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.: Z- h( g6 P( d1 T
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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. 7 T" a! t2 G4 S, c( ?& v; Y6 H) J+ W4 v! D
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?2 `) I8 |. P) U, E; z4 h
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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.: M, j' M0 f' u/ @9 D
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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? 4 k, r5 k/ Z6 E$ Q& ^4 p8 a; e6 ]; ?& E( Y' b* \& O
M:That's right. "Cop" means police officer.( d- i+ I6 |% j/ a/ Z
1 p2 j& R) S: x5 y+ h& H6 p- k6 tM:Calm down! Sometimes the cops stop people just to warn them, not to give them a ticket. You weren't going very fast anyway.- L5 ^1 a, j( K
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L: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? $ }. ^% {3 L0 w5 V5 z/ n7 q( Y / l: F$ g( N4 V& ?M:When I say "the cops", I mean the police in general. I'm not talking about any cop in particular. ( `0 s8 Z) @# w. s* g4 v5 J6 s e
L: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? / V9 L: Y3 Z. ]$ D: q6 T1 C# i: i ! ~' N' l. M% u* c! H [. xM:No! The word "cop" is too informal. You should show respect when talking to the cops. Call him "officer", don't call him "cop"! ) M( g- T b1 L( t/ P9 t G$ X9 A( M A! W- Y1 f
L: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!) S5 ^7 n8 z- f
/ x) r% I: u6 C0 zM:Li Hua, don't worry. I'm sure this isn't very serious.1 k0 d2 }7 f! ^' _
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M:See, Li Hua, I was right. The cop didn't give you a ticket. ( _8 x/ ?5 F% G, a8 K- ^+ u5 O0 ?; K% M
L: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。 1 F$ ]3 S- u% {, I 2 H6 v o' w% q+ Y& g* S& f; `M:I told you not to freak out. If a cop sees that you are nervous, he will be even more suspicious of you.5 e' z, ^5 X, _+ r s
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L:你告诉我什么?叫我别下车?# O9 f3 y: a" v; b2 k1 b
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M:No, I told you not to "freak out". "Freak out" means to panic or to act crazy and excited.2 U3 {6 m# T! P" Z' m+ [
6 Z, E8 \4 {% U$ a/ l5 L( KL: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? ! y/ e- T% f6 i% e; |: |3 F3 f) X, K8 q- n9 p/ z$ }0 [
M:That's right. Actually, I was the one who should have been freaking out! E" I# i7 F4 z! \5 m$ }4 Z# J
' r9 g n8 [( ?( h# lL:你才该感到紧张?为什么? " |. V. p& z5 a) ?, d6 r9 v) t6 P 0 h5 {5 f5 C( M% XM:Because this is my car, and you only have a learner's permit. I'd be responsible if you got in trouble. ( f* b* _+ y; S5 D$ N' x " m) t, [7 S, q1 DL: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?/ t. s' o- z; A" j3 d8 F6 c
u# |( Q0 i. N9 \' }M:Hey! Li Hua, look out for that car!- S8 x4 t; {4 `' n6 V
& [" _ ] ~ a( P/ J* J8 y/ x: ~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! ; T# |4 g' I( D5 r$ \ & S0 ?4 z& H/ M9 ?- }# [6 J# XM:Oh, man! that was close! That guy is crazy! I wish the cops were here to see that! 8 ^* D+ ?9 |6 d7 W2 w3 T* E& z/ q" _; |/ b: Z3 [* F
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。# `8 q' A* W( x' @