今天Michael和李華正在談論有關買汽車的事。李華會學到兩個常用語：to kick oneself和raw deal.

    L： Michael， 你沒有買Jerry的車啊？我以為價錢很公道啊！怎么回事啊？

    M： Please don't mention that！ Jerry sold the car to someone else yesterday. I'm still kicking myself for not buying it when I had the chance.

    L： Kicking yourself， kick不就是k-i-c-k，踢球的踢嗎？你為什么要踢你自己呢？

    M： No， no Li Hua. "To kick oneself" means to feel regret for missing an opportunity， or making a mistake that could have been avoided.

    L： 噢，to kick oneself不是真的踢自己，意思是：自己失去了一個好機會而埋怨自己太笨。Michael， 那到底是怎么回事啊？

    M： Well， I told Jerry that I wanted to check out some other cars before I made a decision. Someone else bought the car before I had a chance to decide. I'm still kicking myself for waiting too long.

    L： 原來你是想等看看別的車以后再做決定，結果Jerry就把車賣給別人了。哎喲，Michael， 你不用埋怨自己啦。不管做什么交易，作決定前仔細考慮清楚總是好的。

    M： Well， I guess you're right. When I bought the car I have now， I wasn't careful enough. Later， I found out the car was in very poor condition， and I have been kicking myself ever since.

    L： 你看，我說得沒錯。你買現在這輛車的時候不小心，所以現在老要出問題。哎，Michael， 你呀，買得不好也怨自己，沒有買到也埋怨自己。你累不累呀！

    M： Hey， speaking of regret， I heard that your ex-boyfriend Ding Yu is doing really well these days. I bet you are kicking yourself for dumping him， huh？

    L： 你在說我以前的男朋友丁余？告訴你，不管他現在多有錢我都不會因為跟他分手而后悔。

    M： Hmm， I know， when you're a famous professor at a top U.S. university， Ding Yu will be kicking himself for not being nicer to you when you were together.

    L： 我要是在美國當了名教授，他再捶胸頓足地后悔也沒有用。

    L： Michael， 你沒有買Jerry的車，那你是不是還想找一輛舊車呢？

    M： Yes， I still want to replace my car. But I'm sort of afraid…… The last time I bought a car， I got a really raw deal！

    L： 你上回買車怎么啦？什么是raw deal？是不是不好的意思？

    M： That's right！ A raw deal. Raw. A "raw deal" means an unfair deal， or to be treated roughly and unfairly by someone.

    L： A raw deal就是吃了虧的交易。你的意思是，你上次買這輛車的時候，賣車的人讓你吃了大虧？

    M： That's right. The week after I bought the car， the engine broke down， and I had to completely replace it！ The guy I bought it from refused to pay for it.

    L： 車才買了一個星期就出問題。這實在是太倒霉了。這就是所謂的a raw deal.那么，Michael， raw deal是不是只能用在買賣方面的？

    M： No， not necessarily. For instance， my Uncle George worked at a factory for over twenty years. Unfortunately， the factory was shut down and George lost his job right before he had a chance to retire. That was a raw deal！

    L： That's really a raw deal！ 我聽到好幾個這樣的例子了。一個人在一個公司做了幾十年，還沒來得及退休公司就關門了。退休金全完了。我舅舅的工廠關門前，他工作了八個月，到現在還沒拿到工資呢！

    M： That's really a raw deal！

    今天李華學到了兩個常用語：to kick oneself和raw deal.To kick oneself是由于錯過了機會而怨恨自己。Raw deal就是在跟別人打交道時吃了虧。