L: Michael, 大家都说纽约人开车不守规矩，我看华盛顿的人也好不了多少。刚才那辆车差一点撞到我！
M: Yeah, I saw that. Crossing the streets in New York and Washington is dangerous. But getting ticked off about it won't do you any good.
L: 对，在纽约和华盛顿穿马路是很危险。你说什么对我没好处？ Ticked off?
M: Yes, Ticked off means to get angry or annoyed at something. Getting angry at the drivers will not do you any good.
L: 噢，ticked off的意思是为什么事情生气。 你刚才说的是我对开车的人生气没有什么好处。看来让我ticked off的事还挺多。
M: Yeah, like when your boyfriend broke up with you right before we started classes.
L: 你还提醒我这事！我以前那男朋友刚开学就跟我分手，当时我真的非常生气。不过，Michael，我觉得你也很爱生气。
M: Well, I got pretty ticked off a few days ago when the professor gave me a low score on the exam.
L: 对，和你同班的中国同学王光告诉我你那天非常生气，因为那个教授给你的考试判分判得很低。Ticked off这个说法很好，以前我就知道用angry这个字。
M: Hey, are you hungry? We haven't eaten in a while.
L: 刚才好生气，连肚子饿也忘了。走，去吃点东西吧！
(Michael和李华吃完饭以后)
M: Now that we have eaten, let's walk to the White House. It's not too far from here.
L: 到白宫去？太好了，除了照片外，我还没有看到过真的白宫呢！
M: Watch out Li Hua! Get back!
L: 哟！ 我的天哪！我的天哪！真吓死我了！我以为这下我可完了！
M: Oh, my god! Are you okay? Geez, that was really a close call.
L: Michael, 我都差一点被车撞了， 而你还在说什么close call，这跟打电话根本没有关系！
M: No, that's not what I meant by close call. I meant that the car nearly hit you.
L: 对啊，那车差一点就撞上我了，这就是 close call？
M: Actually, Li Hua, close call means that you narrowly avoided danger. Something bad could have happened to you, but you narrowly avoided a bad situation.
L: 原来close call就是说，差一点发生倒霉的事，我算是逃避了这倒霉事。我可以说，今天我差一点没被汽车撞了。对不对？
M: Yeah, that's right.
L: 那close call是不是一定用在跟生命危险有关的场合呢？
M: Not really. Let me give you another example. The paper you and I turned in this week was almost late. That was also a close call.
L: 对，那个教授让我们在星期二前把学术报告交给他，我们是星期一晚上去交的，差一点就过了限期，这也可以说是close call。 下回我可再也不敢这么做了。
M: Here we are! The White House!
L: 太好了！ 白宫到了, 那我们赶快走把。
今天 Michael 和李华在对话中用的一个常用语是ticked off， 意思是为了什么事情生气； 另一个是close call，意思是差一点没发生倒霉的事，或是差一点完不成该做的事。 《流行美语》就学习到这里， 我们下次再见。