VOA流行美语 Unit 60: TO CRACK SB.UP / WANNABE

今天Michael和李华在谈论著名演员阿诺·施瓦辛格在加州当选州长的新闻。在谈话中李华会学到两个常用语： to crack somebody up和wannabe。

(sound of TV news in the background)

L: Michael, 你干吗这么关心加州的州长选举啊？你又没去过加州！

M: (chuckles) I know, it's just the idea that Arnold Schwarzenegger is the new governor of California cracks me up! It's so funny!

L: 你说阿诺选上加州州长让你什么啦？cracks-me-up？

M: I said, "Cracks me up!" That means it makes me laugh. In fact, the whole California election cracks me up. It's all so ridiculous!

L: 噢，我知道了，如果说什么事情cracks you up, 那就是说这件事让你觉得好笑。哎，可是，为什么加州选举会让你觉得好笑啊？

M: Hehehe. For some reason, whenever I see Arnold giving a speech on TV, I just crack up.

L: 你说，你只要在电视上看到阿诺讲话就觉得好笑，为什么呢？我觉得他比其他政客还好一些哎！

M: He is not the same! He has a funny accent, and whenever I see him, I don't see Arnold, I see his characters from Terminator and Conan the Barbarian. (laughs at length) It just cracks me up!

L: 啊，你一看见阿诺，就会想起他在电影里扮演的角色啊，难怪你觉得他的样子好笑。可是你嘲笑他说话有口音，这不太好吧！

M: Oh who cares? Everyone laughs at Arnold's accent: (speaks in Arnie voice) "I just want to say to Governor Gray Davis, Hasta la vista, baby! You won't be baaack!"

L: (laughs) 行了行了，Michael! (in English) You are cracking me up. (Chinese) 你啊，听起来一点也不象阿诺！

******

L: 你知道吧，Michael, 阿诺啊，他不仅仅是演员，他在经商方面也很有经验，而且看起来满有政治天才的，说不定他会是个很好的州长啊！

M: What? Are you crazy? Arnold is barely even an actor. And he doesn't have any experience as a politician! He's a wannabe!

L: 你说他是什么？A wannabe? Michael, 你不喜欢他可以，可是不应该这样骂他吧？

M: I didn't call Arnold a rude name! I said that he's a wannabe politician. I meant he isn't a real politician, he just wants to be a real politician!

L: 噢，我懂了。Wannabe，它的意思就是，"想成为某个人或者是某种人"。 所以，你说阿诺是个wannabe politician，就表示呢，他希望成为政治家，可是啊，他不是真正的政治家。那，wannabe这个词还有其它的意思吗？

M: A "wannabe" is often someone who wants people to think they are a certain kind of person, even though they aren't the real thing.

L: 噢，A wannabe还可以说，是要别人认为他是某种类型的人，虽然他们并不是那种人。

M: Can you give me an example of a "wannabe," Li Hua?

L: 嗯，让我想一想... 对了，很多中国学生都觉得我们系里的Anderson教授，他呀，是个wannabe中国专家。只去过中国几次，汉语啊说得乱七八糟，可是他总是做出很懂中国的样子。

M: Yeah, he is a wannabe.

L: 哎，Michael, 你呀，要是不好好练习中文的话，有一天，你也会成为一个wannabe中国专家！

Michael和李华今天在谈论著名演员阿诺·施瓦辛格在加州当选州长的新闻。在他们的谈话中，李华学到了两个很有用的说法：to crack somebody up是"让人发笑"的意思，wannabe指"希望成为某种人的人"。