李华和Larry正在一起看世界杯美国对斯洛文尼亚的比赛。今天我们要学两个常用语：push over和blow it.
LH: Larry, 美国队的第二场比赛就要开始了，我真等不及啦！
L: Yeah, I'm really excited too! Hopefully the U.S. will have good luck again today playing Slovenia.
LH: 对！ 美国队上次和英格兰踢的时候就是因为运气好捞到了一个进球！ 不过，斯洛文尼亚不是什么强队，美国队这次不靠运气，靠实力，踢赢也不成问题吧？
L: I don't know ... Slovenia is playing very well. They're not going to be a push-over.
LH: 啊？什么是a push-over?
L: A push-over is someone who is very easy to take advantage of.
LH: 哦，a push-over就是容易控制、好欺负的人。你的意思是，斯洛文尼亚可不是那么容易对付的，是不是？
L: Exactly! Here's another example. Even though Joe always turned in his homework late, he never got in trouble because his teacher was a real push-over.
LH: 嗯, Joe的老师好欺负，所以他不交作业也没事。
L: Exactly. So Lihua, how did you get out of work today to watch the World Cup?
LH: 因为我老板喜欢我啊，只要我央求一下，她什么都答应我！
L: Hmm ... she sounds like a real push-over. I wish my boss always gave me everything I asked for.
LH: 下次我教你讨上司喜欢的秘诀！对了，看完比赛我还要去公司，你开车送我吧。
L: Well I'm pretty busy this afternoon. Can you take the bus?
LH: 那可不行，大热天的我还得等车，不干不干！
L: Eh ... alright, I'll give you a ride. You know that I'm such a push-over. But why didn't you ride your bike today?
LH: 别提了，我的车坏了！我把它拿到修车厂，结果他们开出的修理费简直是天文数字！我可不上当，扭头就走了！
L: Well, I can see you're definitely not a push-over, Lihua.
LH: 那可不！如果别人想占你便宜，你就得自我保护！好了，不说了，比赛要开始了！
L: Great, let's watch!
******
比赛结束了，Larry和李华还是回味无穷。
LH: 这比赛真是峰回路转！美国开始的时候0比2落后，结果居然又追回两球，打成平局了！
L: Yeah, but the U.S. should have won!
LH: 就是，最后一个球，美国队明明进了，裁判却吹犯规，误判误判！
L: I know, I can't believe that the referee blew that call.
LH: The referee blew the call? 什么意思？
L: Actually, when you make a really big mistake, you can say that you blew it.
LH: 啊，blow something就是说犯大错误，把事情搞砸。所以你是说，裁判把美国队的进球判成无效，是很严重的误判。
L: Right! Here is another example. Joe wanted to impress Carol on their first date. But he really blew it because she was a vegetarian and he took her to a steak restaurant.
LH: 啊？带吃素的人去牛排店，这不是满错了么！对了，Larry, 美国队下一场踢阿尔及利亚，你说胜算有几成？
L: Well, most people think that the U.S. is a better team. We should win as long as we don't make a big mistake and blow it.
LH: 太好了！比赛星期三，咱们一起看！
L: Well I would really like to ... but I have a big presentation on Thursday that I will need to prepare for, and I really don't want to blow it.
LH: Larry, 世界杯比做报告重要多了！还是跟我看比赛吧！
L: Well Lihua, my boss isn't a push-over. If I do a bad job, he will get really mad at me.
LH: 你老板不好惹？那就算了吧......要不这样，我看比赛，你在家准备报告，如果比赛有什么精彩内容，我就打电话告诉你！
L: Hmmm ... that's a great idea! But you better not blow it and get so excited that you forget to call me.
LH: 这我可不敢保证！
今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是push-over, 表示好欺负，好说话的人。另一是blow it, 意思是犯大错，把事情搞砸。 |