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。