今天Michael和李華要開車去新澤西州看一個朋友，跟他一起過周末。 新澤西州緊挨著紐約，開車只要一個小時就到了。請注意他們倆人講話當中用的兩個詞： shot 和 damage?，F(xiàn)在他們正準備上車。
M: Hey, Li Hua, are you ready to go?
L: 行，我準備好了，可以走了。
M: Ok, let's go!
L: 喲，怎么啦？
M: I think my engine is shot. This is not good.
L: 什么？ 有人開槍把你車打壞啦？
M: No! You're right, shot does mean to have used a gun, but here shot means something is broken.
L: 對啊，shot是指開槍，原來這兒的意思不同，這兒是指什么東西壞了。那我的電腦壞了，也能用shot這個字?。?span>
M: Sure. My computer is shot. You can say almost anything is shot.
L: 什么東西壞了都能這樣說？
M: Yes, if you hurt your knee, you can say: My knee is shot, or if you hurt your shoulder, you can say: My shoulder is shot.
L: 噢， 要是你的膝蓋受傷了，你就可以說：My knee is shot; 要是你的肩膀受了傷，那你就說：My shoulder is shot.
M: Let's go rent a car. I don't want our whole day to be shot.
L: 對，還是去租一輛車吧。 噢，毀了一整天也能這樣說呀！
M: Yep. Let's go!
(Michael和李華租了一輛車，現(xiàn)在他們在開往新澤西的路上)。
L: Michael, 這輛車真不錯，挺穩(wěn)的。再開半小時就到了，太好了！
M: Yeah, I'm glad too, but the damage for renting the car is pretty bad.
L: 什么？這輛租的車也壞了？喲，那怎么辦吶！
M: No, the rental car is not damaged! The word damage does mean that, but damage here means the amount of money needed to pay for something.
L: 租的車沒有壞，真把我嚇一跳。原來又是我的英文有問題。 Damage 這個字很普通，大家都知道是指什么東西壞了?？赡阒傅氖菫槭裁礀|西付的錢。
M: Yes, renting the car is expensive, so the damage is bad. We usually say the damage is bad or not bad.
L: 我知道了，價錢貴就是：the damage is bad。 價錢不高，那就是： the damage is not bad. 再給我舉個例子吧。
M: When you pay for dinner at a restaurant, you can ask: What's the damage?
L: 噢，在飯店里吃完晚飯要付錢的時候可以問：“What's the damage?" 所以租車很貴，the damage is bad. Michael, 別擔心，我可以幫你付一點。
M: You don't have to, Li Hua. I know the damage for your new computer was pretty bad.
L: 你真好心，知道我買新電腦花了不少錢，所以不要我?guī)湍愀丁?span> Michael, 沒關(guān)系，我能付一點，你還要去修車，也很貴的。
M: Thanks, Li Hua. But I hope the damage for fixing my car won't be too bad.
L: 我也希望你修車不至于太貴。得了，別說錢了，趕快開吧。
M: OK, I'll drive fast so that the rest of our day won't be shot.
L: 對了，別浪費時間了，我也不想把一天的時間全浪費了。
今天Michael 教了李華兩個年輕人常用的詞，一個是shot。 Shot 是指什么東西壞了，或者人體的某個部位受傷了；另外一個詞 是damage。這里的damage不是指損壞，而是指為某樣東西，或某個交易付的錢。
