今天Michael和李华正在谈论有关买汽车的事。李华会学到两个常用语：to kick oneself和raw deal.

    L： Michael， 你没有买Jerry的车啊？我以为价钱很公道啊！怎么回事啊？

    M： Please don't mention that！ Jerry sold the car to someone else yesterday. I'm still kicking myself for not buying it when I had the chance.

    L： Kicking yourself， kick不就是k-i-c-k，踢球的踢吗？你为什么要踢你自己呢？

    M： No， no Li Hua. "To kick oneself" means to feel regret for missing an opportunity， or making a mistake that could have been avoided.

    L： 噢，to kick oneself不是真的踢自己，意思是：自己失去了一个好机会而埋怨自己太笨。Michael， 那到底是怎么回事啊？

    M： Well， I told Jerry that I wanted to check out some other cars before I made a decision. Someone else bought the car before I had a chance to decide. I'm still kicking myself for waiting too long.

    L： 原来你是想等看看别的车以后再做决定，结果Jerry就把车卖给别人了。哎哟，Michael， 你不用埋怨自己啦。不管做什么交易，作决定前仔细考虑清楚总是好的。

    M： Well， I guess you're right. When I bought the car I have now， I wasn't careful enough. Later， I found out the car was in very poor condition， and I have been kicking myself ever since.

    L： 你看，我说得没错。你买现在这辆车的时候不小心，所以现在老要出问题。哎，Michael， 你呀，买得不好也怨自己，没有买到也埋怨自己。你累不累呀！

    M： Hey， speaking of regret， I heard that your ex-boyfriend Ding Yu is doing really well these days. I bet you are kicking yourself for dumping him， huh？

    L： 你在说我以前的男朋友丁余？告诉你，不管他现在多有钱我都不会因为跟他分手而后悔。

    M： Hmm， I know， when you're a famous professor at a top U.S. university， Ding Yu will be kicking himself for not being nicer to you when you were together.

    L： 我要是在美国当了名教授，他再捶胸顿足地后悔也没有用。

    L： Michael， 你没有买Jerry的车，那你是不是还想找一辆旧车呢？

    M： Yes， I still want to replace my car. But I'm sort of afraid…… The last time I bought a car， I got a really raw deal！

    L： 你上回买车怎么啦？什么是raw deal？是不是不好的意思？

    M： That's right！ A raw deal. Raw. A "raw deal" means an unfair deal， or to be treated roughly and unfairly by someone.

    L： A raw deal就是吃了亏的交易。你的意思是，你上次买这辆车的时候，卖车的人让你吃了大亏？

    M： That's right. The week after I bought the car， the engine broke down， and I had to completely replace it！ The guy I bought it from refused to pay for it.

    L： 车才买了一个星期就出问题。这实在是太倒霉了。这就是所谓的a raw deal.那么，Michael， raw deal是不是只能用在买卖方面的？

    M： No， not necessarily. For instance， my Uncle George worked at a factory for over twenty years. Unfortunately， the factory was shut down and George lost his job right before he had a chance to retire. That was a raw deal！

    L： That's really a raw deal！ 我听到好几个这样的例子了。一个人在一个公司做了几十年，还没来得及退休公司就关门了。退休金全完了。我舅舅的工厂关门前，他工作了八个月，到现在还没拿到工资呢！

    M： That's really a raw deal！

    今天李华学到了两个常用语：to kick oneself和raw deal.To kick oneself是由于错过了机会而怨恨自己。Raw deal就是在跟别人打交道时吃了亏。