大家都知道Michael这个美国学生正在学中文。他和中国学生李华约好每个星期至少在一起活动一次。今天他们决定到一个公园去滑冰。李华会学到两个常用语：loser 和to bug。

L:今天的天气真好呀！正是运动的好天气。我已经好久都没有滑冰了。

M:You're a very good skater. I just keep falling down.

L:学滑冰总是会摔跤的。多练习练习就好了。

M:I know, but I feel like such a loser. I keep getting passed by little kids. They laugh at me.

L:小孩肯定比我们滑得快，别怕他们笑话你。你刚才说你觉得自己是什么？ Loser? 滑冰又不是比赛，怎么会输掉呢？

M:I said I feel like a loser, it means that I feel like a failure. It doesn't mean I lost a game.

L:你是说loser就是一个人做某件事总是做不好。嗯， 我们在中文里常说："我怎么老学不好，真是个笨蛋"。这跟loser的意思差不多吧？不过，Michael，我肯定你在滑冰方面不是个笨蛋，你只要多练习就行了。

M:Thanks for the encouragement, Li Hua. But I've always been kind of a loser at sports. Growing up, I was always picked last for the baseball and soccer teams.

L:原来你在体育方面从小就不行。不过，Michael， 在其他方面你一点也不笨。

M:What do you mean, Li Hua?

L:这还不明白吗？女孩子都很喜欢你呀，你还有其他好多朋友呀。

M:You're right, I do have a lot of friends. But if they could see how many times I fell down today, I'm sure they would not want be friends with such a loser.

L:得了吧，Michael，要说笨蛋，那天晚上我们见到的那个人才是呢。他自以为挺帅，老是想去和女孩子搭讪，可是，谁都知道他是个没出息的人，谁都不要和他交朋友。Michael，我们能叫这种人 loser吗？

M:Yeah, very good, Li Hua. That guy really is a loser. He never studies at all. I think he's in college just to party.

L:他从来不念书呀？Michael，你还滑不滑？

M:I guess so...Just wait up for me, in case I fall down again. Okay, let's go!

(滑完冰以后)

L:Michael，运动一下真舒服。

M:Yeah, you had been bugging me about going skating for so long, I guess it was about time that I came along with you.

L:什么是bugging ? Bug不是小虫子吗？

M:No, bugging means to bother or annoy someone about something. I didn't mean it in a serious way, I was just kidding.

L:噢，to bug就是为了某件事去麻烦别人，让人讨厌。 Michael, 你再举一个例子好吗？

M:Sure. You can say that something is bugging you, such as an assignment that you haven't been able to finish or a problem that you cannot solve. You could also...

L:等等，让我先弄清楚你说的。你是说，我没能完成的功课，或者解决不了的问题都可以用to bug这个动词。那就是说："This assignment is bugging me"，或者是："This problem is bugging me"，对不对？

M:Yes, you can also say that a habit someone has really bugs you.

L:我知道，象Mary，她老是打断我说话，让我很烦，很讨厌。

M:You could say "It really bugs me when Mary interrupts me in the middle of a sentence." I can also say it really bugs me when you try to tell me what to do.

L:嗨，我告诉你该怎么做是为了你好。老实说，it bugs me that you never listen to me.

M:It seems that you've learned how to use "loser" and "to bug". Let's go home.

李华今天学了一个名词"loser"，指一个人老是不会做某件事；她还学了一个动词"to bug"，意思是为了一件事老是去麻烦别人，让人讨厌。这次这次[流行美语]就学习到这里，我们下次再见。

• failure [´feiljə]   n.失败；衰竭；破产   (初中英语单词)
• bother [´bɔðə]   v.打扰 n.麻烦(事)   (初中英语单词)
• encouragement [in´kʌridʒmənt]   n.鼓励；赞助；引诱   (高中英语单词)
• baseball [´beisbɔ:l]   n.棒球运动   (高中英语单词)
• learned [´lə:nid]   a.有学问的，博学的   (高中英语单词)
• assignment [ə´sainmənt]   n.分配；分派；任务   (英语六级单词)