美國(guó)之音之流行美語(yǔ)358 a flsh in a pan...

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Larry和李華一起去看職業(yè)棒球賽。今天我們要學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：a drop in the bucket和a flash in the pan.

LH: Larry, 世界杯結(jié)束了，咱們?cè)摽窗羟蛄税桑课夜烙?jì)，棒球比賽肯定沒(méi)有世界杯那么緊張。

L: I agree. Baseball games are much slower, and each game isn't very important.

LH: 對(duì)。每個(gè)隊(duì)一年要打162場(chǎng)比賽，所以輸個(gè)一兩場(chǎng)的沒(méi)什么問(wèn)題。不像世界杯，輸一場(chǎng)比賽就被淘汰！

L: You're exactly right. Each game is just a drop in the bucket.

LH: A drop in the bucket? 這是什么意思？

L; You can say that something is just a drop in the bucket if it is only a very small or insignificant part of something else.

LH: 哦，a drop in the bucket就好比一桶水里的一個(gè)水滴，指無(wú)關(guān)緊要。我們中文里把這個(gè)叫滄海一粟。

L: Right! Here is another example. Joe donated $20 to help people in Haiti after the earthquake, even though $20 was just a drop in the bucket.

LH: 海地地震后，Joe給災(zāi)民捐了20美元，盡管這只是很小的一筆錢(qián)。

L: Exactly. So Lihua, you're going to support the Nationals, right? They've got a great new pitcher named Stephen Strasburg.

LH: 我聽(tīng)說(shuō)這個(gè)新投手特別棒! 不過(guò) Larry, the Nationals去年打得那么差，換個(gè)新投手真能管用么？

L: Yeah, he is probably just a drop in the bucket, but if the Nationals can get some more good players they might be better in a couple years.

LH: 這么說(shuō)，我們買(mǎi)票的錢(qián)就可以被用來(lái)聘請(qǐng)優(yōu)秀的棒球隊(duì)員嘍？

L: I guess that's true, but of course, the price we paid for our tickets is just a drop in the bucket.

LH: 可不是么。The Nationals要想簽下身價(jià)幾百萬(wàn)美元的球星，可不能只靠咱倆這門(mén)票錢(qián)。哎？為了在經(jīng)濟(jì)上支持他們，你給我買(mǎi)一件有他們隊(duì)標(biāo)的T恤衫吧!

L: Well sure! But you have so many clothes, one more shirt is just going to be a drop in the bucket.

******

比賽結(jié)束了，Larry和Lihua從棒球場(chǎng)往外走。

LH: Larry, 這個(gè)新的投手可真棒!

L: Yeah, he played really well. If he keeps pitching like that, he is going to have an amazing career. I sure hope he's not just a flash in the pan.

LH: A flash in the pan? 什么意思？

L: A flash in the pan is something that starts out really well, but lasts for only a very short amount of time.

LH: 哦，就是曇花一現(xiàn)！你是說(shuō)，你希望這個(gè)新投手不要在開(kāi)始的時(shí)候表現(xiàn)很出色，但很快就默默無(wú)聞了。

L: Right. Here is another example. The new author's first book got a lot of praise from critics, but he turned out to be a flash in the pan because his other books were terrible.

LH: 我明白了。這位作家的第一本書(shū)一鳴驚人，可這只是曇花一現(xiàn)，因?yàn)樗髞?lái)寫(xiě)的幾本書(shū)都很差。

L: That's right.

LH: Larry， 你注意到了么？這片地方自從蓋了新棒球場(chǎng)以來(lái)，漂亮多了！飯館、商場(chǎng)什么的都多起來(lái)了！

L: Yeah, a lot of people thought it would be a flash in the pan, but there is still a lot of development even a few years later.

LH: 是啊，這個(gè)地區(qū)的發(fā)展可不是曇花一現(xiàn)，而是持續(xù)下來(lái)的。雖然現(xiàn)在經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣，但我還是希望他們能堅(jiān)持下去。

L: Well, there were some signs that the economy was improving a few months ago. But unfortunately, it looks like they may have just been a flash in the pan.

LH: 是啊，當(dāng)時(shí)那些經(jīng)濟(jì)指標(biāo)似乎都挺鼓舞人心的，誰(shuí)知沒(méi)過(guò)多久情況又變壞了。

L: Well spending $5 on dinner will only be a drop in the bucket for the economy. But a hamburger does sound great.

LH: 好?。≡蹅冸m然不能改善全國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)，但總可以先滿足一下自己的胃吧！

今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是a drop in the bucket，表示無(wú)關(guān)緊要，滄海一粟。另一是a flash in the pan，意思是曇花一現(xiàn)。