VOA流行美語 Unit 47: BUSTED / CREEP

現在Michael和李華正在公寓大樓前看熱鬧。李華會學到兩個新詞，一個是busted；另一個是creep。

L: Michael，發生什么事兒啦，為什么有這么多警察在這兒啊？

M: The police just busted someone for trying to steal my neighbor's car.

L: 你說警察把那個小偷怎么樣了？ 把他打傷了嗎？

M: No, they busted him. Busted, B-U-S-T-E-D. Busted is the past tense of to bust; it means to catch someone doing something they shouldn't be doing.

L: 噢，原來 busted someone for doing something 就是干壞事的人被抓到 了。

M: That's right. You can say "They busted him for something", or you can just say "they busted him".

L: Michael，你認識那個小偷嗎？

M: Sure! They busted the man who lives in the apartment above mine!

L: 他就住你家樓上啊？

M: Yes, I saw the police put him into a car and drive away.

L: 哎呀，好可怕。原來你樓上一直住著個小偷。哎，Michael，bust 這個詞是不是只能指警察抓罪犯呢？

M: Not at all. Anyone who catches someone doing something wrong is busting them.

L: 噢，我們普通人抓到別人干壞事也可以說"busted someone doing something wrong"。哎，我可不可以說"The teacher busted my classmate for cheating on the English test."

M: Yes, that's perfect. When you were little, did anyone ever bust you for doing something wrong?

L: 當然了。有一回我逃課去逛街被阿姨看到告訴了我媽媽，害得我挨了一頓罵。

M: That's not too bad. Once when I was in school, the teacher busted me for selling candy to my classmates.

L: 啊？你向同學兜售糖果，幸虧你被抓到了，要不然不知道你還會干什么壞事呢。

L: Michael，想想真是奇怪，你樓上住了個罪犯你居然一直都不知道。

M: Yeah, but I'm not surprised. I always thought that guy was a creep.

L: A creep? 是小偷的意思嗎？

M: No, that's not what I said. I said he's a creep, C-R-E-E-P. A creep is someone who looks and acts in a way that makes people suspicious and uncomfortable.

L: 噢，a creep 就是指一個人鬼鬼祟祟，令人懷疑。那你為什么覺得那個人是個 creep 呢？

M: Well, he was never a friendly neighbor. He was always frowning, and wouldn't say hello to people. That's one reason I thought he was a creep.

L：可是這也不能說他就是個 creep 啊。因為有很多人平常都是皺著眉頭，從來不和別人打招呼，可是不一定有什么壞心啊。

M: Sometimes he would try to sell us things. And even though we refused to buy his stuff, he just wouldn't leave us alone. That's why my neighbors didn't like him. They all thought he was a little weird.

L: 啊，他還硬向你們推銷東西。難怪你們懷疑他有什么不良動機。所以你才說他是個 creep。

M: You've got it. You give me an example.

L: 我們班有個男生很討厭，所有的女生都覺得他是個 creep。

M: Ok. Why is he a creep?

L: 他看人的眼神不對頭，還有啊，他臉上總是一副皮笑肉不笑的表情，喜歡和女生開那種很肉麻的玩笑。

M: Yes, he definitely sounds like a creep to me.

L: 哎，Michael，我今天早上看到你和Alice在咖啡廳喝咖啡，你早上不是有上課嗎？

M: Oh, you busted me! Please keep quiet about that, ok? I told my professor I had to visit a sick aunt in the hospital.

L: 什么？你這個人哪，遲早有一天會被教授抓到你說謊。

今天李華學會兩個新詞，一個是 busted，就是做壞事被抓到的意思，另一個是 creep ，指的是一個人的行為舉止鬼鬼祟祟。