VOA流行美语 Unit 44: A BIG DEAL / TO GIVE IT A SHOT

今天李华和 Michael二人一起开车到市中心，他们想要找个停车的空位。在他们二人对话中，李华会学到两个常用语：a big deal和give it a shot。

M: Man, I hate trying to park my car in this city! There are never any spaces. Hey look! There's one!

L: 啊！我看到了那个位子。 Um, Michael, 可是我不知道我该不该停 那儿。我的停车技术很差，我怕出差错把车给撞了。

M: Don't worry about it! You have to learn this sooner or later. Give it a shot!

L: 你说什么？Give what? 我该把车干吗？

M: I said give it a shot, that means try or give it a try. We say give a shot when we ask someone to try something they are not sure they can do.

L: 噢，你用的字 shot, S-H-O-T. 就好像开枪射击的那个 shot，是不 是？

M: That's right. For instance, when you are taking a test, and you are not sure of the answer to a question, you still have to give it a shot and try to guess the correct answer.

L: 奥，give it a shot原来指的是尽量试试，即使你没有多大信心。

M: That's right. Now you try and use this phrase. Go ahead, give it a shot!

L: Hmm，如果说你想要申请一个很好的工作，可是又怕自己得不到，你就可以说：Give it a shot! 反正你也不会有什么损失的。

M: You've got it.

L: 那还有没有其它场合可以用shot这个字的？

M: Well, we might also say give it your best shot.

L: 好，所以我们也可以说"give it your best shot"，意思就是全力以赴去试一下。

M: That's right. Now you'd better move your car into that space. We shouldn't sit here in the middle of the road. Go ahead and park, give it a shot!

L: 好，我就试试。

L: 我的天， Michael，我撞到哪里了？

M: Don't worry Li Hua, it's not a big deal. The bumper just hit the parking meter.

L: 你说不大什么？不管撞倒哪儿都不得了啊。

M: No no, I said its not a big deal. That means it's not very serious.

L: Oh, 那"big deal"是哪两个字，怎么拼?

M: Big, B-I-G; Deal, D-E-A-L. If something is a big deal it is very serious, or very important to someone.

L: 奥，我明白了，当我撞上停车计时表，你说 its not a big deal，你的意思是说没什么大不了的。我并没有造成多大损害。

M: Yeah, at least I don't think you did. Maybe you scratched the bumper or the parking meter. You didn't really damage the car or meter, so it's not a big deal.

L: 原来如此，但愿你说的对。哎，还有，要是不用 not 这个字可以 吗？

M: Sure you can, for instance, it was a big deal for me when I turned 16 and got a drivers license.

L: 对。对美国青年人来说，拿到驾驶执照可真是一件大事。

M: Looks like you understand how to use this phrase. Why don't you make another sentence?

L: 好，我就用它造句子： It was a very big deal for Chinese people when Beijing got the chance to host the 2008 Summer Olympics.

M: It sure was! I remember on TV, I saw a lot of people in Beijing partying when that happened.

L: 哎呀，别多说了。我得赶快把车停好。

M: Yep, if a cop sees you stopping traffic, he might think it is a big deal. Move out of the space and try to park again. Give it another shot!

今天李华学到了两个常用语：a big deal 和give it a shot。A big deal是指很重大，或者严重的事。Give it a shot 指的是尽力去试。