to smell fishy
to fish for compliments

新鲜的鱼营养很丰富，味道又鲜美。可惜的是，鱼很容易变质，时间放长了，它就会发臭。今天我们要讲的第一个俗语就和鱼有关，这就是to smell fishy。

Fish就是鱼，fish后面加一个y，就成了fishy，也就是fish的形容词。To smell fishy的意思是在某一件事情上你感到不太对头，似乎有人在进行欺骗，这时候你就可以说: "It smells fishy."

我们现在来举个例子：

"Somebody offered to sell me some beach property in Florida at a good cheap price. But the deal smelled fishy so I went down to take a look. Sure enough, every time the tide came in, the land was under three feet of water."

这个人说：“有一个人要把佛罗里达州海滨的土地卖给我，价钱很便宜。但是，我总觉得这笔交易有点不对头，所以就到那里去看了一看。果然，每当潮水来的时候，这块地就被三英尺深的水淹没了。”

下面这个例句是一个人在报上看到出售旧汽车的广告，价钱实在便宜，便宜得都让人觉得不太对头了。你猜是怎么回事？

"It appeared to be a real bargain, but I smelled something fishy because the man was in such a hurry to sell it. I was right--later on I found out the car was stolen."

这人说：“价钱可真是便宜，可是这人那么急急忙忙要卖掉让我感到不太对头。我还真是没错，后来我才发现那辆车是偷来的。”

你可知道，在陆地上，鱼虽然钓不到，但是人们往往想钓别的东西，例如：to fish for compliments。Compliments就是赞扬或者恭维。To fish for compliments就是用一种巧妙的方法来让别人恭维你、赞扬你。下面就是一个例子：

"Do you notice how Dora always fishes for compliments? She keeps asking the men in the office what they think of her new hairdo, or whether they think her new dress is the right color for her."

这个人说：“你有没有注意到多拉是怎么让别人恭维她的？她在办公室里老是问一些男的同事，他们喜不喜欢她的发式，或者她的新衣服的颜色对她是不是合适。”

下面是一个作家在和一个人说话，他很可能是想要那个人说几句赞扬他的话，尽管他不承认。先听听他是怎么说的，然后你来作判断吧。

"I hope you don't think I'm fishing for a compliment, but have you had a chance to read my new book? The reviews are good, but I'd like to hear what you think about it."

他说：“我希望你不要以为我是要你恭维我。不过，你有没有看过我的新书？书评倒写的都很好，但是我很想听听你的意见。”

我们今天讲了两个俗语：to smell fishy和to fish for compliments。To smell fishy是觉得不太对头，to fish for compliments是设法让别人赞扬你。

美国习惯用语: 第一百一十二课就讲到这里。欢迎下次再一起来学习美国习惯用语。再见。

第2部分 流行美语 音频在附件

今天Michael正在设法买票和李华一起去看世界职业棒球赛的决赛。李华学到了两个习惯用语：to strike out 和to pull something off。

M: Well, Li Hua, I struck out again. It looks like my cousin won't have any world series tickets to sell to us after all.

L: 你说什么？Struck out? 这跟买球票有什么关系？

M: I said I struck out again. Struck out means that I failed after trying several times.

L: 噢，我想起来了！棒球赛里就有strike out这个说法。如果一个击球手三次击球不中，他就strike out， 也就是“三振出局”。所以，strike out的意思是，一件事做了几次也不成功。

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。

【听力】美国习惯用语+流行美语 08年4月10日 文字+MP3  

【听力】美国习惯用语+流行美语 08年4月9日 文字+MP3   【听力】美国习惯用语+流行美语 08年4月8日 文字+MP3  

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