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VOA英语口语 遇到警察不能慌
日期:2009-02-03
  李华是在纽约上大学的中国学生。今天她的美国同学Michael 陪她练习开车,准备去谁会过来跟我说话?是警察吗?
  M:That's right. "Cop" means police officer.
  L:警察要来跟我说话!我会不会倒霉呀?我该怎么办呢?
  M:Calm down! Sometimes the cops stop people just to warn them, not to give them a ticket. You weren't going very fast anyway.
  L: 你说警察可能过来只是警告我一下,不一定会给我罚单呀?但愿如此,我好象是没有开太快。Michael, 你刚才说“cops", 那警车里到底有几个警察呀?
  M:When I say "the cops", I mean the police in general. I'm not talking about any cop in particular.
  L:噢,cop 这个名词用复数的时候,cops, 可以总的指警察,而不是指某个警察。 我就把车停这儿吧。 Michael, 我能称呼警察“cop”吗?
  M:No! The word "cop" is too informal. You should show respect when talking to the cops. Call him "officer", don't call him "cop"!
  L:天哪!原来“cop”是很随便的称呼,你干吗不早告诉我呀!我可不要惹警察生气!
  M:Li Hua, don't worry. I'm sure this isn't very serious.
  M:See, Li Hua, I was right. The cop didn't give you a ticket.
  L:谢天谢地,他没有给我罚单。 他要罚我好多钱的话,那我就糟糕了。
  M:I told you not to freak out. If a cop sees that you are nervous, he will be even more suspicious of you.
  L:你告诉我什么?叫我别下车?
  M:No, I told you not to "freak out". "Freak out" means to panic or to act crazy and excited.
  L:是啊, 我经常听到一些人说 freak out, 原来是指过于激动,显得非常紧张。对不对?
  M:That's right. Actually, I was the one who should have been freaking out!
  L:你才该感到紧张?为什么?
  M:Because this is my car, and you only have a learner's permit. I'd be responsible if you got in trouble.
  L:这我就不懂了。是的,这是你的车,我只有一张学开车的许可证。可是,我开车出了问题,为什么警察会怪你呀?你为什么要freak out?
  M:Hey! Li Hua, look out for that car!
  L:Don't freak out, Michael. 我看见那辆车了。不过,那车差一点就撞到我们了!
  M:Oh, man! that was close! That guy is crazy! I wish the cops were here to see that!
  L:对,刚才是够险的,警察要看到他那么开车,准要给他罚单。不过,今天已经和警察打过交道了,够了。再要跟cops打交道,那我可真是要freak out了。
  M:Me too. Now, drive carefully!
  今天这两个年轻人真是够惊险的。不过,李华学到了两个非常有用的词汇: cop, 警察;to freak out,非常紧张和激动。这次《流行美语》到此结束,我们下次再会。