流行美语 第152课:pump; iffy

今天早上Larry和李华和一对朋友Charles and Lisa约好一起打网球。李华会学到两个常用语：pumped和iffy.

LL: I'm really pumped about today's tennis match. How about you, Li Hua?

LH: 你对今天的比赛怎么啦？Pumped？你是不是在说你很紧张？

LL: No, I'm not nervous. Pumped means energized and excited. I'm looking forward to today's game because I think it will be a lot of fun.

LH: 原来pumped是很兴奋。对了，pump不是也有打气的意思吗？你是说你打足了气，跃跃欲试的意思。

LL: That's right! What about you? Aren't you pumped about the game?

LH: 嗯，我是很期待这场比赛，不过，我可不敢说我像你那样pumped. 我对体育没有象你那样感兴趣。

LL: Yeah, I guess I get particularly pumped about sports. If sports don't get you all that pumped up, then what does?

LH: 我呀，我是一谈起旅行就特别兴奋。I'm pumped about travel。只要想到要去旅行，我就非常兴奋。明年暑假，我计划要到温哥华去玩一个星期。

LL: You're pumped about going to Vancouver? What is there to do in Vancouver?

LH: 到那儿去干什么？ 温哥华有很多美丽的高山。景色一定很壮观。还有那里的野生动物！我一想到有机会看到野生麋鹿我就特别兴奋。Yes, I'm pumped about going to Vancouver.

LL: Well, I guess people get pumped about different things. Personally, I don't get very excited about mountains and wild animals.

LH: 我知道，高山美景和野生动物对你来说没有太大吸引力。还不如在网球场上打球来得过瘾。

LL: Hey, tennis is fun and it's good exercise.

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LH: Larry，刚才跟Charles和Lisa一起打网球挺过瘾的。对了，我差一点忘了问你，这个周末在麦迪逊广场花园有一场职业网球赛。你想去看吗？

LL: I don't know. It's iffy that we'll even be able to get tickets. Tickets for things like that sell out very quickly.

LH: 那倒也是，像这种热门球赛的票八成已经卖完了，所以你刚才说iffy，就是指我们“不太可能”买到票，是吗？Iffy肯定是从if 这个词来的。

LL: That's right. If something is "iffy"，that means that it is uncertain or even a little unlikely.

LH: 要是用iffy这个词来形容什么事的话，那就是不肯定，不太可能。不过，Larry，我们还是可以试一试吗。没准运气好，还有票呢！

LL: Yeah, but even if I can get tickets, it's iffy that we'll be able to afford them. Tickets for games like that tend to be expensive, too.

LH: 你说门票可能很贵，我们可能买不起啊？Larry，也许他们有半价的学生票呢。我们试试看嘛，好不好？

LL: Sure, I'll call the ticket vendor this afternoon. But it's iffy that they have half-priced tickets for students.

LH: 没关系，如果真的买不到票，我们可以做别的事啊！如果我们不能去看职业选手打球，我们还可以找朋友去打嘛！

LL: Speaking of which, wasn't that last game fun? Do you think Charles and Lisa would play with us again?

LH: 对，跟Charles和Lisa打的最后一场是真好玩！

LL: But it's iffy that they'll want to play against us again.

LH：他们不一定再想跟我们打球。那是为什么呀？

LL：Can't you see? They were defeated by us every round. It's really iffy that they had any fun this morning.

LH：对了。老是输球的话恐怕是没有什么好玩。

今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是pumped，是形容很兴奋，很有活力的样子。另一个常用语是iffy，是指某件事情不太可能。