李華到Larry 住的地方去送一本書，發現魚缸里的金魚不見了。今天李華會
學到兩個常用語：bite the dust 和funky.

    LH：哎，Larry ，你的金魚到哪兒去了？

    LL： Oh ， he bit the dust yesterday. I found him floating in the
tank. I'm really bummed out about it.

    LH：你的金魚怎么了？Bit the dust？ Bit是bite的過去時。意思是：咬；
那dust是塵土的意思。咬塵土？噢，你是說你的魚死啦？

    LL： That's right ！ That fish was a few years old， so I think he
might have just died of old age.

    LH：那只魚在你這兒好幾年啦？怪不得你顯得悶悶不樂！Larry ，要不要我
陪你再去買條金魚？

    LL： I'm thinking about going to buy a new fish today ， but I want
to clean out the tank first. I don't want the new fish to bite the dust，
too.

    LH：沒錯，買新的魚以前最好把魚缸打掃干凈，不然新的魚也可能會死掉的。

    LL： It's possible. I really don't want to take any chances.

    LH：對，一條魚價錢也不便宜，可別冒風險。對了，Larry ，你知道嗎？John
的奶奶幾天前去世了，那我是不是能說：she bit the dust the other day.

    LL： Wait a second， Li Hua ， I don't think you want to say that
your friend's grandma bit the dust. It's not very polite or respectful.

    LH：噢，bite the dust 這個說法用在人的身上是不禮貌的！那我還真是得
小心。

    LL： It's okay to say my fish bit the dust or some bad guy in a movie
bit the dust， but you probably don't want to say that about your friend's
family member.

    LH：嗯，我懂了。To bite the dust可以指魚，可以指電影里的壞蛋，可是
千萬不要在朋友的家人去世的時候用這個說法。

    LL： You've got it！ Now let's go buy a fish.

    ******

    LH： Larry，你為什么不買那條魚？它的鰭好大而且顏色好漂亮！我從來沒
見過色彩這么鮮艷的魚呢！

    LL： Yeah ， he is kind of funky. I don't think I've ever seen another
fish like that either.

    LH：等等，什么是funky ？是不是很酷的意思？

    LL： Funky has several meanings ， but in this case ， it means cool，
unique， and unusual.

    LH：噢，在這里，funky 就是指很酷、很獨特的意思。沒錯，這條魚真的很
特別。這魚放在你的魚缸里一定很漂亮！

    LL： Hold on， that funky little fish is pretty expensive. Why don't
we get a cheap little goldfish instead？

    LH：小的金魚是便宜點，可是顏色就沒有這么特別了啊！

    LL： I happen to like goldfish. I can buy one of those goldfish with
the funky bubbles behind its eyes.

    LH：你是說那條眼睛后面長兩個大球的金魚呀？我還是喜歡那條很漂亮的魚，
那條funky fish.

    LL： Well ， I appreciate your opinion， but this is going to be my
fish.

    LH：那也是，別聽我的。這是你的魚，你得天天看的。Larry ，你看，那邊
那個人穿的衣服真是與眾不同。我覺得很怪，是不是也很funky ？

    LL： Yeah ， he definitely has his own sense of style. It looks as
though he's here to buy a fish， too.

    LH：對，每個人都有自己穿衣服的風格。說不定他會買那條很漂亮的魚！

    LL： That's a possibility. Now， come on， forget about that fish
and help me pick out a goldfish ， the funkier the better.