在紐約上大學(xué)的Michael和李華今天在華盛頓參觀名勝古跡。他們?cè)趯?duì)話里會(huì)用到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：ticked off ，另一個(gè)是close。
    L：Michael，大家都說(shuō)紐約人開車不守規(guī)矩，我看華盛頓的人也好不了多少。剛才那輛車差一點(diǎn)撞到我！
    M: Yeah, I saw that. Crossing the streets in New York and Washington is dangerous. But getting ticked off about it won't do you any good.
    L：對(duì)，在紐約和華盛頓穿馬路是很危險(xiǎn)。你說(shuō)什么對(duì)我沒好處？Ticked off?
    M: Yes, Ticked off means to get angry or annoyed at something. Getting angry at the drivers will not do you any good.
    L：噢，ticked off的意思是為什么事情生氣。你剛才說(shuō)的是我對(duì)開車的人生氣沒有什么好處?？磥?lái)讓我ticked off的事還挺多。
    M: Yeah, like when your boyfriend broke up with you right before we started classes.
    L：你還提醒我這事！我以前那男朋友剛開學(xué)就跟我分手，當(dāng)時(shí)我真的非常生氣。不過(guò)，Michael，我覺得你也很愛生氣。
    M: Well, I got pretty ticked off a few days ago when the professor gave me a low score on the exam.
    L：對(duì)，和你同班的中國(guó)同學(xué)王光告訴我你那天非常生氣，因?yàn)槟莻€(gè)教授給你的考試判分判得很低。Ticked off這個(gè)說(shuō)法很好，以前我就知道用angry這個(gè)字。
    M: Hey, are you hungry? We haven't eaten in a while.
    L：剛才好生氣，連肚子餓也忘了。走，去吃點(diǎn)東西吧！
    (Michael和李華吃完飯以后)
    M: Now that we have eaten, let's walk to the White House. It's not too far from here.
    L：到白宮去？太好了，除了照片外，我還沒有看到過(guò)真的白宮呢！
    M: Watch out Li Hua! Get back!
    L：?jiǎn)?！我的天哪！我的天哪！真嚇?biāo)牢伊?！我以為這下我可完了！
    M: Oh, my god! Are you okay? Geez, that was really a close call.
    L：Michael，我都差一點(diǎn)被車撞了，而你還在說(shuō)什么close call，這跟打電話根本沒有關(guān)系！
    M: No, that's not what I meant by close call. I meant that the car nearly hit you.
    L：對(duì)啊，那車差一點(diǎn)就撞上我了，這就是close call？
    M: Actually, Li Hua, close call means that you narrowly avoided danger. Something bad could have happened to you, but you narrowly avoided a bad situation.
    L：原來(lái)close call就是說(shuō)，差一點(diǎn)發(fā)生倒霉的事，我算是逃避了這倒霉事。我可以說(shuō)，今天我差一點(diǎn)沒被汽車撞了。對(duì)不對(duì)？
    M: Yeah, that's right.
    L：那close call是不是一定用在跟生命危險(xiǎn)有關(guān)的場(chǎng)合呢？
    M: Not really. Let me give you another example. The paper you and I turned in this week was almost late. That was also a close call.
    L：對(duì)，那個(gè)教授讓我們?cè)谛瞧诙鞍褜W(xué)術(shù)報(bào)告交給他，我們是星期一晚上去交的，差一點(diǎn)就過(guò)了限期，這也可以說(shuō)是close call。下回我可再也不敢這么做了。
    M: Here we are! The White House!
    L：太好了！白宮到了，那我們趕快走把。
    今天Michael 和李華在對(duì)話中用的一個(gè)常用語(yǔ)是ticked off，意思是為了什么事情生氣；另一個(gè)是close call，意思是差一點(diǎn)沒發(fā)生倒霉的事，或是差一點(diǎn)完不成該做的事。