美國(guó)之音之流行美語(yǔ)lesson 340 flip out...
李華和Larry在夏威夷渡假, 倆人今天坐著帆船出海。今天我們要學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：the ropes和get the hang of.
LH: Wow, Larry, 我太喜歡坐帆船了。你看，藍(lán)天白云，海天一色，微風(fēng)拂面，我好象已經(jīng)融化在大自然里了。
LL: Yeah, this is really great! Do you think the captain would teach me how to sail the boat?
LH: 你想試試看嗎？可是Larry, 這么大一條船，駕馭起來可沒那么簡(jiǎn)單，肯定不是一下子就能學(xué)會(huì)的。
LL: That's OK, Lihua. I don't expect to become an expert in one day. I just want to learn the ropes a little bit.
LH: Learn the ropes? 你是指如何用這些繩子來控制船帆嗎？
LL: Exactly! Actually, when you learn the basic rules of how to do something, you can say that you learn the ropes.
LH: 哦，the ropes, 就是指最基本的知識(shí)和技巧，那你的意思是，不是真要學(xué)會(huì)駕駛帆船，只是要了解一些皮毛。
LL: Right! Or, here is another example. When you start a new job and don't know how to do things, you should find a more experienced colleague to teach you the ropes.
LH: 沒錯(cuò)，到了一個(gè)新的工作單位，是要找個(gè)熟悉工作的同事帶你入門，給你介紹一下工作的基本要求和流程。
LL: So Lihua, do you like sailing or surfing better?
LH: 坐帆船出海更放松，去海邊沖浪更刺激，嗯，我更喜歡沖浪，而且我沖浪已經(jīng)入門了，可以自己練習(xí)了。
LL: Right. Once the surfing instructor has shown you the ropes, you can practice by yourself.
LH: 今天出來坐帆船算是休息，明天我們加大活動(dòng)量，去爬山！
LL: Sure! But since we are visitors and don't know anything about hiking in Hawaii, we should find a local guide to show us the ropes.
LH: Come on Larry! 你的冒險(xiǎn)精神都跑到哪里去了？好了，我們還是去找船長(zhǎng)，讓他教我們幾招show us the ropes, 好不好？
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兩小時(shí)后，Larry和李華回到岸上。
LH: Wow, Larry, 看不出，你還真有兩下子，船長(zhǎng)教了你一下，你就自己把船開了回來，真是讓我刮目相看。
LL: Thanks, Lihua. You weren't nervous when the captain let me sail the boat?
LH: 那有什么好緊張的？你的飛車我都敢坐，更別說帆船了，大不了掉到海里去，反正我會(huì)游泳。駕駛帆船難不難？
LL: Well learning to sail was pretty hard at first, but after a little while I got the hang of it.
LH: You got the hang of it? 這是什么意思啊？
LL: When you get the hang of something, that means that you succeed in learning it.
LH: 哦，我明白了，to get the hang of something, 就是學(xué)會(huì)、掌握的意思。你是說駕駛帆船雖然并不容易，但是練習(xí)一會(huì)，就能學(xué)會(huì)基本技巧。
LL: Exactly. Or for another example, I could say that John is a really talented athlete in whatever sport he tries. When I showed him how to play football, he got the hang of it very quickly.
LH: 就是說John有體育天分，凡是體育項(xiàng)目一教就會(huì)，所以沒用多久就掌握了橄欖球的基本技巧。
LL: Right. So Lihua, you don't think I'm a good driver?
LH: 這么說吧，我倒是覺得在海上開船更安全，地方大，足夠你橫沖直撞。
LL: Well driving is hard! Remember when I taught you? It took a long time before you started to get the hang of it.
LH: 怎么會(huì)，我可是天生的司機(jī)，考駕照都是一次通過。對(duì)了，Larry, 我們明天真的要去釣魚嗎？我可從來沒釣過魚，you have to show me the ropes. 你得手把手地教我。
LL: Sure. Fishing is pretty simple. so I'm sure you won't have problem getting the hang of it.
LH: 好，如果咱倆明天真能釣到魚，我保證回去做給你吃。
LL: That's a great idea. I've never got the hang of how to cook Chinese food. All the dishes I make taste terrible!
LH: Right...Larry, 你難道就想不出更好的借口逃避做飯嗎？
LL: Haha... I'm still trying to get the hang of it.
今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是the ropes, 意思是基本技巧和要領(lǐng)。另一個(gè)是get the hang of, 意思是學(xué)會(huì)，掌握。
