李华和Larry 要去听演唱会。今天我们要学两个常用语：run-of-the-mill
和roll the dice.

    LH： Larry，今天晚上的演唱会好听么？那个乐队是什么类型的啊？

    L ： Well …… they're kind of hard to describe. Their music is a
mixture of many different styles.

    LH：各种音乐的混合？听着很有新意！现在很多乐队都没有自己的风格，跟
别的乐队差不多，没意思。

    L ： I totally agree， Lihua. Luckily ， they are not just some run-of-the-mill
rock band.

    LH： Run of the mill？是什么意思？

    L ： When you say that something is run-of-the-mill ， that means
that it is very average ， or just like all the others.

    LH：哦，run-of-the-mill 就是没特色的，千篇一律的。你的意思是，这个
乐队并不是那种毫无特色的乐队。

    L ： Exactly！ For example， the makers of Avatar said it would not
be just another run-of-the-mill action movie， and would be like nothing
anyone had seen before.

    LH：对，电影“阿凡达”当初宣传的时候，就说自己是非同寻常的，观众从
没看过的新类型电影。对了，Larry ，这个乐队我怎么从没听说过啊？

    L ： Well ， they still aren't very well known， so only music magazines
write about them. You won't read about them in the standard ， run-of-the-mill
newspapers.

    LH：哦，主流媒体没报道他们，只有在比较专业的音乐杂志上才会看到关于
他们的介绍。Larry ，我有点饿，咱们去演唱会前是不是先吃点东西？

    L ： Sure ， where do you want to eat ？

    LH：不知道……麦当劳吧！

    L ： McDonalds？ I don't want to eat at some run-of-the-mill fast
food restaurant.

    LH：可是演唱会还有半个小时就开始了。吃麦当劳快啊。

    L ： Don't worry， we can be a little late. I think the opening band
is just some run-of-the-mill pop band.

    LH：你是说，负责暖场的乐队没什么特色，不看也没关系。那咱们去吃寿司
吧。

    L ： Sounds good！ Let's go.

    *****

    Larry and 李华在谈论刚结束的演唱会。

    LH： Larry，这个乐队太棒了！他们肯定会红！

    L ： Do you think so？ It takes a lot of luck to become a famous band.
There is a lot of competition out there.

    LH：你说得也对。不过要想成名，就得努力抓住机会，试试看嘛！

    L ： Right， even though the chances aren't very good ， sometimes
you just have to roll the dice.

    LH： Roll the dice？你是说掷骰子么？

    L ： Right. When you roll the dice， that means that you take a chance，
just like when you make a bet gambling.

    LH：哦，roll the dice 和掷骰子一样，表示碰碰运气！你是说，虽然很多
乐队最终红不了，但是想出名的人还是应该碰碰运气，说不定就能成功？

    L ： Exactly. Here's another example. Terrence wasn't sure he would
like living in New York ， but he decided to roll the dice and move there
anyway.

    LH：哦，Terrence并不知道自己会不会喜欢纽约，不过他还是决定先搬过去，
住住试试。Larry ，如果是你，你想住在什么地方？

    L ： Definitely Hawaii！ I'm not sure that I could find a job there，
but it's such a beautiful place that sometimes I think it's worth rolling
the dice.

    LH：哈哈，即使冒着找不到工作的危险，你也想搬去夏威夷？我和你不一样，
我想去罗马，而且我肯定能有工作，我要去当意大利菜大厨！

    L ： Wow， that is definitely a roll of the dice. You don't know how
to cook Italian food！

    LH： A roll of the dice ？你是说我希望渺茫？我不管，不会可以学嘛！
对了，说到意大利菜，咱们去你家附近那个餐馆吃点宵夜吧。

    L ： I don't know …… I read in the newspaper that it's just boring，
run-of-the-mill Italian food.

    LH：别听报纸的，咱们自己试试去！

    L ： Well alright ， let's roll the dice and see what happens.

    LH：好！吃完了咱们再去看个午夜场电影！最近有什么好片么？

    L ： I'm not sure …… Let's just roll the dice. We'll just go to
the theater and watch whatever movie happens to be playing.

    LH：这样也不错！走吧！

    今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是run-of-the-mill ，表示没有特色，千篇
一律。另一是roll the dice ，意思是碰运气。