第12课：TickedOff-Close
在纽约上大学的michael和李华今天在华盛顿参观名胜古迹。他们在对话里会用到两个常用语：ticked off ，另一个是close。
l：michael，大家都说纽约人开车不守规矩，我看华盛顿的人也好不了多少。刚才那辆车差一点撞到我！
m: yeah, i saw that. crossing the streets in new york and washington is dangerous. but getting ticked off about it won't do you any good.
l：对，在纽约和华盛顿穿马路是很危险。你说什么对我没好处？ticked off?
m: yes, ticked off means to get angry or annoyed at something. getting angry at the drivers will not do you any good.
l：噢，ticked off的意思是为什么事情生气。你刚才说的是我对开车的人生气没有什么好处。看来让我ticked off的事还挺多。
m: yeah, like when your boyfriend broke up with you right before we started classes.
l：你还提醒我这事！我以前那男朋友刚开学就跟我分手，当时我真的非常生气。不过，michael，我觉得你也很爱生气。
m: well, i got pretty ticked off a few days ago when the professor gave me a low score on the exam.
l：对，和你同班的中国同学王光告诉我你那天非常生气，因为那个教授给你的考试判分判得很低。ticked off这个说法很好，以前我就知道用angry这个字。
m: hey, are you hungry? we haven't eaten in a while.
l：刚才好生气，连肚子饿也忘了。走，去吃点东西吧！
(michael和李华吃完饭以后)
m: now that we have eaten, let's walk to the white house. it's not too far from here.
l：到白宫去？太好了，除了照片外，我还没有看到过真的白宫呢！
m: watch out li hua! get back!
l：哟！我的天哪！我的天哪！真吓死我了！我以为这下我可完了！
m: oh, my god! are you okay? geez, that was really a close call.
l：michael，我都差一点被车撞了，而你还在说什么close call，这跟打电话根本没有关系！
m: no, that's not what i meant by close call. i meant that the car nearly hit you.
l：对啊，那车差一点就撞上我了，这就是close call？
m: actually, li hua, close call means that you narrowly avoided danger. something bad could have happened to you, but you narrowly avoided a bad situation.
l：原来close call就是说，差一点发生倒霉的事，我算是逃避了这倒霉事。我可以说，今天我差一点没被汽车撞了。对不对？
m: yeah, that's right.
l：那close call是不是一定用在跟生命危险有关的场合呢？
m: not really. let me give you another example. the paper you and i turned in this week was almost late. that was also a close call.
l：对，那个教授让我们在星期二前把学术报告交给他，我们是星期一晚上去交的，差一点就过了限期，这也可以说是close call。下回我可再也不敢这么做了。
m: here we are! the white house!
l：太好了！白宫到了，那我们赶快走把。
今天michael 和李华在对话中用的一个常用语是ticked off，意思是为了什么事情生气；另一个是close call，意思是差一点没发生倒霉的事，或是差一点完不成该做的事。