LL: I can't believe we have a three-day weekend. I haven't had a break from school for so long.
LH: 是啊,要放假了,一定得好好玩玩。
LL: What are you planning on doing over the long summer?
LH: 不知道啊,不過,今天放學(xué)后我和Tracy要去吃飯,看電影,你要不要一起來(lái)?
LL: Sorry Li Hua. I have plans tonight. I'm going to shoot hoops with Jeffrey and Tom.
LH: Shoot hoops? 那是什么?
LL: Shoot hoops is a casual way of saying to play basketball.
LH: 喔,原來(lái)to shoot hoops就是去打籃球。
LL: Yes. In basketball, the main goal is to shoot hoops. If you are only playing basketball with friends or alone, in a casual manner, you can say that you are going to shoot hoops.
LH: 我明白了,打籃球主要目的是投籃得分,所以要去打籃球時(shí)就說,I'm going to shoot hoops. 那如果我要去踢足球,可以說,I'm going to kick balls嗎?
LL: No, no, no. No one says they're going to kick balls when they're going to play soccer. This way of saying to play a sport is only used in basketball.
LH: 哦,原來(lái)只有籃球可以這樣說。對(duì)了,Larry, our school is going to shoot hoops with our rival school tomorrow. We have to win! 我這樣說行嗎?
LL: Well, you generally don't say shoot hoops when you are talking about a basketball game or competition. Shoot hoops is only used for casual basketball playing.
LH: 好吧,不過Larry, 認(rèn)識(shí)你這么久,我好象從來(lái)沒見你打過籃球,藏而不露嘛!
LL: No, I'm not that good at basketball. I'm just a rookie.
LH: Rookie? What's a rookie? 我那天有個(gè)朋友也說自己是投資的rookie, 我當(dāng)時(shí)就沒搞懂他的意思。
LL: Haha. A rookie is a beginner, a person who is new to a field or profession.
LH: 哦,Rookie是初學(xué)者的意思,你說自己籃球打得不怎么樣,剛?cè)腴T,而我那朋友則是在說自己剛開始做投資。
LL: That's right. A rookie can be used to describe any type of beginner. You can be a rookie doctor, a rookie English speaker, or a rookie violinist.
LH: 嗯,那我懂了。Larry is not only rookie at basketball, but is also rookie at driving. 你不光打籃球剛?cè)腴T,開車也是新手。
LL: What do you mean by that? I've been driving for years!
LH: 沒錯(cuò),你拿到駕照雖然很久了,可你開車的技術(shù)還是跟初學(xué)者一樣,每次坐你的車我都心驚膽顫的。
LL: Well...I'm just not that good at driving. But you didn't use the word rookie correctly. Rookie is a noun; it is a person who is a beginner. However, you used the word as an adjective.
LH: 這么說,rookie是名詞,不能做形容詞用,我剛剛的用法不對(duì)呀。
LL: It's okay. Try again. Give me another example.
LH: Even though he's a rookie in BASKETBALL, he practices very hard and has become really good at the sport.
LL: That's good. You can also say he's a rookie BASKETBALL player.Or, more simply, he is a BASKETBALL rookie.
LH: 是嗎? 可以直接說一個(gè)人是rookie BASKETBALL player或者BASKETBALL rookie. 那我懂了。
LL: That's good. Can you give me an example of shoot hoops?
LH: Mmm...有了!The basketball rookie is going to shoot hoops.
LL: Yes, that's right! Hey, you're learning fast.
LH: 那當(dāng)然,我學(xué)習(xí)能力很強(qiáng)的,But I think I'm still a rookie English speaker.
LL: Well, it takes time to become good at a language. You're doing really well already.
LH: 是嗎? 謝謝啦!