Larry 和李华一起去看职业棒球赛。今天我们要学两个常用语：a drop in
the bucket和a flash in the pan.

    LH： Larry，世界杯结束了，咱们该看棒球了吧？我估计，棒球比赛肯定没
有世界杯那么紧张。

    L ： I agree. Baseball games are much slower， and each game isn't
very important.

    LH：对。每个队一年要打162 场比赛，所以输个一两场的没什么问题。不像
世界杯，输一场比赛就被淘汰！

    L ： You're exactly right. Each game is just a drop in the bucket.

    LH： A drop in the bucket ？这是什么意思？

    L ； You can say that something is just a drop in the bucket if it
is only a very small or insignificant part of something else.

    LH：哦，a drop in the bucket就好比一桶水里的一个水滴，指无关紧要。
我们中文里把这个叫沧海一粟。

    L ： Right！ Here is another example. Joe donated $20 to help people
in Haiti after the earthquake ， even though $20 was just a drop in the
bucket.

    LH：海地地震后，Joe 给灾民捐了20美元，尽管这只是很小的一笔钱。

    L ： Exactly. So Lihua， you're going to support the Nationals， right？
They've got a great new pitcher named Stephen Strasburg.

    LH：我听说这个新投手特别棒！不过 Larry， the Nationals去年打得那么
差，换个新投手真能管用么？

    L ： Yeah ， he is probably just a drop in the bucket ， but if the
Nationals can get some more good players they might be better in a couple
years.

    LH：这么说，我们买票的钱就可以被用来聘请优秀的棒球队员喽？

    L ： I guess that's true， but of course， the price we paid for our
tickets is just a drop in the bucket.

    LH：可不是么。The Nationals 要想签下身价几百万美元的球星，可不能只
靠咱俩这门票钱。哎？为了在经济上支持他们，你给我买一件有他们队标的T 恤
衫吧！

    L ： Well sure！ But you have so many clothes ， one more shirt is
just going to be a drop in the bucket.

    ******

    比赛结束了，Larry 和Lihua 从棒球场往外走。

    LH： Larry，这个新的投手可真棒！

    L ： Yeah ， he played really well. If he keeps pitching like that，
he is going to have an amazing career. I sure hope he's not just a flash
in the pan.

    LH： A flash in the pan ？什么意思？

    L ： A flash in the pan is something that starts out really well，
but lasts for only a very short amount of time.

    LH：哦，就是昙花一现！你是说，你希望这个新投手不要在开始的时候表现
很出色，但很快就默默无闻了。

    L ： Right. Here is another example. The new author's first book got
a lot of praise from critics， but he turned out to be a flash in the
pan because his other books were terrible.

    LH：我明白了。这位作家的第一本书一鸣惊人，可这只是昙花一现，因为他
后来写的几本书都很差。

    L ： That's right.

    LH： Larry，你注意到了么？这片地方自从盖了新棒球场以来，漂亮多了！
饭馆、商场什么的都多起来了！

    L ： Yeah ， a lot of people thought it would be a flash in the pan，
but there is still a lot of development even a few years later.

    LH：是啊，这个地区的发展可不是昙花一现，而是持续下来的。虽然现在经
济不景气，但我还是希望他们能坚持下去。

    L ： Well ， there were some signs that the economy was improving
a few months ago. But unfortunately ， it looks like they may have just
been a flash in the pan.

    LH：是啊，当时那些经济指标似乎都挺鼓舞人心的，谁知没过多久情况又变
坏了。

    L ： Well spending $5 on dinner will only be a drop in the bucket
for the economy. But a hamburger does sound great.

    LH：好啊！咱们虽然不能改善全国的经济，但总可以先满足一下自己的胃吧！

    今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是a drop in the bucket，表示无关紧要，
沧海一粟。另一是a flash in the pan，意思是昙花一现。