VOA流行美語 Unit 120: stick to something

VOA流行美語 Unit 120: stick to something / give something a shot

今天Larry和李華要到體育館去和幾個朋友打籃球。李華會學到兩個常用語：stick to something和give something a shot.

(Ambience sound in gym)

LL: Hey, Li Hua, are you looking forward to today's game?

LH: 嗨，其實我的籃球打得不怎麼樣。我倒想試試其他的運動。

LL: You'll get better. You've only been playing basketball for a few weeks. You have to stick to something if you want to become good at it.

LH: 對，我纔打了幾個星期的籃球！可是你怎麼說要我stick to something. Stick不是黏的意思？這跟打籃球有什麼關係啊？

LL: To "stick to something" means that you continue to do it and don't give up.

LH: 噢！我懂了，stick to something就是堅持不懈，繼續做某件事。那不就像我們中文裏說的“持之以恆”嘛！ 你的意思是，要是我想打好籃球，就得不斷地練習咯！

LL: That's right. You've stuck to practicing English for a long time, and now your English is much better. Right?

LH: 你說的對，我學英文倒是儘量的多說，不斷地練習。對了，Larry, 那stick to something除了運動，學語言，我還可以用在哪些地方呢？

LL: Well, a person can stick to a decision, too. If I decide to learn Chinese, and I stick to my decision, that means I don't change my mind or give up.

LH: 噢，如果一個人堅持自己的決定，也可以說stick to one's decision。那一個立場不堅定，經常flip-flop的人可就不能這麼說咯！

LL: That's right. Very good use of the term flip-flop, by the way.

LH: 謝謝。不過有時候要堅持做一件事還真不容易。就好比打籃球，我已經不知道我是不是真的喜歡打籃球了。

LL: Remember how hard English was at first? But you stuck to it and now it's much easier, right?

LH: 好象是這樣。你覺得打籃球也會像學英文一樣，只要我堅持練習，就會越來越容易嗎？

LL: I do. You'll see. So, have you decided to play in today's game after all?

LH: 好吧，我來試試看，也許就象你說的，多練習，我就能打好球！

******

(Sound of dribbling basketball)

LH: Larry, 那個籃球架子太遠了，我肯定投不進！

LL: Come on, Li Hua, give it a shot. It's okay if you miss.

LH: Larry，我是在投球耶！你怎麼叫我給它一槍？"Give it a shot" 那是什麼意思啊？

LL: To give something a shot is to go ahead and try something, even if you don't expect to be successful.

LH: 嗨，我還以爲give it a shot是開槍呢！原來，give it a shot就是試一試，不管會不會成功。好吧。那我就投嘍！可是我一定投不進啦！

(Sound of basketball into the basket)

LL: Hey, look, you made it! That's three more points for our team! See, it never hurts to give something a shot.

LH: 哇！太棒了！我居然投進了！對了，Larry, give it a shot我是不是還能用在其他什麼地方？

LL: Just about anything. For instance, I'd like to give sailing a shot, even though I've never sailed a boat before in my life.

LH: 你想學開船啊！我倒想試試開飛機呢！

LL: Hey, slow down. We all know what your driving is like. I don't think it's a good idea for you to fly a plane.

LH: 嘿！我的開車技術有什麼不好？再說，剛纔是你告訴我，不管結果如何，都應該去試一試的啊！

LL: Maybe if you stick to driving for a while and get better at it, then you can give flying a shot.

LH: 哎呀，其實我也是說說而已啦。我根本就沒錢去上飛行課。不過如果有機會，我會去試試的！

今天李華學到兩個常用語。一個是stick to something.就是堅持不懈，繼續做某件事。第二個常用語是give it a shot. 這是試一試的意思，哪怕你認爲不會成功，但也可以一試。