李华陪Larry 去买车。今天我们要学两个常用语：caught dead 和deal breaker.

    LL： Thanks for helping me shop for a car ， Lihua. It's always good
to have advice from someone you trust when making a big purchase.

    LH：别客气。你昨天上网给我看了你要买的车，我就知道你需要有人给你出
谋划策。

    LL： You didn't like the pictures ？ I think that bright purple pickup
truck would have been great ！

    LH：那辆皮卡是不错，可你要开亮紫色的车，先得换个女朋友才行。

    LL： What do you mean ？ You wouldn't be caught dead riding in a purple
pickup truck？

    LH： Caught dead？我的意思是说那辆车颜色太丑，难道安全也有问题吗？

    LL： Actually ， no. When you say you wouldn't be "caught dead" doing
something ， it means that you would never do it， because it would be
really embarrassing if someone saw you.

    LH：没错，我绝不会坐那么难看的车。I wouldn't be caught dead riding
in a purple pickup truck. 要是让别人看见，那我可真是没脸见人了。

    LL： Oh come on ……I do lots of things with you that normally I wouldn't
be caught dead doing for you.

    LH： Oh yeah？ Like what？

    LL： Well normally I wouldn't be caught dead singing in public， but
last weekend I agreed to go to the karaoke bar with you.

    LH：别装了，我从来没见有人唱Ricky Martin的歌唱得那么投入的。

    LL： Alright， maybe I enjoyed it a little bit. But don't tell anyone.
I wouldn't be caught dead doing that in front of my male friends.

    LH：言归正传，你不如买辆双人自行车，咱俩可以一起骑？

    LL： Are you kidding？ Two-person bikes are so lame. I wouldn't be
caught dead riding one of those.

    LH：你什么时候变得这么没情趣了！不想唱卡拉OK，不想骑自行车……you
know， normally I wouldn't be caught dead with such a boring guy. 我一
般情况下是绝不会跟这么乏味的男孩子交往的。

    LL： Are you kidding？ Nobody who has a purple pickup truck can be
considered boring.

    ******

    LH： Larry，你觉得这辆车怎么样，又省油，又安全。

    LL： Yeah ， but just look at how boring it is. It's plain white，
and it's not a convertible.

    LH：买车可是件大事，你不能光看车的外表，还得考虑实用性。

    LL： Yeah ， but look. It doesn't even have a sunroof. I would still
buy it even though it's not bright purple ， but I'm afraid the sunroof
is a deal breaker.

    LH：什么是deal breaker？

    LL： A deal breaker is a critical condition that must be met in order
for you to do something.

    LH：你的意思是，不是敞篷车没关系，不是亮紫色也没关系，这些都可以凑
合，但是如果没有天窗，那就绝对没商量喽？

    LL： That's right. Or say you were thinking of dating a guy. He might
be really nice， good looking and funny ， but if he lived with his parents，
that would probably be a deal breaker.

    LH：在中国，男朋友跟父母住在一起是很常见的。这我可以接受，但是如果
他开的是一辆亮紫色的汽车，那干脆免谈。That would definitely be a deal
breaker.

    LL： Really ？ Well in my case， I'm afraid a poor taste in cars would
definitely be a deal breaker for me.

    LH：你生气了？我是开玩笑的。虽然我不愿意坐紫颜色的车，但你自己开，
我还是没意见的。

    LL： Well that's good. I need a car that can fully express my individuality.
I wouldn't be caught dead in one of these boring， ordinary cars.

    LH：你如果真的这么喜欢紫色的话，那就买，我支持你。

    LL： You know what Lihua， I think you're right.

    LH：不过你可想好了，一定要能负担得起保修费用才行。

    LL： If it breaks down， I will just live in the back. That's how
much I love that purple truck.

    LH：好，那咱们可得讲清楚，我的男朋友可以住在父母家，但绝不能睡在车
里。That is definitely a deal breaker ！

    今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是caught dead ，意思是打死也不愿意。另
一个是deal breaker，意思是不能通融的条件。