李華是在紐約上大學(xué)的中國(guó)學(xué)生。今天她的美國(guó)同學(xué)Michael 陪她練習(xí)開(kāi)車(chē)，準(zhǔn)備去考駕照。他們?cè)诼飞蠋状斡龅襟@險(xiǎn)的情況，盡管這樣， 李華還是學(xué)到了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)，一個(gè)是：cop; 另一個(gè)是：to freak out.
M：Your driving is getting better, Li Hua. Hey, you'd better slow down. This is a 35 mile per hour zone.
L：這地區(qū)每小時(shí)只能開(kāi)35英里呀？我是不是開(kāi)太快啦？喲，我的天吶，警察車(chē)跟在我后面，那怎么辦吶？
M：Calm down, Li Hua. Just find a parking lot and stop the car. The cop will follow us, and come over to your window to talk to you.
L：哪兒有停車(chē)的地方呀！ 行，就停在這里吧！你剛才說(shuō)誰(shuí)會(huì)過(guò)來(lái)跟我說(shuō)話？是警察嗎？
M：That's right. "Cop" means police officer.
L：警察要來(lái)跟我說(shuō)話！我會(huì)不會(huì)倒霉呀？我該怎么辦呢？
M：Calm down! Sometimes the cops stop people just to warn them, not to give them a ticket. You weren't going very fast anyway.
L： 你說(shuō)警察可能過(guò)來(lái)只是警告我一下，不一定會(huì)給我罰單呀？但愿如此，我好象是沒(méi)有開(kāi)太快。Michael, 你剛才說(shuō)“cops", 那警車(chē)?yán)锏降子袔讉€(gè)警察呀？
M：When I say "the cops", I mean the police in general. I'm not talking about any cop in particular.
L：噢，cop 這個(gè)名詞用復(fù)數(shù)的時(shí)候，cops, 可以總的指警察，而不是指某個(gè)警察。 我就把車(chē)停這兒吧。 Michael, 我能稱呼警察“cop”嗎？
M：No! The word "cop" is too informal. You should show respect when talking to the cops. Call him "officer", don't call him "cop"!
L：天哪！原來(lái)“cop”是很隨便的稱呼，你干嗎不早告訴我呀！我可不要惹警察生氣！
M：Li Hua, don't worry. I'm sure this isn't very serious.
M：See, Li Hua, I was right. The cop didn't give you a ticket.
L：謝天謝地，他沒(méi)有給我罰單。 他要罰我好多錢(qián)的話，那我就糟糕了。
M：I told you not to freak out. If a cop sees that you are nervous, he will be even more suspicious of you.
L：你告訴我什么？叫我別下車(chē)？
M：No, I told you not to "freak out". "Freak out" means to panic or to act crazy and excited.
L：是啊， 我經(jīng)常聽(tīng)到一些人說(shuō) freak out， 原來(lái)是指過(guò)于激動(dòng)，顯得非常緊張。對(duì)不對(duì)？
M：That's right. Actually, I was the one who should have been freaking out!
L：你才該感到緊張？為什么？
M：Because this is my car, and you only have a learner's permit. I'd be responsible if you got in trouble.
L：這我就不懂了。是的，這是你的車(chē)，我只有一張學(xué)開(kāi)車(chē)的許可證?？墒?，我開(kāi)車(chē)出了問(wèn)題，為什么警察會(huì)怪你呀？你為什么要freak out？
M：Hey! Li Hua, look out for that car!
L：Don't freak out, Michael. 我看見(jiàn)那輛車(chē)了。不過(guò)，那車(chē)差一點(diǎn)就撞到我們了！
M：Oh, man! that was close! That guy is crazy! I wish the cops were here to see that!
L：對(duì)，剛才是夠險(xiǎn)的，警察要看到他那么開(kāi)車(chē)，準(zhǔn)要給他罰單。不過(guò)，今天已經(jīng)和警察打過(guò)交道了，夠了。再要跟cops打交道，那我可真是要freak out了。
M：Me too. Now, drive carefully!
今天這兩個(gè)年輕人真是夠驚險(xiǎn)的。不過(guò)，李華學(xué)到了兩個(gè)非常有用的詞匯: cop, 警察；to freak out，非常緊張和激動(dòng)。這次<流行美語(yǔ)>到此結(jié)束，我們下次再會(huì)。
M：Your driving is getting better, Li Hua. Hey, you'd better slow down. This is a 35 mile per hour zone.
L：這地區(qū)每小時(shí)只能開(kāi)35英里呀？我是不是開(kāi)太快啦？喲，我的天吶，警察車(chē)跟在我后面，那怎么辦吶？
M：Calm down, Li Hua. Just find a parking lot and stop the car. The cop will follow us, and come over to your window to talk to you.
L：哪兒有停車(chē)的地方呀！ 行，就停在這里吧！你剛才說(shuō)誰(shuí)會(huì)過(guò)來(lái)跟我說(shuō)話？是警察嗎？
M：That's right. "Cop" means police officer.
L：警察要來(lái)跟我說(shuō)話！我會(huì)不會(huì)倒霉呀？我該怎么辦呢？
M：Calm down! Sometimes the cops stop people just to warn them, not to give them a ticket. You weren't going very fast anyway.
L： 你說(shuō)警察可能過(guò)來(lái)只是警告我一下，不一定會(huì)給我罰單呀？但愿如此，我好象是沒(méi)有開(kāi)太快。Michael, 你剛才說(shuō)“cops", 那警車(chē)?yán)锏降子袔讉€(gè)警察呀？
M：When I say "the cops", I mean the police in general. I'm not talking about any cop in particular.
L：噢，cop 這個(gè)名詞用復(fù)數(shù)的時(shí)候，cops, 可以總的指警察，而不是指某個(gè)警察。 我就把車(chē)停這兒吧。 Michael, 我能稱呼警察“cop”嗎？
M：No! The word "cop" is too informal. You should show respect when talking to the cops. Call him "officer", don't call him "cop"!
L：天哪！原來(lái)“cop”是很隨便的稱呼，你干嗎不早告訴我呀！我可不要惹警察生氣！
M：Li Hua, don't worry. I'm sure this isn't very serious.
M：See, Li Hua, I was right. The cop didn't give you a ticket.
L：謝天謝地，他沒(méi)有給我罰單。 他要罰我好多錢(qián)的話，那我就糟糕了。
M：I told you not to freak out. If a cop sees that you are nervous, he will be even more suspicious of you.
L：你告訴我什么？叫我別下車(chē)？
M：No, I told you not to "freak out". "Freak out" means to panic or to act crazy and excited.
L：是啊， 我經(jīng)常聽(tīng)到一些人說(shuō) freak out， 原來(lái)是指過(guò)于激動(dòng)，顯得非常緊張。對(duì)不對(duì)？
M：That's right. Actually, I was the one who should have been freaking out!
L：你才該感到緊張？為什么？
M：Because this is my car, and you only have a learner's permit. I'd be responsible if you got in trouble.
L：這我就不懂了。是的，這是你的車(chē)，我只有一張學(xué)開(kāi)車(chē)的許可證?？墒?，我開(kāi)車(chē)出了問(wèn)題，為什么警察會(huì)怪你呀？你為什么要freak out？
M：Hey! Li Hua, look out for that car!
L：Don't freak out, Michael. 我看見(jiàn)那輛車(chē)了。不過(guò)，那車(chē)差一點(diǎn)就撞到我們了！
M：Oh, man! that was close! That guy is crazy! I wish the cops were here to see that!
L：對(duì)，剛才是夠險(xiǎn)的，警察要看到他那么開(kāi)車(chē)，準(zhǔn)要給他罰單。不過(guò)，今天已經(jīng)和警察打過(guò)交道了，夠了。再要跟cops打交道，那我可真是要freak out了。
M：Me too. Now, drive carefully!
今天這兩個(gè)年輕人真是夠驚險(xiǎn)的。不過(guò)，李華學(xué)到了兩個(gè)非常有用的詞匯: cop, 警察；to freak out，非常緊張和激動(dòng)。這次<流行美語(yǔ)>到此結(jié)束，我們下次再會(huì)。