of the pot. I blew it!
LH: 你在說(shuō)什么啊!你是把豬排烤焦了,又沒有吹壞什么東西!你怎么說(shuō)blow it呢?
LL: When I said "I blew it", I meant that I ruined the whole dish. To "blow it" means to make a mistake that leads to total failure, or ruins a good opportunity.
LH: 噢,原來(lái)blow it是指犯了錯(cuò),把事情搞砸了,或者錯(cuò)過(guò)了一個(gè)大好機(jī)會(huì)。你?。∵€真是把這道豬排給搞砸了。這樣吧!給你個(gè)將功補(bǔ)過(guò)的機(jī)會(huì),再給我舉個(gè)blow it的例子吧!
LL: Well, the other day I was playing pool with Jack. I was just two shots away from winning, but then I blew it: I sunk the eight ball and lost.
LH: 哈哈! 你玩臺(tái)球輸給Jack ! 八成是你太有自信,所以才會(huì)在最后關(guān)頭輸?shù)簟?/p>
LL: And last week, I finally got a date with that girl from my international relations class, but I blew it. I took a nap, overslept, and showed up at her place an hour and a half late.
LH: 哎, Larry, 你幾星期來(lái)一直要約那個(gè)女孩出去玩。終于約到了,怎么會(huì)睡過(guò)頭,還遲到一個(gè)半小時(shí)的呢!我看你??!你真是砸了這個(gè)好機(jī)會(huì)。
LL: Yeah, well, it wasn't as bad as when you had that job opportunity last week and blew it!
LH: 喲,你說(shuō)到我頭上來(lái)啦!我沒有拿到那分工作又不是我的錯(cuò)!我怎么知道他們?cè)谖业碾娫捓锪袅搜浴?/p>
LL: That's because you forgot to check it. That was a really good job, too, and you blew it!
LH: 我沒有聽電話留言。就算是我blew it。
******
LH: 哎,Larry, 現(xiàn)在可怎么辦?我們一個(gè)小時(shí)后就得到Jane的家里,可是我們一道菜也沒做好!
LL: Well, we'll just have to wing it.
LH: Wings? 你是說(shuō)雞翅膀?可是我們已經(jīng)沒有時(shí)間到店里去買了啊!
LL: No, no, Li Hua, I said we have to wing it. That means, we'll have to do the best we can with limited time and resources
LH: 噢,原來(lái)to wing it是說(shuō)在有限的時(shí)間和條件下盡量拼湊。好吧!那你有什么好辦法?
LL: Let me see, what do you have in the fridge? (sound of fridge opening) Hmm, there's some tofu in here, and some green onions. And there's all these jars of weird Chinese sauces. Maybe we can wing it by making some kind of tofu dish.
LH: 嗯,讓我看看.......!對(duì)了!這兒有豆腐,有蔥,還有...讓我看這瓶子里是什么...噢,四川辣醬! 得了,我們可以做麻辣豆腐,這道菜又快又容易,只要把豆腐切塊,再切些青蔥,半個(gè)小時(shí)就可以完工咯!
LL: O.K., let's get to work. (sound of sink/cooking sounds). This is a great idea. People will love it, and no one will even notice that we're winging it.
LH: 沒人會(huì)看出我們是臨時(shí)湊出這道菜的。所以Larry, to wing it是不是只能用在臨時(shí)把東西放在一塊兒,就像做菜?
LL: Not always. For instance, when I covered for Jack and taught his history 101 students last week, I didn't have time to prepare for the class, so I just winged it.
LH: 你替Jack上課,可是事前沒有時(shí)間備課。咦?那你是怎么臨時(shí)備好課的呢?
LL: I read the reading assignment just an hour before class began. The students knew I was winging it, but they were very understanding.
LH: 上課前一小時(shí)看看指定閱讀些什么材料你就去上課啦!那學(xué)生當(dāng)然知道你是在湊合咯!
LL:Li Hua, pay attention to your cooking, don't blow it this time!
LH: 你放心,你沒看見我老守在爐子邊嗎! 我絕不會(huì)blow it !
今天李華學(xué)到的兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ),一個(gè)是to blow it,意思是把事情搞砸了,或者是錯(cuò)過(guò)一個(gè)大好機(jī)會(huì)。另一個(gè)常用語(yǔ)是to wing it,是指在有限的時(shí)間和條件下,臨時(shí)拼湊完成一件工作。