流行美语 第 44 课

今天李华和 Michael 二人一起开车到市中心，他们想要找个停车的空位。在他们
二人对话中，李华会学到两个常用语：a big deal 和give it a shot。

M: Man, I hate trying to park my car in this city! There are never any spaces. Hey look!
There's one!
L: 啊！我看到了那个位子。Um, Michael, 可是我不知道我该不该停 那儿。我的
停车技术很 差，我怕出差错把车给撞了。
M: Don't worry about it! You have to learn this sooner or later. Give it a shot!
L: 你说什么？Give what? 我该把车干吗？
M: I said give it a shot, that means try or give it a try. We say give a shot when we ask
someone to try something they are not sure they can do.
L: 噢，你用的字 shot, S-H-O-T. 就好像开枪射击的那个 shot，是不 是？
M: That's right. For instance¹, when you are taking a test, and you are not sure of the
answer to a question, you still have to give it a shot and try to guess the correct answer.
L: 奥，give it a shot 原来指的是尽量试试，即使你没有多大信心。
M: That's right. Now you try and use this phrase. Go ahead, give it a shot!
L: Hmm，如果说你想要申请一个很好的工作，可是又怕自己得不到，你就可以说：
Give it a shot! 反正你也不会有什么损失的。
M: You've got it.
L: 那还有没有其它场合可以用shot 这个字的？
M: Well, we might also say give it your best shot.
L: 好，所以我们也可以说"give it your best shot"，意思就是全力以赴去试一下。
M: That's right. Now you'd better move your car into that space. We shouldn't sit here
in the middle of the road. Go ahead and park, give it a shot!
L: 好，我就试试。
L: 我的天，Michael，我撞到哪里了？
M: Don't worry Li Hua, it's not a big deal. The bumper² just hit the parking meter.
L: 你说不大什么？不管撞倒哪儿都不得了啊。
M: No no, I said its not a big deal. That means it's not very serious.
L: Oh, 那"big deal"是哪两个字，怎么拼?
M: Big, B-I-G; Deal, D-E-A-L. If something is a big deal it is very serious, or very
important to someone.
L: 奥，我明白了，当我撞上停车计时表，你说 its not a big deal，你的意思是说没
什么大不了的。我并没有造成多大损害。
M: Yeah, at least I don't think you did. Maybe you scratched the bumper or the parking
meter. You didn't really damage the car or meter, so it's not a big deal.
L: 原来如此，但愿你说的对。哎，还有，要是不用 not 这个字可以 吗？
M: Sure you can, for instance, it was a big deal for me when I turned 16 and got a
drivers license³.
L: 对。对美国青年人来说，拿到驾驶执照可真是一件大事。
M: Looks like you understand how to use this phrase. Why don't you make another
sentence?
L: 好，我就用它造句子： It was a very big deal for Chinese people when Beijing got
the chance to host the 2008 Summer Olympics.
M: It sure was! I remember on TV, I saw a lot of people in Beijing partying when that
happened.
L: 哎呀，别多说了。我得赶快把车停好。
M: Yep, if a cop⁴ sees you stopping traffic, he might think it is a big deal. Move out of
the space and try to park again. Give it another shot!

今天李华学到了两个常用语：a big deal 和give it a shot。A big deal 是指很重大，
或者严重的事。Give it a shot 指的是尽力去试。

1 instance   

n.例，例证，实例

参考例句：

• Can you quote me a recent instance?你能给我举一个最近的例子吗？
• He's a greedy boy,yesterday,for instance,he ate all our biscuits!他是个贪吃的孩子――比如，他昨天把我们的饼干都吃了！

2 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。

3 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

4 cop   

n.警察；vt.抓住

参考例句：

• The cop told him to button his lip.警察叫他闭嘴。
• The robber was overpowered by the cop.抢劫犯被警察制伏。