在紐約上大學的Michael和李華今天在華盛頓參觀名勝古跡。他們在對話里會用到兩個常用語：ticked off ，另一個是close。

L: Michael, 大家都說紐約人開車不守規矩，我看華盛頓的人也好不了多少。剛才那輛車差一點撞到我！

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，在紐約和華盛頓穿馬路是很危險。你說什么對我沒好處？ 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。 你剛才說的是我對開車的人生氣沒有什么好處。看來讓我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就跟我分手，當時我真的非常生氣。不過，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，和你同班的中國同學王光告訴我你那天非常生氣，因為那個教授給你的考試判分判得很低。Ticked off這個說法很好，以前我就知道用angry這個字。

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，我還沒有看到過真的白宮呢！

M: Watch out Li Hua! Get back!

L: 喲！ 我的天哪！我的天哪！真嚇死我了！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, 我都差一點被車撞了， 而你還在說什么close call，這跟打電話根本沒有關系！

M: No, that's not what I meant by close call. I meant that the car nearly hit you.

L: 對啊，那車差一點就撞上我了，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close call就是說，差一點發生倒霉的事，我算是逃避了這倒霉事。我可以說，今天我差一點沒被汽車撞了。對不對？

M: Yeah, that's right.

L: 那close call是不是一定用在跟生命危險有關的場合呢？

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，那個教授讓我們在星期二前把學術報告交給他，我們是星期一晚上去交的，差一點就過了限期，這也可以說是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 和李華在對話中用的一個常用語是ticked off， 意思是為了什么事情生氣； 另一個是close call，意思是差一點沒發生倒霉的事，或是差一點完不成該做的事。