美國(guó)之音之流行美語(yǔ)374 take sb. under the wing…

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Larry在咖啡館里碰見了李華。他們會(huì)用到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：take someone under your wing和take someone for a ride.

(Sound of caf□door opening - chimes)

Larry: Hey, there you are, Lihua.

LH: (Sounding tired) Oh, hi Larry.

Larry: I haven't seen you since last weekend. What have you been up to? Don't tell me you're having midterms already.

LH: 我連看書的時(shí)間都沒(méi)有! 盡忙著照顧我表妹了。她從中國(guó)來(lái)美國(guó)上高中，初來(lái)乍到，什么都不會(huì)，所以我這兩天一直在幫她安頓。

Larry: I'm sure it's a very tough transition for both of you. But, it's so nice of you to take her under your wing.

LH: "Take her under my wing"? 這是什么意思？

Larry: To take someone under your wing means to give them a great deal of personal guidance and protection while they are learning something of which you have experience.

LH: 我明白了， to take someone under your wing，就是指導(dǎo)、保護(hù)和照料某人。我現(xiàn)在就是這樣像母雞帶小雞一樣照顧著我表妹呢!

Larry: It takes time to learn how to cope with living in a totally new environment - it's only natural to need a little bit of help at first. As a matter of fact, I can remember a time not so long ago when I took a certain confused girl from China under my own wing...

LH: 你說(shuō)你也曾這樣幫助過(guò)一個(gè)女孩？ 你不是在說(shuō)我吧？Larry, 雖然你給了我很多幫助，但這和我給我表妹的幫助是不同的。我要是不在她身邊，她連出門買吃的都不敢!

Larry: But Lihua, you couldn't buy groceries on your own either when you first moved here. One time at the grocery store, your bill came to $7.50 and you pulled out a dollar bill, asking me if it was enough!

LH: Haha, 這個(gè)我記得。剛到美國(guó)時(shí)，每次需要跟美國(guó)人打交道我都會(huì)非常緊張，就算不說(shuō)英語(yǔ)，還是覺(jué)得很恐怖。

Larry: Luckily, I was there to take you under my wing while you got used to living in the United States - just like how you're taking your cousin under your wing now!

LH: 哈，看來(lái)我們都是好心人! 最近我在幫我表妹找房子。她以前的房東欺負(fù)她是新來(lái)的，把房租提高了兩倍!我表妹已經(jīng)傻呼呼地交了一個(gè)月的錢!

Larry: Yeah, you have to be really careful. It sounds like that landlord was taking your cousin for a ride.

LH: Taking her for a ride? 開車帶她出去？那個(gè)房東可沒(méi)這么好心!

Larry: Um, I mean "taking her for a ride" as in, taking advantage of her situation - playing a trick on her for his own benefit.

LH: 哦! 原來(lái)to take someone for a ride還有欺負(fù)人，宰人的意思!

Larry: Yea, that's right. For example, when I went to New York City, my cab driver noticed that I had never been to New York before, and so he took a longer route to my hotel in order to run up my bill. This is a classic case of "taking someone for a ride."

LH: 啊？司機(jī)看你是第一次來(lái)紐約，就帶著你繞遠(yuǎn)路，多收你的車費(fèi)。這可真差勁，欺負(fù)人!

Larry: Unfortunately, some people will take advantage of other people like that.

LH: Larry, 咱們是愿意take others under our wings, 不遺余力地幫助別人，可這個(gè)房東和那個(gè)出租司機(jī)卻會(huì)take people for a ride， 占別人便宜。所以這兩個(gè)說(shuō)法的意思正好相反嘛!

Larry: Yea, you could think of it like that. So, it's a great thing that you are taking your cousin under your wing! Otherwise, it would be easy for people to take her for a ride.

LH: 好吧，為了防止她受欺負(fù)，我就繼續(xù)努力吧。

Larry: I'm sure your cousin is a smart girl. Before you know it, she'll be just as capable to live on her own in the United States as you are - and you won't have to worry about people trying to take her for a ride.

LH: (嘆氣) 不過(guò)，在她完全自立前，我可有的忙了，估計(jì)不能常和你見面了!

Larry: That's OK. Taking someone under your wing is a quite a full-time job!

今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是to take someone under your wing，意思是“照顧和幫助某人”。另一個(gè)是to take someone for a ride，意思是“占人便宜，欺負(fù)人”。