流行美语 (Popular American) 254

Larry和李华在纽约参加长跑比赛。李华今天要学两个常用语，eat my dust和sore loser.

LL: It's a good thing you've been training for this race, Li Hua. But you are still going to eat my dust.

LH: Eat your dust? Yuck. 吃你的土？这是什么意思啊！

LL: When someone says ''eat my dust," they are saying to their competitors in a race situation that they are confident they are going to win the race, leaving everyone else far behind.

LH: 赢比赛跟让别人吃土又有什么关系呢？

LL: Well, when you run, you kick up dust from the road. So, if I run very fast and you are behind me, you'll be getting my dust in your face - and eating my dust.

LH: 噢，我明白了，跑在前面的人掀起的尘土，会落在后面人的脸上，原来是从这儿来的。不过，Larry, 我为今天的比赛已经训练两个多月了，也许你会eat my dust呢！

LL: But I've been running for years, and I've been in many races. And most of the time, the other runners end up eating my dust.

LH: 那也许你能象环法自行车大赛七连冠阿姆斯特朗一样，让其他人都ate his dust.

LL: Now that I think about it, Li Hua, I prefer to think of myself as the cheetah¹ of the running world. As the fastest animal on land, all the other animals eat the cheetah's dust.

LH: 你还真自信！大话说出来，可千万别落在别人后面噢。

LL: Actually, Li Hua. I am just joking. I'm not really the cheetah of the running world. There are so many runners in this race, I am pretty sure I will be eating someone else's dust.

LH: 输赢并不重要，重在参与嘛！

LL: You are right, Li Hua. And since this is a race for charity, it doesn't matter if you eat my dust - or I eat yours. In the end, everybody wins.

LH: 对呀，比赛收益全都要用来帮助无家可归的人。Okay, Larry. 准备好，你要eat my dust了！

******

LL: Whew! That was a great race. Even though I didn't place, I'm pretty happy about my overall time. I'm just disappointed by the guy who placed second - what a sore loser!

LH: Hmmm...得第二名的那个人好像特别不高兴，又跺脚，又挥拳头，嘴里还骂骂咧咧的。你说，这就叫sore loser吗？

LL: Yes, He clenched² his fists and stomped³ around, saying things that weren't very nice. That is a sore loser!

LH: 在中文里，我们说这种人输不起。

LL: But I don't know why he was being such a sore loser, to place second out of the hundreds of people participating in the race should be something to celebrate.

LH: 就是啊。我要是得了第二名，一定乐死了。这种输不起的人，让所有人都觉得扫兴。

LL: It's true. Do you remember when you were a kid, Li Hua - and you were playing a game? If one of the kids started acting⁴ like a sore loser, the game wasn't so fun anymore.

LH: 我当然记得。小孩子都不愿意输。我有个外甥，一输就哭鼻子。

LL: Yeah, but most people grow up and become adults - and grow out of being sore losers.

LH: 但是有的人就是长不大，我就见过很多sore loser.

LL: That is true. I'm trying really hard not to be a sore loser myself.

LH: 你怎么会是sore loser呢？

LL: Well, I am kind of embarrassed that you beat me in the race, Li Hua. Especially since I told you that you were going to eat my dust. But I am not going to be a sore loser - I'm proud of you and how well you did in the race.

LH: 噢，原来是因为这个。谢谢你，Larry, 我确实花了很多时间为这次比赛做准备。

LL: Say, maybe we should celebrate the outcome⁵ by racing⁶ over to the ice cream store for an ice cream cone⁷!

LH: 好啊！但是你肯定会eat my dust, 你知道我一见冰激凌就没命了。

今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是eat my dust, 是输给我的意思。另一个是sore loser, 是指输不起的人。
 

1 cheetah   

n.(动物)猎豹

参考例句：

• The cheetah is generally credited as the world's fastest animal.猎豹被公认是世界上跑得最快的动物。
• The distribution of the cheetah ranges from Africa to Central Asia.印度豹的足迹遍及从非洲到中亚的广大地区。

2 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 stomped   

v.跺脚，践踏，重踏( stomp的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She stomped angrily out of the office. 她怒气冲冲，重步走出办公室。
• She slammed the door and stomped (off) out of the house. 她砰的一声关上了门，暮暮地走出了屋了。 来自辞典例句

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 outcome   

n.结果，出口，演变

参考例句：

• The outcome of the experiment is in the lap of the gods.实验结果尚难预料。
• The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。

6 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

7 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。