流行美语 第50课:piece of junk; cheap

piece of junk

cheap

今天李华到Michael家里借用他的电脑。李华会学到了两个新词儿：piece of junk 和cheap。

M: Ok Li Hua, let me see if I can find that webpage for you.

L: Wow, 你的电脑上网真够慢的, 不知道是哪儿出问题了。

M: Actually, it's not the Internet connection, it is my computer. Its an old piece of junk and it is very very slow.

L: 它是一片什么啊？你的电脑出什么问题啦？

M: I said it's a "piece of junk". Piece, P-I-E-C-E; of junk. J-U-N-K. A piece of junk is something that is old and broken, or just doesn't work well.

L: 噢！我想起来了，junk就是你要丢掉的废物，像是旧的车胎或破烂的自行车。

M: That's right. In fact, I'd say my car is a piece of junk too. It's ten years old, it doesn't start half the time, and pieces are always falling off of it.

L: 你的车可不是一堆破烂呢。你倒是应该好好保养它。我叔叔在中国有辆用了二十多年的旧车，到现在还不是走得挺好的。

M: Well, some older cars are more simple in design, and easier to fix. It is hard to find parts for my car, and it isn't really worth the cost to fix it.

L: 嗯，那倒是。现在好些东西过几年之后就变成废物了，就好像我的‘随身听’一样。

M: Your walkman is a piece of junk? I've had a Sony walkman for ten years, and it still works well!

L: 我的那一台可真的不行了，现在一动也不动；有的时候还把我的录音带给弄坏了。我真是应该买个新的了。

M: Yes, you probably should. If it damages your tapes, it's not worth using.

L: 别管我的了，你的电脑该怎么办？ 为什么不去买个新的来呢？像你这样的学生可得有台好电脑才行啊。

M: I might. Hey, wait a minute! What would I do with my old piece of junk computer? Maybe give it to a certain friend of mine?

L: 嘿，我可没那么说，不过要是还能用的话，我倒乐于拿走，也许我还可以用它来做功课:。

******

L: 哎，Michael, 现在你不想换电脑了是不是？

M: Well, I could, but I am also too cheap to spend money to buy a new one.

L: 等等，你说你是便宜的？