流行美語 第207課

Larry刚在银行开了一个帐户。他一走出银行的大门就遇到了李华。今天李华会学到两个常用语：freebie和megabucks。

LL: Hi there, Li Hua! You should open a savings² account today. Look at the freebie I got at the bank.

LH: Freebie? 你手里拿的好像是个计算机。

LL: You are right, Li Hua. It is a calculator and, you know, it is free. And that is what makes it a freebie!

LH: Free？你说，只要开个帐户就能得到一个免费的计算机。所以免费送的东西就是freebie。真的是送给你的吗？

LL: Yes, it was a special promotion³. I love getting freebies. And a calculator is a good freebie.

LH: 原来是银行在开展特别的推销活动，给开帐户的人送一个礼物。 计算机是有用的东西。不过，凡是免费的我也都喜欢。

LL: Banks often give away candy as freebie or a pen with the bank logo. But a calculator is something I will really use. That makes it a good freebie.

LH: 是啊，送给我一支笔，那也有用。送我糖我才不要呢！在所有的免费礼品中我最喜欢香水了。

LL: It is a good way to try expensive perfumes before spending the money. I guess.

LH: 对呀！买一瓶香水很贵。送我一瓶小小的香水，要是喜欢我下回可以去买，不喜欢就算。这样就不会浪费钱了。Larry, 还有哪里可以得到免费商品啊 ?

LL: Well, book stores often give away freebie bookmarks. But, I think my favorite freebie is food!

LH: 书店给的书签没有什么吸引力。我也喜欢超市里为了推销而提供的那些免费食品，什么面包呀，蛋糕呀，肚子饿的时候可好啦！

LL: Speaking of freebie food, here is a grocery store across the street. Let's go in and see if they have any freebies.

LH：对马路的超市有免费食品呀？那还等什么呀？快走呀！

(Sound of door opening, grocery store sounds)

LL: Let's go to the freezer compartments⁴. There is usually a lady giving out freebie samples of pizza.

LH: 我看见了， 后面是有一个女服务员在送比萨饼呢。Larry， 你可真行呀！哪里有freebie 你都知道。

******

LL: Say， Li Hua， would you like to win megabucks?

LH: Megabucks? Mega意思是大， buck¹是指美元。 如果我没有猜错的话， megabucks的意思是很多钱。

LL: Wow, Li Hua. Your English is getting really good. That's right, megabucks is a lot of money.

LH: Larry, 我当然想赢megabucks。谁不想发财呢？问题是怎么才能得到那么多钱呢？

LL: Well, we can buy a lottery⁵ ticket at the front of the grocery store. Who knows, we may win megabucks.

LH: 你要到前面去买一张彩票呀？我才不信我们会赢megabucks呢！不过， Larry，要是我们赢了，那会有多少钱呀?

LL: If all six of the numbers on our ticket match the winning numbers, we will win 5 million dollars.

LH: 要真能赢五百万， 那该多好呀！我们就不用再打工了。可是，要六个数字全和彩票一样才能赢，那中彩的机率不会很高吧？

LL: It really isn't. We would have to spend megabucks buying lottery tickets to even have a small chance of winning.

LH: 我就知道嘛，这种机会是很小的。即便花好多钱去买好多彩票，我们也不见得会赢。与其这么毫无希望地等着中彩票还不如我们自己去赚大钱呢。

LL: You mean go to work? I don't know about you, Li Hua, but I'm not being paid megabucks.

LH: 我知道你工资不高，我的工资也很低啊。 不过如果我们努力工作的话， 说不定哪一天我们会发财的。

LL: You mean like Bill Gates of Microsoft? He's certainly made megabucks.

LH: 是啊，所以微软的Bill Gates把很多钱都捐给了慈善事业。

LL: I'm not sure I'll be making megabucks -- so for now I'll just keep living off of freebies in the grocery store. Want some more pizza?

今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是freebie，意思是免费送的东西。还有一个是megabucks，意思是很多钱。
 

1 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

2 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

3 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

4 compartments   

n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层

参考例句：

• Your pencil box has several compartments. 你的铅笔盒有好几个格。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The first-class compartments are in front. 头等车室在前头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。