M: That"s right. Looks like you"ve got a good grasp of the rules of baseball. Why don"t you try and use it in a sentence.
　　L: 嗯，让我想想。对了，我一个朋友申请了几个学校的研究院，可是没有一所学校接受她。 (English) So, she completely struck out.
　　M: There you go. You know, even if your friend struck out this year, I hope she tries again. I remember the first year I applied to graduate school, I struck out too. But I learned from my mistakes, and eventually found a good school that accepted me.
　　L: 原来你和我朋友一样也有申请研究院失败的经历，可是吸取教训后你就成功了，希望我朋友也会如此。

　　M: Yeah, I was rather pleased to get into graduate school. Too bad I still strike out with the girls. None of the good ones want to go out with me.
　　L: 嘿嘿，别担心，Michael, 你要求不要太高，一定会找到你喜欢的女孩的。你总不可能一直在这方面strike out吧!
　　*****
　　L: 嘿 Michael, 你到底有没有买到棒球决赛的球票啊？
　　M: No, to tell you the truth, Li Hua, I don"t think I can pull it off. There simply are no tickets for sale.

　　L: 你说什么？ Pull it off? 你还在想办法，对不对?
　　M: I said I don"t think I can pull it off. To pull something off - Pull. P U L L. Off. O F F, means to succeed at something very difficult, usually unexpectedly.
　　L: 噢，To pull something off就是出人意料地做成一件很困难的事情。哎，Michael, 你再举个例子好不好？
　　M: Ok, most of our friends didn"t think that Beijing would be allowed to host the 2008 Olympics, but in the end Beijing pulled it off! I was really surprised.
　　L: 对，很多人以为中国申办奥运不会成功，但是中国试了几次，终于成功， 也就是pulled it off。Michael, 凭你对中国的了解，你不应该感到惊讶才对嘛。

　　M: Yeah. I guess so. Anyway, as for the tickets, I don"t think I can pull this off.
　　L: 为什么买棒球赛的票那么难啊？
　　M: The series has already started, the tickets were sold months ago, and the only people selling them on the Internet want at least $600 a ticket for game 7.
　　L: 电脑上买票还要六百美元一张？这也太过份了吧？哎，Michael, 反正我对棒球也没兴趣，你就不用给我买票了。
　　M: You know, Li Hua, I spent the whole afternoon calling people and trying to find tickets. I wish you had said something sooner.

　　L: 对不起，我知道你花了很多时间。可是，我没想到你这么没能耐，试了半天还是struck out!
　　Michael和李华想买职业棒球赛的球票，可是没有买到。李华学到了两个习惯用语：to strike out和to pull something off。Strike out表示一件事做了几次都没有成功。To pull something off表示出人意料地做成了一件很困难的事情。

日期：2007-8-26　10:24:54

　　「美国习惯用语」第六十三讲
　　to keep one"s eyes peeled
　　to have the wool over one"s eyes
　　美国人似乎有不少用眼睛这个字，也就是英文里的eyes这个字组成的成语和俗语。我们曾经在前面的课文中给大家介绍过eyes pop out，这是指某个人在感到十分惊奇的时候，眼睛睁得大大的，似乎连眼珠子都快掉出来了。但是，眼睛睁大的时候并不完全是出于惊奇。
　　比如说，当你在交通十分拥挤的情况下开车的时候，你一定会很紧张。这时，你的眼睛就会张得大大的，注意地看周围是否有危险的情况。美国人有一个常用的俗语用来形容这种情景的: to keep one"s eyes peeled. To keep one"s eyes peeled实际上就是提高警觉的意思。住在华盛顿的人经常会说：
　　例句-1: "The beltway is very dangerous to drive on, especially during the rush hour. So be sure to keep your eyes peeled when you change lanes to pass one of those big trucks they call eighteen wheelers."
　　这句话的意思是：“在环绕华盛顿地区的这条高速公路上开车是非常危险的，特别是上下班交通最忙的时候。所以，当你要改换车道，超过那种十八个轮子大卡车的时候，你一定要十分警觉。”

　　有的时候，那些做坏事的罪犯也会用to keep one"s eyes peeled这个俗语。下面就是一个例子：
　　例句-2: "Joe, I"m going to have to drill this lock out of the door for us to get in. The drill will make some noise, so keep your eyes peeled for the cops."
　　这个罪犯在做案的时候对他的同夥说：“乔伊，我得把这门上的锁钻下来，这样我们才能进去。我钻的时候会有声音，所以你得睁大眼睛，注意看有没有丨警丨察。”
　　要是你老是很警觉的话，也就是说要是你老是keep your eyes peeled，你就可能会避免受人蒙蔽。美国人经常说: to have the wool pulled over one"s eyes。
　　To have the wool pulled over one"s eyes，这个习惯用语的意思就是：蒙蔽某人。美国是一个自由贸易的国家，但是在做生意的过程中受骗也是经常发生的。下面有关一位黄先生的例子就能说明问题：

　　例句-3: "Poor Mr. Brown--his partner certainly pulled the wool over his eyes. He had no idea the partner was stealing all the profits until the man suddenly left town."
　　这句话的意思是：“可怜的黄先生，和他合伙的人肯定欺骗了他。黄先生一直不知道那人在偷偷地把赚来的钱放到自己口袋里去，直到那人突然一走不返,这才使他恍然大悟。”
　　To pull the wool over one"s eyes这个俗语也可以用在其他方面，下面就是一个例子：
　　例句-4: "I won"t vote for that politician again. I"ve seen him pull the wool over the eyes of the voters with lots of promises, but he never carries them out once he gets into office."
　　这句话翻到中文就是说：“我不会再投那个政客的票了。我已经看到他向选民们许好多愿来蒙蔽他们。但是，一旦当选，他所作的保证一个也没有兑现过。”
　　我们今天讲解了两个和eyes这个字有关的俗语，第一个是to have one"s eyes peeled，这是指提高警觉。我们今天讲的第二个俗语是to pull the wool over one"s eyes，这是欺骗别人的意思。

日期：2007-8-26　10:31:52

　　流行美语 第63课
　　李华终于把明天要交的一份报告写完了。她松了一口气，想出去轻松一下。她决定先去看看Michael在干什么。今天，李华会学到两个常用语：dumb blonde和bimbo。
　　M: Hey, Li Hua. What brings you here?
　　L: 没事。刚写完明天要交的报告，想休息一下。哎，你在看电视剧Friends呀？我看过，我很喜欢Pheobe. 就是那个金发女孩，她真滑稽。
　　M: Yeah, she"s a real dumb blonde.
　　L: 你叫她dumb blonde? 什么意思呀？ Dumb不是指一个人很笨吗？blonde是金发。很笨的金发女郎啊？
　　M: You"re right. Dumb blonde. We often joke that blonde women are usually pretty but not very intelligent.

　　L: 噢，原来你们老把金发女郎说成是很漂亮，可是却很笨。 象Pheobe也一样，很漂亮，但是老说傻话，也是个dumb blonde。可是，说人家笨不是很不礼貌吗？
　　M: Yes, that"s why we would never say this to someone"s face. It"s usually only used as a joke behind people"s backs.
　　L: 原来这是作为笑话来讲的，绝对不能当着一个金发女郎的面说dumb blonde. Michael，你真认为金发的女人真的都很笨吗？
　　M: No, we often used the term as a joke. Most of the jokes about dumb blondes are not true.
　　L: 我想也是，有金发的人不见得就是比别人笨。Michael, 你给我讲一个关于dumb blonde的笑话吧！

　　M: OK. A crying blonde asked a policeman for help to find her lost dog. The policeman suggested that she put an ad in the paper. The blonde responds: "I can"t, because my dog can"t read." Li Hua, do you understand the joke?
　　L: 听懂了。一个金发女郎的狗丢了。她一面哭一面要一个丨警丨察帮她把狗找回来。丨警丨察建议她在报上登个广告。可是，这个金发女郎说：“不行，我的狗不识字。” Michael, 我才不信有这么笨的人。
　　******
　　L: Michael, 那天我们上历史课的时候，那个女学生问教授谁是美国的第一任总统。这可真傻，不过她不是金发女郎。那我该怎么说她呢？
　　M: Well, you can call her a bimbo. Bimbo is a very dumb woman, not necessarily a blonde.

　　L: 你的意思是，bimbo可以指笨的女人，不管她是不是金发女郎。
　　M: That"s right. Remember last week in class, a girl asked who won World War II, the Germans or the Japanese? What a silly question, she"s a real bimbo.
　　L: 对，我记得！她问第二次大战是德国人胜还是日本人胜，提得出这样问题的人才真是个bimbo。
　　M: Yeah, it"s scary that an American did not even know who our first president was or who won World War II. But it"s still not nice to call her bimbo, though.
　　L: 我知道，虽然提这样的问题很傻， 不过也不能当她们的面叫她们bimbo. 这样会伤害她们自尊的。