李華和Larry 正在看世界杯足球賽。今天我們要學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：a long shot
和to catch a break

    LH： Larry，世界杯終于開(kāi)始了！你覺(jué)得誰(shuí)會(huì)得冠軍？美國(guó)隊(duì)有戲沒(méi)有？

    Larry ： I don't think so ， Lihua. The U.S. usually doesn't have
one of the best teams.

    LH：哎，你怎么這么沒(méi)信心？美國(guó)隊(duì)雖然不是奪冠熱門(mén)，但也是有機(jī)會(huì)的��！

    L ： Well I guess it's possible ， but the U.S. is definitely a long
shot.

    LH： A long shot？這是什么意思？

    L ： You can say that something is a long shot when it isn't very
likely.

    LH：哦，a long shot 就是可能性很低的事情。你覺(jué)得雖然從理論上說(shuō)，美
國(guó)對(duì)和其它所有球隊(duì)一樣，都有奪冠的機(jī)會(huì)，但真論起實(shí)力來(lái)，美國(guó)隊(duì)拿冠軍的
可能性就很低了。

    L ： Right！ Here's another example. Carolyn's dream has always been
to move to Hollywood and become a famous movie star ， but that's definitely
a long shot.

    LH：沒(méi)錯(cuò)，當(dāng)電影明星可沒(méi)那么容易。所以Larry ，你以前踢過(guò)足球么？

    L ： Sure ， lots of Americans play soccer when they are kids. I dreamed
of becoming a professional player ， but I always knew that was a long
shot.

    LH：你說(shuō)得沒(méi)錯(cuò)，咱們可不能給人生設(shè)置一堆不現(xiàn)實(shí)的目標(biāo)！話說(shuō)回來(lái)，Larry，
你覺(jué)得到底誰(shuí)能捧走今年的大力神杯呢？

    L ： Well ， Brazil always has a really talented team. I'm sure that
they have a good shot this year.

    LH： a good shot？這是不是和a long shot 相反，表示“很有可能的事情”？

    L ： Exactly. For another example ， I could say that my friend Edmund
has been doing really well at his job lately， so he has a good shot at
getting promotion soon.

    LH：真的？你覺(jué)得他很可能會(huì)升職？能升多高？會(huì)不會(huì)成為公司副總？

    L ： No ， I don't think he will get that good of a promotion. Vice
president is definitely a long shot.

    LH：原來(lái)如此。 Larry，我們還是好好看球吧。對(duì)了，美國(guó)第一場(chǎng)和誰(shuí)踢��？

    L ： Our first game is against England， who are supposed to be very
good.

    LH：英國(guó)可是強(qiáng)隊(duì)！美國(guó)隊(duì)要踢贏英國(guó)隊(duì)恐怕也是a long shot 嘍！

    L ： Well ， we will have to watch and find out ！

    ******

    LH： Larry，這場(chǎng)比賽踢得真棒！雙方最后1 比1 平！

    L ： Yeah ， this is a really close game. But you know， the U.S.
is pretty lucky that they're not losing.

    LH：沒(méi)錯(cuò)。美國(guó)本來(lái)0 比1 落后，可是英國(guó)大門(mén)失誤，讓美國(guó)隊(duì)逮著機(jī)會(huì)，
攻進(jìn)一球。

    L ： Yeah ， the American team definitely caught a break with that
goal.

    LH： The US team caught a break ？這是什么意思？

    L ： When something lucky happens for you ， you can say that you
caught a break.

    LH：哦，to catch a break就是交了好運(yùn)氣，撿了便宜！英國(guó)守門(mén)員犯了個(gè)
低級(jí)錯(cuò)誤，給美國(guó)隊(duì)送分，所以美國(guó)隊(duì)真是幸運(yùn)！

    L ： Right. For another example ， I could say that my friend Carolyn
has been having a hard time becoming an actress in Hollywood， and is
waiting to catch a break.

    LH：我明白了，Carolyn 想當(dāng)明星，可一直紅不起來(lái)，不過(guò)她沒(méi)有放棄，還
在等待交好運(yùn)的那一天。

    L ： You got it. So Lihua ， do you want to watch the USA game against
Slovenia with me on Friday？

    LH： Larry，星期五我要上班�。∥铱刹荒軐ｉT(mén)請(qǐng)一整天假陪你看球。我老
板會(huì)瘋掉的！

    L ： Hmm…… good point. Well maybe we will catch a break and your
boss will be sick that day.

    LH：咒我老板生�。磕憧蓧驂牡�。對(duì)了，難道你真打算每天看世界杯么？你
不用上班啦？

    L ： Well I was trying to figure out that problem too. But then I
caught a break when it turned out my boss loves soccer， and brought a
TV into our office.

    LH：你老板也是球迷，所以把電視搬進(jìn)辦公室，讓大家一起看比賽？！哇，
太讓人羨慕了。那禮拜五美國(guó)對(duì)斯洛文尼亞那場(chǎng)比賽，你覺(jué)得美國(guó)會(huì)贏么？

    L ： Yeah the U.S. is a better team. But you never know ， Slovenia
might catch a break and win the match.

    LH：說(shuō)得對(duì)，美國(guó)今天踢平英國(guó)不就是因?yàn)閏atch a break - 交了好運(yùn)么？

    L ： Yeah ， that's a pretty good result for the U.S. ， given that
they were a long shot to win.

    LH：那就希望美國(guó)隊(duì)的運(yùn)氣能一直好下去嘍！

    今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是 a long shot，表示可能性很低的事情。
另一個(gè)是to catch a break，意思是交了好運(yùn)。