VOA流行美語 Unit 390:一千美元的替代說法&某種好處所附帶的條件

今天李華要做心理學實驗，騙Larry說她中了一百萬美元，看Larry會有什麼樣的反應。李華會學到兩個常用語：grand和catch。
LH: Larry, Larry!!

LL: Hi Li Hua. Why are you so excited today?

LH: 我中樂透了！一百萬！我發財了。

LL: Oh really? Are you going to take me out to dinner?

LH: 請你吃飯？你的要求還真不高，我決定啊，分你一半！

LL: You're giving me half a million?! What's the catch？

LH: The catch...那是什麼？

LL: A catch is any tricky or concealed drawback to a deal. You're definitely not giving me half a million dollars for no reason. It's okay, tell me. What's the catch?

LH: A catch是指某件好事的附帶條件？哦，我明白了，你是不相信我會因爲友誼分一半獎金給你，你覺得這麼好的事情一定有catch, 對嗎？

LL: Of course. I wouldn't give my own brother that much.

LH: 好吧，我交待。其實我沒中獎啦，是心理學課要做研究。我纔想要試探試探你的反應。

LL: So this is all for your Psychology class. I knew it! What if you really won a million dollars? Would you share the money?

LH: 如果我真中了獎，當然會分你一點嘍。嗯，一千塊！怎樣，我這朋友夠意思吧？

LL: You'll only give me one grand?! That's one-thousandth of a million, Li Hua! I thought our friendship was worth more than that...

LH: One ground...是一千塊錢的意思嗎？

LL: Yup. One grand is equivalent to one thousand dollars.

LH: 喔。所以one grand是一千塊錢的意思。

LL: Yes, that's right.

LH: 那我就可以把五千塊錢說成five thousand grands咯？

LL: No, no, no. "Grand" replaces "thousand dollars", so you would say five grand.

LH: 原來如此。五千塊要說five grand, 因爲grand代替了thousand dollars這兩個詞。但爲什麼是說five grand而不是 ive grands呢？

LL: Even though five is more than one, you still say grand because the word is already in its plural form.

LH: 喔。因爲grand已經是複數了, 所以要說five grand而不是five grands, 那我懂了。

LL: Hey, so back to the topic. You're only giving me a thousand dollars?

LH: Yeah, one grand is a lot of money. 那換做是你，你會給我多少錢呢？

LL: I would give you 10 grand.

LH: 你會給我一萬？你真好！Wait, what would be the catch?

LL: There would be no catch! I treat you as a very close friend.

LH: 真的？我不信。不過，catch還可以怎麼用？ Larry, 能不能多給我幾個例子？

LL: Sure. A catch is any benefit that comes with a drawback. For example, when you go on a web site, and they tell you you have a chance to win a laptop, there's usually a catch.

LH: 你是說，某些網站如果說你有機會贏一臺手提電腦，通常都要回答問卷，訂閱週刊等等好多好多條件，所以這些條件就是the catch嗎？

LL: Exactly. So whenever someone tells you you've won money, or a laptop, don't believe them. Or else, you're going to have to expect a big catch that goes with the benefit.

LH: 難怪有一種說法是 "天下沒有白吃的午餐"。 Everything that sounds too good has a catch to it.

LL: That's very true.

LH: 但我給你一千塊錢絕對沒有別的企圖喔！There is no catch.

LL: But I'm willing to give you ten grand!

LH: 那我也給你ten grand怎麼樣？

LL: Ten grand. That sounds a lot better...

LH: 那就好。對了，你等下有事嗎？請我去吃牛排吧！

LL: You want me to treat you to steak? A minute ago you were only willing to give me one grand, and now you want me to treat you to steak. Ai, Li Hua!

今天李華從arry那兒學到兩個常用語。一個是grand, 是一千美元的替代說法。另一個catch, 指某種好處所附帶的條件。