ESL Podcast 921 – Describing Chance and Probability

 　　Raul: What are the chances that Rob will be here on time?

　　Tiffany: I’d say it’s fifty- fifty. You never know. He might surprise us and be early.

　　Raul: Fat chance of that happening. I’ve known him for three years and if I had to stake my life on whether he’ll arrive early or not, I’d be in big trouble.

　　Tiffany: Don’t exaggerate. Rob isn’t completely irresponsible. I’d say there’s a pretty good probability that he’ll be here when he said he would, especially after he promised.

　　Raul: His intentions are good, but he loses track of time and doesn’t know what day it is half the time.

　　Tiffany: He told me that he’s trying to change.

　　Raul: Well, as I said, his intentions are good. He just needs to work on his follow-through.

　　Tiffany: Come on, he could be on his way right now.

　　Raul: Don’t hold your breath. I’ll believe his promises when hell freezes over.

　　Tiffany: Aren’t you being just a wee bit cynical¹?

　　Raul: And aren’t you just indulging in wishful thinking?

　　Tiffany: Hey, I think that’s him coming down the road! I think you’d better eat your words.

　　Raul: And I think you’d better get glasses.

　　Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。