2013年ESL之日常生活 20 Describing Chance and Probability

 

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。