美國之音之流行美語lesson 336 a pretty penny...

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Larry星期五提前下班，去學校接李華。今天我們要學兩個常用語：a pretty penny和sure-fire.

LL: (Bike bells ring) Hi, Li Hua, I'm right over here!

LH: Larry, 你怎么騎著自行車就跑來了，不是說好開你的新車來接我嗎？

LL: I never said "new car", I said "new ride". What, you don't like it?

LH: 我的媽呀，這就是你的new ride，新車嗎？

LL: Yea, I just bought it yesterday...it cost me quite a pretty penny, too.

LH: A pretty penny? 一美分？這么新的車，不會只要一美分吧？哪有這種便宜事，是不是哪個女孩子送你的？

LL: No, Lihua, I didn't pay just a penny for the bike. "A pretty penny" is a phrase that means a large amount of money - this was an expensive bike!

LH: 真有趣，原來a pretty penny意思是一大筆錢。

LL: That's right. I'll have you know that this is a state-of-the-art brand-name bicycle. I also bought this bike bell, two helmets and a seat for you to sit on in the back. All together it really did cost a pretty penny!

LH: 你既然舍得花a pretty penny買一輛自行車，干嘛不索性再加點錢買輛汽車呢？

LL: A car is way more expensive! After you buy a car, you have to pay for gas, pay for insurance, and not to mention upkeep...it all adds up to be quite a pretty penny - and way more money than I can afford.

LH: 那好，既然你沒買汽車，一定省下不少錢，帶我到那家新開的日本壽司店，好好打打牙祭如何？

LL: I thought we are trying to save money to go on vacation together? If you want to go somewhere exotic, airfare alone will cost a pretty penny.

LH: 別這么小氣好不好。我們都好久沒出去吃了，一次壽司肯定不會把你吃窮的。

LL: All right, all right. Hop on. Let's go get some sushi tonight!

******

Larry和李華騎車來到日本壽司店。

LL: Hey, Li Hua, can you hold the door open for me? I want to bring the bike inside.

LH: 你把車鎖在店門口不就行了嗎？干嘛一定要推到店里來？

LL: Leave an expensive new bike outside? No way! That's a sure-fire way to get your bike stolen.

LH: Sure-fire是什么意思??？

LL: Sure-fire means "absolutely," or "beyond doubt." You use it to express that you are sure about something or that something will surely happen. And leaving my brand new bike outside is a sure-fire way to getting it stolen.

LH: 我明白了，sure-fire是肯定的意思。你是擔心自己這么貴買的車，如果放在外面的話，一定會丟。

LL: Don't forget. I spent a pretty penny on this bike. But hey, at least I'm willing to spend a pretty penny at this sushi restaurant, too. Eating sushi is definitely a sure-fire way to spend a lot of money.

LH: 壽司雖然貴，可是it's also a sure-fire way to get me happy!

LL: Alright, let's look at these menus. (Sign) How can food be so expensive if it's not even cooked?

LH: Larry, 做壽司可不簡單，要經(jīng)過嚴格的培訓呢！

LL: Oh, so that's why sushi costs such a pretty penny?

LH: 沒錯。不僅包壽司需要功夫，做壽司用的材料也要特別新鮮才行，否則的話...

LL: I know, otherwise it's a sure-fire way to get sick! I guess that's why people are willing to spend a pretty penny on sushi.

LH: 就是啊，否則吃了不新鮮的壽司八成會拉肚子。Larry, 你看，這家店有綠茶冰激凌，我們點一個吧？

LL: Didn't you just have ice cream last night? You know, Li Hua, eating ice cream all the time is a sure-fire way to put on weight.

LH: 不就是吃點冰激凌嗎？如果撐得走不動了，坐你的自行車回家就是了。

LL: Yea, and once my bike breaks from the extra weight, it will cost a pretty penny to get it fixed again...

LH: 要不我來騎，你坐后面歇著？

LL: You know what, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Are you sure you know how to ride a bike with someone sitting on the back?