VOA流行美語 Unit 351:好欺負的人&把事情搞砸

李華和Larry正在一起看世界盃美國對斯洛文尼亞的比賽。今天我們要學兩個常用語：push over和blow it.

LH: Larry, 美國隊的第二場比賽就要開始了，我真等不及啦！

L: Yeah, I'm really excited too! Hopefully the U.S. will have good luck again today playing Slovenia.

LH: 對！ 美國隊上次和英格蘭踢的時候就是因爲運氣好撈到了一個進球！ 不過，斯洛文尼亞不是什麼強隊，美國隊這次不靠運氣，靠實力，踢贏也不成問題吧？

L: I don't know ... Slovenia is playing very well. They're not going to be a push-over.

LH: 啊？什麼是a push-over?

L: A push-over is someone who is very easy to take advantage of.

LH: 哦，a push-over就是容易控制、好欺負的人。你的意思是，斯洛文尼亞可不是那麼容易對付的，是不是？

L: Exactly! Here's another example. Even though Joe always turned in his homework late, he never got in trouble because his teacher was a real push-over.

LH: 嗯, Joe的老師好欺負，所以他不交作業也沒事。

L: Exactly. So Lihua, how did you get out of work today to watch the World Cup?

LH: 因爲我老闆喜歡我啊，只要我央求一下，她什麼都答應我！

L: Hmm ... she sounds like a real push-over. I wish my boss always gave me everything I asked for.

LH: 下次我教你討上司喜歡的祕訣！對了，看完比賽我還要去公司，你開車送我吧。

L: Well I'm pretty busy this afternoon. Can you take the bus?

LH: 那可不行，大熱天的我還得等車，不幹不幹！

L: Eh ... alright, I'll give you a ride. You know that I'm such a push-over. But why didn't you ride your bike today?

LH: 別提了，我的車壞了！我把它拿到修車廠，結果他們開出的修理費簡直是天文數字！我可不上當，扭頭就走了！

L: Well, I can see you're definitely not a push-over, Lihua.

LH: 那可不！如果別人想佔你便宜，你就得自我保護！好了，不說了，比賽要開始了！

L: Great, let's watch!

******

比賽結束了，Larry和李華還是回味無窮。

LH: 這比賽真是峯迴路轉！美國開始的時候0比2落後，結果居然又追回兩球，打成平局了！

L: Yeah, but the U.S. should have won!

LH: 就是，最後一個球，美國隊明明進了，裁判卻吹犯規，誤判誤判！

L: I know, I can't believe that the referee blew that call.

LH: The referee blew the call? 什麼意思？

L: Actually, when you make a really big mistake, you can say that you blew it.

LH: 啊，blow something就是說犯大錯誤，把事情搞砸。所以你是說，裁判把美國隊的進球判成無效，是很嚴重的誤判。

L: Right! Here is another example. Joe wanted to impress Carol on their first date. But he really blew it because she was a vegetarian and he took her to a steak restaurant.

LH: 啊？帶吃素的人去牛排店，這不是滿錯了麼！對了，Larry, 美國隊下一場踢阿爾及利亞，你說勝算有幾成？

L: Well, most people think that the U.S. is a better team. We should win as long as we don't make a big mistake and blow it.

LH: 太好了！比賽星期三，咱們一起看！

L: Well I would really like to ... but I have a big presentation on Thursday that I will need to prepare for, and I really don't want to blow it.

LH: Larry, 世界盃比做報告重要多了！還是跟我看比賽吧！

L: Well Lihua, my boss isn't a push-over. If I do a bad job, he will get really mad at me.

LH: 你老闆不好惹？那就算了吧......要不這樣，我看比賽，你在家準備報告，如果比賽有什麼精彩內容，我就打電話告訴你！

L: Hmmm ... that's a great idea! But you better not blow it and get so excited that you forget to call me.

LH: 這我可不敢保證！

今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是push-over, 表示好欺負，好說話的人。另一是blow it, 意思是犯大錯，把事情搞砸。