VOA流行美語 Unit 345:足以達到預期效果&有所保留

Larry陪李華去買電腦。今天我們要學兩個常用語：do the trick和a grain of salt.

LH: Larry, 你覺得我應該買PC還是蘋果？

LL: Well, I'm not a computer expert, but I think Macs are a lot more user friendly.

LH: 我也老聽人說蘋果機怎麼怎麼好，可是我從沒用過蘋果，而且PC價格也比較便宜。

LL: Well, they are both really good computers. I think either one would do the trick.

LH: Do the trick? Larry, 我買電腦是查資料，學論文用的，可不是爲了玩遊戲。

LL: Actually Lihua, when you say that something does the trick, that means that it will be successful, or good enough.

LH: 哦，do the trick就是足以達到預期效果的意思。你是說不論PC還是蘋果，都夠我用的了。

LL: Right! Here's another example. Joe doesn't need to live in a big house. Since he lives by himself, a small apartment will do the trick.

LH: 我明白。這句話意思是，Joe反正是一個人過，有個小公寓就夠了，用不着住大房子。那 Larry, 你說我們去哪家店買電腦呢？

LL: Well we could go to a big computer store, but the Internet will do the trick too. You can order your computer online.

LH: 上網定購？不好，不好，要不，咱們上蘋果專賣店去轉轉，我去玩玩蘋果機，你也可以看看是不是買個iPhone.

LL: That's OK. I don't need a lot of fancy features on my phone. My simple old cell phone still does the trick.

LH: 老實說，你那手機再不換，就要變成古董了。你上星期不是說不好用了嗎？

LL: Actually, just the battery broke. But I went to the store and got a new battery, which did the trick.

LH: 所以你就換了塊電池準備接着用？我真服了你，省錢固然沒錯，可也不能太落伍呀！現在的新手機上什麼功能都有，你就不想要？

LL: Who needs all this technology? When I want to be entertained, reading a book always does the trick.

LH: 對了，蘋果公司新推出的iPad, 就有讀電子書的功能，要不你買個iPad吧！

LL: As far as I'm concerned, Lihua, old-fashioned paper books still do the trick.

******

Larry和李華來到百思買看電腦。

LH: 嗨Larry! 你覺得這臺電腦怎麼樣？我需要的功能上面都有，價錢也還可以，只要2000塊。

LL: Two thousand dollars? That sounds pretty expensive to me. Are you sure it's worth it to buy such an expensive computer?

LH: 當然值了，你沒聽剛纔那個店員說麼，這是他最喜歡的一款電腦，強力推薦。

LL: Well, the salesperson always wants you to buy the most expensive item, so I would take what he says with a grain of salt.

LH: A grain of salt? 加撮鹽？你什麼意思啊？

LL: When you slightly doubt something you are told, you can say that you take it with a grain of salt.

LH: 哦，with a grain of salt意思就是有所保留，半信半疑。你是說店員總想把貴的商品推銷給顧客，所以他的話不能全信？

LL: Right. Here is another example. Emily always exaggerates about her talents, so when she told me she is fluent in Japanese, I took it with a grain of salt.

LH: 沒錯，Emily總喜歡誇大其詞，所以她的話不能全信。

LL: So Lihua, what are the features that make this computer so good?

LH: 產品介紹上說，這款電腦的電池可以連續用15個小時，是市場上其他電腦的兩倍。

LL: You know, companies often make exaggerated claims about their products, so I would take that with a grain of salt.

LH: 可是我朋友Tammy買的就是這個牌子的電腦，說特別好。

LL: But Lihua, Tammy only uses computer to check emails. I would take her opinion on computers with a grain of salt.

LH: 可你也不是高科技專家啊，就看你那隻老古董的手機就知道了。

LL: That's true. I don't know much about technology, so I would take all my advice with a grain of salt.

LH: 別擔心，你對手機、電腦這類高科技產品的建議，我總是反着聽的，只要是你說不買的東西，買了一定沒錯。

LL: Haha... very funny....

今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是 do the trick, 意思是足以達到預期效果。另一個是 a grain of salt, 意思是有所保留。