流行美语 第 62 课

今天Michael 正在设法买票和李华一起去看世界职业棒球赛的决赛。李华学到了
两个习惯用语：to strike out 和to pull something off。

M: Well, Li Hua, I struck out again. It looks like my cousin won't have any world series¹
tickets to sell to us after all.
L: 你说什么？Struck out? 这跟买球票有什么关系？
M: I said I struck out again. Struck out means² that I failed after trying several times.
L: 噢，我想起来了！棒球赛里就有strike out 这个说法。如果一个击球手三次击球
不中，他就strike out，也就是"三振出局"。所以，strike out 的意思是，一件事做
了几次也不成功。
M: That's right. Looks like you've got a good grasp of the rules of baseball. Why don't
you try and use it in a sentence.
L: 嗯，让我想想。对了，我一个朋友申请了几个学校的研究院，可是没有一所学
校接受她。(English) So, she completely³ struck out.
M: There you go. You know, even if your friend struck out this year, I hope she tries
again. I remember the first year I applied⁴ to graduate school, I struck out too. But I
learned from my mistakes, and eventually found a good school that accepted me.
L: 原来你和我朋友一样也有申请研究院失败的经历，可是吸取教训后你就成功
了，希望我朋友也会如此。
M: Yeah, I was rather pleased to get into graduate school. Too bad I still strike out with
the girls. None of the good ones want to go out with me.
L: 嘿嘿，别担心，Michael, 你要求不要太高，一定会找到你喜欢的女孩的。你总
不可能一直在这方面strike out 吧!
*****
L: 嘿 Michael, 你到底有没有买到棒球决赛的球票啊？
M: No, to tell you the truth, Li Hua, I don't think I can pull it off. There simply are no
tickets for sale.
L: 你说什么？Pull it off? 你还在想办法，对不对?
M: I said I don't think I can pull it off. To pull something off - Pull. P U L L. Off. O F F,
means to succeed at something very difficult, usually unexpectedly⁵.
L: 噢，To pull something off 就是出人意料地做成一件很困难的事情。哎，Michael,
你再举个例子好不好？
M: Ok, most of our friends didn't think that Beijing would be allowed to host the 2008
Olympics, but in the end Beijing pulled it off! I was really surprised.
L: 对，很多人以为中国申办奥运不会成功，但是中国试了几次，终于成功，也就
是pulled it off。Michael, 凭你对中国的了解，你不应该感到惊讶才对嘛。
M: Yeah. I guess so. Anyway, as for the tickets, I don't think I can pull this off.
L: 为什么买棒球赛的票那么难啊？
M: The series has already started, the tickets were sold months ago, and the only people
selling them on the Internet want at least $600 a ticket for game 7.
L: 电脑上买票还要六百美元一张？这也太过份了吧？哎，Michael, 反正我对棒球
也没兴趣，你就不用给我买票了。
M: You know, Li Hua, I spent the whole afternoon calling people and trying to find
tickets. I wish you had said something sooner.
L: 对不起，我知道你花了很多时间。可是，我没想到你这么没能耐，试了半天还
是struck out!

Michael 和李华想买职业棒球赛的球票，可是没有买到。李华学到了两个习惯用语：
to strike out 和to pull something off。Strike out 表示一件事做了几次都没有成功。
To pull something off 表示出人意料地做成了一件很困难的事情。

1 series   

n.连续；系列

参考例句：

• The students have put forward a series of questions.学生们提出了一系列问题。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

2 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

3 completely   

adv.完全地，十分地，全然

参考例句：

• She never completely gave up hope.她从不完全放弃希望。
• I feel completely in the dark on this question.这件事使我感到茫然。

4 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

5 unexpectedly   

adv.未料到地，意外地；竟；居然；骤然

参考例句：

• The volcano unexpectedly blew up early in the morning. 火山一早突然爆发了。
• I had just put the dinner on when Jim walked in unexpectedly. 我刚把晚饭摆上桌，吉姆突然走进来。