今天Larry 和李华要到体育馆去和几个朋友打篮球。李华会学到两个常用语
：stick to something和give something a shot.

    （Ambience sound in gym ）

    LL： Hey， Li Hua ， are you looking forward to today's game？

    LH：嗨，其实我的篮球打得不怎么样。我倒想试试其他的运动。

    LL： You'll get better. You've only been playing basketball for a
few weeks. You have to stick to something if you want to become good at
it. LH：对，我才打了几个星期的篮球！可是你怎么说要我stick to something.
Stick 不是黏的意思？这跟打篮球有什么关系啊？

    LL： To "stick to something" means that you continue to do it and
don't give up. LH ：噢！我懂了，stick to something就是坚持不懈，继续做
某件事。那不就像我们中文里说的“持之以恒”嘛！你的意思是，要是我想打好
篮球，就得不断地练习咯！

    LL： That's right. You've stuck to practicing English for a long time，
and now your English is much better. Right？

    LH：你说的对，我学英文倒是尽量的多说，不断地练习。对了，Larry ，那
stick to something除了运动，学语言，我还可以用在哪些地方呢？

    LL： Well ， a person can stick to a decision ， too. If I decide
to learn Chinese， and I stick to my decision ， that means I don't change
my mind or give up. LH：噢，如果一个人坚持自己的决定，也可以说stick to
one's decision. 那一个立场不坚定，经常flip-flop 的人可就不能这么说咯！

    LL： That's right. Very good use of the term flip-flop， by the way.
LH：谢谢。不过有时候要坚持做一件事还真不容易。就好比打篮球，我已经不知
道我是不是真的喜欢打篮球了。

    LL： Remember how hard English was at first ？ But you stuck to it
and now it's much easier， right？

    LH：好象是这样。你觉得打篮球也会像学英文一样，只要我坚持练习，就会
越来越容易吗？

    LL： I do. You'll see. So ， have you decided to play in today's game
after all ？

    LH：好吧，我来试试看，也许就象你说的，多练习，我就能打好球！

    ******

    （Sound of dribbling basketball ）

    LH： Larry，那个篮球架子太远了，我肯定投不进！

    LL： Come on， Li Hua ， give it a shot. It's okay if you miss.

    LH： Larry，我是在投球耶！你怎么叫我给它一枪？"Give it a shot"那是
什么意思啊？

    LL： To give something a shot is to go ahead and try something， even
if you don't expect to be successful.

    LH：嗨，我还以为give it a shot是开枪呢！原来，give it a shot就是试
一试，不管会不会成功。好吧。那我就投喽！可是我一定投不进啦！

    （Sound of basketball into the basket ）

    LL： Hey， look ， you made it！ That's three more points for our
team！ See， it never hurts to give something a shot. LH：哇！太棒了！
我居然投进了！对了，Larry ， give it a shot 我是不是还能用在其他什么地
方？

    LL： Just about anything. For instance， I'd like to give sailing
a shot， even though I've never sailed a boat before in my life. LH ：
你想学开船啊！我倒想试试开飞机呢！

    LL： Hey， slow down. We all know what your driving is like. I don't
think it's a good idea for you to fly a plane. LH ：嘿！我的开车技术有
什么不好？再说，刚才是你告诉我，不管结果如何，都应该去试一试的啊！

    LL： Maybe if you stick to driving for a while and get better at it，
then you can give flying a shot. LH ：哎呀，其实我也是说说而已啦。我根
本就没钱去上飞行课。不过如果有机会，我会去试试的！

    今天李华学到两个常用语。一个是stick to something. 就是坚持不懈，继
续做某件事。第二个常用语是give it a shot. 这是试一试的意思，哪怕你认为
不会成功，但也可以一试。