VOA流行美語 Unit 50: PIECE OF JUNK / CHEAP

piece of junk

cheap

今天李華到Michael家里借用他的電腦。李華會學到了兩個新詞兒：piece of junk 和cheap。

M: Ok Li Hua, let me see if I can find that webpage for you.

L: Wow, 你的電腦上網真夠慢的, 不知道是哪兒出問題了。

M: Actually, it's not the Internet connection, it is my computer. Its an old piece of junk and it is very very slow.

L: 它是一片什么啊？你的電腦出什么問題啦？

M: I said it's a "piece of junk". Piece, P-I-E-C-E; of junk. J-U-N-K. A piece of junk is something that is old and broken, or just doesn't work well.

L: 噢！我想起來了，junk就是你要丟掉的廢物，像是舊的車胎或破爛的自行車。

M: That's right. In fact, I'd say my car is a piece of junk too. It's ten years old, it doesn't start half the time, and pieces are always falling off of it.

L: 你的車可不是一堆破爛呢。你倒是應該好好保養它。我叔叔在中國有輛用了二十多年的舊車，到現在還不是走得挺好的。

M: Well, some older cars are more simple in design, and easier to fix. It is hard to find parts for my car, and it isn't really worth the cost to fix it.

L: 嗯，那倒是。現在好些東西過幾年之后就變成廢物了，就好像我的'隨身聽'一樣。

M: Your walkman is a piece of junk? I've had a Sony walkman for ten years, and it still works well!

L: 我的那一臺可真的不行了，現在一動也不動；有的時候還把我的錄音帶給弄壞了。我真是應該買個新的了。

M: Yes, you probably should. If it damages your tapes, it's not worth using.

L: 別管我的了，你的電腦該怎么辦？ 為什么不去買個新的來呢？像你這樣的學生可得有臺好電腦才行啊。

M: I might. Hey, wait a minute! What would I do with my old piece of junk computer? Maybe give it to a certain friend of mine?

L: 嘿，我可沒那么說，不過要是還能用的話，我倒樂于拿走，也許我還可以用它來做功課。

******

L: 哎，Michael, 現在你不想換電腦了是不是？

M: Well, I could, but I am also too cheap to spend money to buy a new one.

L: 等等，你說你是便宜的？我以為只能說東西是便宜的，你是不是說你太窮了啊？

M: No no, that's not what I mean, even though that is true. When I say that a person is cheap, that means that they always try to avoid spending money, or always buy the least expensive thing they can find.

L: 噢，原來說一個人cheap就是說他很摳啊。嘿，那我還真得說你是夠cheap的了。Michael, 你就是那種在餐館里為了省一兩塊錢只叫杯白水當飲料的人。

M: What? You are calling me cheap!

L: 怎么了？ 這句話冒犯你了嗎？

M: Oh, sorry. I should have told you: it is not very nice to call a person cheap. It also means that someone is not generous, or doesn't understand quality.

L: 噢，原來cheap還有愛撿便宜的意思。難怪你不喜歡被人說 cheap。

M: Anyway, I could say you are cheap, because you always use old things that other people give you. Like your bicycle, or that watch you have..

L: 可是，單單因為我不肯花錢，并不表示我就cheap啊。我只是個窮學生嘛。

M: Yeah, I shouldn't say you are cheap, that's not very nice. My roommate is really cheap, though. Nobody likes to go out to eat with him.

L: 真的嗎？他怎么啦？

M: Well, if three or four of us order a pizza together, he always adds up exactly how much each person owes. He counts every cent!

L: 哇，那他也真夠嗆的，算那么清楚啊。

M: And he also never gives a full tip to restaurant waiters. He always gives them a little bit less than he should.

L: 他不肯給服務員該給的小費？我想我從這家伙身上了解到cheap的含義了。

今天李華從 Michael那兒學到了兩個新詞兒。Piece of junk就是指沒用的廢物；cheap在這里指小氣、不肯花錢。