VOA流行美语 Unit 142: gooey/retro

Larry和李华正走在公园里，两人准备穿过公园到地铁站去。今天李华会学到两个常用语：gooey和retro.

LL: Oh no! I just stepped in something gooey! Gross!

LH: 怎么啦！Larry！你踩到什么啦？gooey是什么？该不是鸟粪吧？

LL: Something that is gooey is sticky and wet like glue or chewing gum. As a matter of fact, I think that the gooey thing I stepped in is actually chewing gum.

LH: 呃，你踩到口香糖啦！口香糖又湿又黏的，真是够恶心的！原来gooey就是指这种东西。我最讨厌那些人把吃过的口香糖随便吐在地上。真没有公德。

LL: I hate it, too, especially because gooey things like chewing gum are really hard to clean up. Now, I'm going to have to walk around with a gooey pink spot on the bottom of my shoe.

LH: 就是啊。这些黏呼呼的口香糖一旦沾上了，是很难洗掉的。也许你可以等到晚上口香糖干掉后，可能会比较容易从鞋底掰下来。

LL: That's a good idea. I'll try and peel it off later tonight.

LH: Laryy, 你就别再发火了。想一想，口香糖沾上鞋底，总比沾上头发要好一些吧？

LL: I can imagine. Has that ever happened to you?

LH: 嗯，是有那么一次。我还在念小学的时候，班上的一个男孩把一瓶胶水倒在我头上，黏呼呼的胶水把我头发全沾上了。我妈妈花了好几个小时才把我的头发洗干净呢！

LL: That's awful! You must have been so upset!

LH: 就是啊！我哭了好久。第二天我也拿了一大罐黏稠的水彩倒在那个男孩的衣服上作为报复。谁要他先倒胶水在我头发上！

LL: That's terrible, Li Hua!

LH: 我也知道这样做是不对的。可是你知道吗？那个男孩再也没敢欺负我了！

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LH: Larry, 我喜欢你这双新鞋。真好看！

LL: Thanks! I bought them to replace the shoes that were all gooey from the gum I stepped in. I liked these because they are kind of retro.

LH: Retro? 那是什么意思啊？

LL: Retro means similar to something from the past. These shoes are retro because they look like the shoes people used to wear in the 1950s.

LH: 噢，retro是指那些与过去流行的东西很类似，那不就是“仿古”的意思吗？我也注意到，一些仿古的衣服或饰品通常都有特殊的风格。

LL: Yeah, some people even go to special stores to buy actual vintage clothes that are twenty or thirty years old.

LH: 哇！到特殊的商店去买二，三十年前的衣服啊！我虽然喜欢仿古风味的衣服，可是我还真不明白为什么有人会花钱买一件20年前的旧衣服。

LL: I don't understand it, either. I prefer to buy a new shirt that looks old-fashioned instead of one that actually is old.

LH: 当然了！我也宁可买式样是仿古的新衣服。我才不要花大钱去买那些古董衣服呢。

LL: Some car manufacturers are making retro cars now, too. Chrysler makes a couple of cars that look like cars from the 1940s.

LH: 对，我也见过克莱斯勒出的那种汽车。式样象四十年代的车。真的很酷！

LL: Yeah, I like them too, but in this case, I actually prefer real vintage cars. A retro new car just isn't the same as a real classic car.

LH: 你宁可买几十年前的老车呀？式样仿古的新车跟老车有什么不一样哪？是结构，还是材料不一样？

LL: It's hard to explain, but sometimes nothing compares to the real thing.

LH：衣服嘛要买老款式的新衣服。汽车嘛要买真正的老车。Larry，你真怪！

今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是gooey，是形容那种湿乎乎，又很黏的东西。另一个常用语是retro，就是仿古，或复古的意思。