流行美语 第140课
【大澳门威尼斯人赌场官网9月10日讯】
Larry和李华两人正开着车,准备到乡下的一个农场去骑马。今天李华会学到两个常用语:boonies和country bumpkin.
(Car driving on country road)
LH: Larry,我们要去的那个农场到底还有多远啊?
LL: Unfortunately, it’s way out in the boonies. It will take at least two hours to get there.
LH: 两个小时?我的天啊!还要那么久啊?我在车上已经坐的腰酸背痛了。对了,你说这个农场在boonies, 那是一个小镇的名字吗?
LL: No, “boonies” is a slang term for any place that is very far from any major city or town.
LH: 噢,boonies就是指离城市很远的乡下地方,也就是很偏僻的地方,我们中文里说那些地方是“前不着村,后不搭店”。
LL: This farm is in the boonies, but I’ve heard that it’s very beautiful and that they have really nice horses.
LH: 哇,那儿风景很好,还有很好的马,真是太棒了!要到这样的地方去,车开多远都无所谓!
LL: Yeah, I’m kind of excited about going horseback riding, too.
LH: 嘿,说真的,Larry,幸好我给我们两个人准备了午餐,要不你想,在那种地方 – in the boonies – 大概连麦当劳都没有噢!
LL: I’m not sure that’s such a bad thing, Li Hua.
LH: 我知道,像麦当劳这种快餐店的东西还是少吃为妙。不过我的意思是,在那么偏僻的地方恐怕很难找到吃午饭的餐馆吧。嘿!Larry,你看,那片田野好美噢!
LL: Yes, it is. It’s really nice to get out of the city once in a while. I especially like driving on country roads. There’s hardly any traffic out in the boonies.
LH: 就是啊!在乡下开车,既能欣赏景色,享受新鲜的空气,又不必担心塞车。我已经好一会儿没看到其他车了。偶然出一次城真让人心情开朗。
******
LH: Larry, 你觉不觉得那个在农场工作的女孩和城市女孩很不一样?她的穿着很朴素,脸上也没有化装,一点都没有特意打扮的样子。
LL: Yeah, she was definitely a country bumpkin. Were you able to understand her? She had a bit of a country accent.
LH: 嗯,我是有点听不太懂她说的话;她有一点乡村口音。你说她是个country bumpkin,那是什么意思?
LL: A country bumpkin is someone who is from the countryside. The term usually refers to someone who is relatively simple and unsophisticated.
LH: Bumpkin就是生活在农村那些很纯朴的人。那Larry,你有没有在城市里碰过从农村来的人?
LL: Sometimes. The other day, there was a guy on the subway who was such a country bumpkin that he couldn’t figure out how to buy a ticket. He said that he’d never been on a subway before!
LH: 那人又没有乘过地铁,第一次当然不知道怎么买地铁票喽!我刚来美国的时候,我也不知道怎么买地铁票啊!
LL: That’s true. Hey, Li Hua, do you know any country bumpkins?
LH: 我有一个住在乡下的表姐。她和我那些住在大都市里的亲戚很不一样。我想她应该算是个country bumpkin吧!
LL: I have an uncle who owns a farm in Idaho. He’s really a country bumpkin. He hates the city and he prefers to wear jeans and a cowboy hat. I think he’d rather ride a horse than the subway.
LH: 我还不知道你有个叔叔在爱达荷州。他还有个农场,真有意思!说不定,下回我们可以去你叔叔那儿玩,过过农村生活,做个country bumpkin!
今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是boonies,指的是离都市很远的农村。另一个常用语是:country bumpkin 是形容生活在农村的那些很纯朴的人。
(转载自《美国之音》)(//www.dajiyuan.com)