Larry 陪李华去买电脑。今天我们要学两个常用语：do the trick和a grain
of salt.

    LH： Larry，你觉得我应该买PC还是苹果？

    LL： Well ， I'm not a computer expert， but I think Macs are a lot
more user friendly.

    LH：我也老听人说苹果机怎么怎么好，可是我从没用过苹果，而且PC价格也
比较便宜。

    LL： Well ， they are both really good computers. I think either one
would do the trick.

    LH： Do the trick ？ Larry，我买电脑是查资料，学论文用的，可不是为
了玩游戏。

    LL： Actually Lihua ， when you say that something does the trick ，
that means that it will be successful ， or good enough.

    LH：哦，do the trick就是足以达到预期效果的意思。你是说不论PC还是苹
果，都够我用的了。

    LL： Right！ Here's another example. Joe doesn't need to live in a
big house. Since he lives by himself， a small apartment will do the trick.

    LH：我明白。这句话意思是，Joe 反正是一个人过，有个小公寓就够了，用
不着住大房子。那 Larry，你说我们去哪家店买电脑呢？

    LL： Well we could go to a big computer store ， but the Internet
will do the trick too. You can order your computer online.

    LH：上网定购？不好，不好，要不，咱们上苹果专卖店去转转，我去玩玩苹
果机，你也可以看看是不是买个iPhone.

    LL： That's OK. I don't need a lot of fancy features on my phone.
My simple old cell phone still does the trick.

    LH：老实说，你那手机再不换，就要变成古董了。你上星期不是说不好用了
吗？

    LL： Actually ， just the battery broke. But I went to the store and
got a new battery ， which did the trick.

    LH：所以你就换了块电池准备接着用？我真服了你，省钱固然没错，可也不
能太落伍呀！现在的新手机上什么功能都有，你就不想要？

    LL： Who needs all this technology？ When I want to be entertained，
reading a book always does the trick.

    LH：对了，苹果公司新推出的iPad，就有读电子书的功能，要不你买个iPad
吧！

    LL： As far as I'm concerned， Lihua， old-fashioned paper books still
do the trick.

    ******

    Larry 和李华来到百思买看电脑。

    LH：嗨Larry ！你觉得这台电脑怎么样？我需要的功能上面都有，价钱也还
可以，只要2000块。

    LL： Two thousand dollars ？ That sounds pretty expensive to me. Are
you sure it's worth it to buy such an expensive computer？

    LH：当然值了，你没听刚才那个店员说么，这是他最喜欢的一款电脑，强力
推荐。

    LL： Well ， the salesperson always wants you to buy the most expensive
item， so I would take what he says with a grain of salt.

    LH： A grain of salt？加撮盐？你什么意思啊？

    LL： When you slightly doubt something you are told ， you can say
that you take it with a grain of salt.

    LH：哦，with a grain of salt意思就是有所保留，半信半疑。你是说店员
总想把贵的商品推销给顾客，所以他的话不能全信？

    LL： Right. Here is another example. Emily always exaggerates about
her talents ， so when she told me she is fluent in Japanese， I took
it with a grain of salt.

    LH：没错，Emily 总喜欢夸大其词，所以她的话不能全信。

    LL： So Lihua ， what are the features that make this computer so
good？

    LH：产品介绍上说，这款电脑的电池可以连续用15个小时，是市场上其他电
脑的两倍。

    LL： You know ， companies often make exaggerated claims about their
products， so I would take that with a grain of salt.

    LH：可是我朋友Tammy 买的就是这个牌子的电脑，说特别好。

    LL： But Lihua， Tammy only uses computer to check emails. I would
take her opinion on computers with a grain of salt.

    LH：可你也不是高科技专家啊，就看你那只老古董的手机就知道了。

    LL： That's true. I don't know much about technology， so I would
take all my advice with a grain of salt.

    LH：别担心，你对手机、电脑这类高科技产品的建议，我总是反着听的，只
要是你说不买的东西，买了一定没错。

    LL： Haha …… very funny ……

    今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是do the trick，意思是足以达到预期效果。
另一个是a grain of salt ，意思是有所保留。