"布朗尼加分"口語課堂:膽小的搶劫犯
的網友們，大家好。今天Rose要給大家講一個膽小的搶劫犯的故事。
In New York, nothing is surprising anymore. A man went into a bank in a town just north of New York City. He had a plastic bag over his head. He approached a teller and handed her a note. The teller took a look at the note. But she couldn't make heads or tails of it. The handwriting was terrible. She excused herself and went to consult with her co-workers. No one could read the note. Finally, one of the clerks figured out part of it. It said, "I have a gun." The clerks realized at last that the man was trying to hold up the bank. But when they looked up, the man with the bag on his head was gone. Apparently, he lost his nerve and ran away.
Why didn't the teller react to the plastic bag on the man's head? She said only, "I thought maybe he had a skin problem." Police officers are still trying to make sense of the robber's note. "The note says he has a gun, but we have to spend more time studying the rest of it," said one officer.
在紐約發生什麼事兒都正常。所以，即使這個人頭上罩着塑料袋，銀行裏的teller，出納員，都沒覺得多奇怪，倒是這個人遞進來的紙條讓她couldn't make heads or tails of。Can't make heads or tails of, 意思是“not be able to understand”，或者“be quite confused about” 弄不明白，無法理解。再比如：I can't make head or tail of these directions. 這些說明把我搞糊塗了。短語後面也可以接人，比如：John is so strange. I can't make heads or tails of him. 約翰太奇怪了。我真是搞不懂他。
銀行的職員也沒搞懂劫匪寫的什麼，於是，excused herself，excused oneself和apologize不同。前者表示ask permission to leave a person or place也就是，請求允許離開某人或某處。出於禮貌。而後者完全是要say sorry。道歉。比如，一個人在開會，突然手機響了，這時他可以說：“I'm sorry/I apologize. Will you please excuse me for a minute?” 對不起，我可以出去幾分鐘嗎？
出納員出去幹什麼了呢？Consult with her co-workers. Consult with同誰商量，向誰請教。故事中是同她的co-workers一起研究紙條上寫的什麼。Co-前綴表示“一起，相互”，比如現在最常說的”合作，協作”就是cooperation。
就在幾個人剛剛看明白紙條上其中一句話是“I have a gun”的時候，還沒等銀行職員們害怕，劫匪卻先“lost his nerve”並且run away了。nerve, 神經。lose ones nerve, 意思是become afraid and not do something, 也就是“失去勇氣，不知所措”。來看一個例子：I wanted to ski down the expert slope but then I lost my nerve. 我是想從滑雪高手才能滑的那個坡道滑下去的，但是後來我害怕了，沒敢。
好了，再來看看那張寫的天書一樣的note現在什麼情況了吧。除了那句I have a gun是make sense的。其他的居然還要警察們花時間慢慢研究才能明白。make sense, 講得通，有意義。比如：These raw numbers, precise as they are, do little to help make sense of the facts. 這些原始數據儘管很精確，但沒有說清楚這些情況。Make sense也可以做“有道理的，明智的”講。比如：It would make sense to leave early. 早點離開是明智的。
好了，今天的故事就到這裏。不要忘了嘗試一下自己複述故事哦。下期布朗尼加分口語再見。
