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第73课:to be on crack; to get the hang of something

李华正在开车和Michael一起去学校。今天李华会学到两个常用语:to be on crack和to get the hang of something。

L: 哟,我的天啊,我车后面的一个轮胎爆了!Michael, 一个轮胎爆了还能开一段路,对不对?

M: Li Hua!? Are you on crack? You can't drive with a flat tire, you'll ruin your car, and probably get in a wreck!

L: 哎哟,我也不想弄坏我的车,也不想出车祸。不过,你刚才问我Are you on crack?这是什么意思啊? crack这不是一种毒品吗?on crack不就是吸毒吗?

M: Yes, "crack" -- as in "crack cocaine". "To be on crack" means to be high on cocaine. Of course, when I say, "Are you on crack?" I really mean -- "Are you crazy"?

L: 等等,这得弄清楚。你的意思是,to be on crack可以指吸毒,但是你刚才对我说的不是这个意思。你是说:我要在一个轮胎破了的情况下继续开车,简直是疯啦!哎,你可得解释清楚了,我从来不吸毒的!

M: Calm down, Li Hua. People use this phrase all the time. I was just alarmed that you would try to drive your car with a flat tire. You'd have to be on crack to do something crazy like that.

L: 噢,我懂了,你的意思是:我准是吸了毒才会想干这种傻事 -- 轮胎破了还想继续开车。Michael, 我们把轮胎换了吧。现在还来得及。

(sound of trunk opening, tools rattling, sound of car jack, etc.)

L: 说到发疯,我认为George Wilkins才真是疯了呢。我听说他要到阿富汗一个村庄去给他的论文做实地调查。

M: He's going to be traveling in Afghanistan! Is he on crack? Can you imagine how dangerous that place must be right now?

L: 我也觉得真是太危险了。不过他想要当国际水平的人类学家。那他就得做出牺牲啦!

M: Yeah, well that Ph.D. won't be much good to him if he gets shot. I still think anyone who chooses to go to Afghanistan right now is on crack.... it's just crazy!

L: 就是,要在阿富汗给打死的话,什么博士学位都没用了。行了,轮胎装好了,我们快走吧!

(sound of trunk closing)

******

L: (Horn honking) 噢,应该让他先走。我开车的技术实在太差了。老是犯这种错误。

M: Don't worry Li Hua, you're not a terrible driver! You haven't been driving for very long. You'll get the hang of it, eventually.

L: 你说我最后会什么?Get the hang of it?

M: I said you will "get the hang of it". "To get the hang of something" means to become proficient at something through practice.

L: 噢,to-get-the-hang-of-it就是多练习,多实践,一些事情就会做得更好。这不就是中文里说的“熟能生巧”吗?但愿你说得对,我多开车,技术就会改进喽!

M: I know I'm right! Remember when you first started school, you had trouble with your writing assignments? I think you've gotten the hang of writing English essays now, right?

L: 就是哎,我刚来美国的时候不会写学术报告。现在是好多了。

M: You've been living in the U.S. for some time now. You must have gotten the hang of a lot of new skills?

L: 嗯,我在美国已经三年了,是学到不少东西。

M: And you've gotten the hang of teaching, haven't you? Your students seem to like you.

L: 对呀,我在教中文方面也比较熟悉了。I've got the hang of teaching Chinese, 对不对?

M: Absolutely!

今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是:to be on crack, 这可以指“吸毒”,但是也可以指:“你疯啦!”。李华学到的另外一个常用语是:to get a hang of something, 意思是通过练习,熟能生巧。

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