Larry 和李華一起去看職業棒球賽。今天我們要學兩個常用語：a drop in
the bucket和a flash in the pan.

    LH： Larry，世界杯結束了，咱們該看棒球了吧？我估計，棒球比賽肯定沒
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。每個隊一年要打162 場比賽，所以輸個一兩場的沒什么問題。不像
世界杯，輸一場比賽就被淘汰！

    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水滴，指無關緊要。
我們中文里把這個叫滄海一粟。

    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 給災民捐了20美元，盡管這只是很小的一筆錢。

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

    LH：我聽說這個新投手特別棒！不過 Larry， the Nationals去年打得那么
差，換個新投手真能管用么？

    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，我們買票的錢就可以被用來聘請優秀的棒球隊員嘍？

    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 要想簽下身價幾百萬美元的球星，可不能只
靠咱倆這門票錢。哎？為了在經濟上支持他們，你給我買一件有他們隊標的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.

    ******

    比賽結束了，Larry 和Lihua 從棒球場往外走。

    LH： Larry，這個新的投手可真棒！

    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！你是說，你希望這個新投手不要在開始的時候表現
很出色，但很快就默默無聞了。

    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一鳴驚人，可這只是曇花一現，因為他
后來寫的幾本書都很差。

    L ： That's right.

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

    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，這個地區的發展可不是曇花一現，而是持續下來的。雖然現在經
濟不景氣，但我還是希望他們能堅持下去。

    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，當時那些經濟指標似乎都挺鼓舞人心的，誰知沒過多久情況又變
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：好啊！咱們雖然不能改善全國的經濟，但總可以先滿足一下自己的胃吧！

    今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是a drop in the bucket，表示無關緊要，
滄海一粟。另一是a flash in the pan，意思是曇花一現。