今天是周末，Michael和李华去打台球。李华一边玩一边还学了两个年轻人常用的词：to rule和to blow money on something.

    L： 哎呀，我不想玩了。我老是输给你。这样玩还有什么意思啊。

    M： Hey！ You don't need to get angry just because I rule at the pool table！

    L： 啊？ 你在台球桌上做了什么？你是不是耍了什么花招，怕我生气啊？

    M： Absolutely not！ I said that I rule the pool table. That means that I am the best at playing pool. I can defeat anyone. Rule， R-U-L-E.

    L： 噢，我明白了，rule在这里指的是你玩台球玩得最棒，可以打败任何人。对不对，Michael？

    M： That's right！ I am king of the pool table！ I rule！

    L： 嘿，你不要那么得意好不好。你忘了，那天打乒乓球，你连连败在我的手下。你呀，对乒乓球这种体育运动简直是一窍不通。

    M： Sport？ Ping-pong is not a sport！ It's a game！ You might rule at that little game. But I rule at pool， a man's game！

    L： 你在瞎说什么啊。我不跟你争了。你还是多给我解释解释rule这个词吧。

    M： Well， I can say "I rule the pool table"； that means that I dominate the game. Or I can say "I rule at" doing something. In either case it means the same thing： I am the best！

    L： 好了，好了，就算你是最棒的吧。那rule还有什么别的用法呢？

    M： Sometimes we just say something or someone rules without adding any other words. For instance， I can say "Chinese food rules！" That means I think it is great.

    L： 那如果我说：Michael Jordan rules！，是不是就表示我认为他是最棒的篮球运动员，对不对？

    M： That's right. When we say a person rules， that means we think they are the best， or at least that they are impressive.

    L： 哎，Michael，你看那边有个人老往我们这边看，没准他是想和你比赛，怎么样，敢不敢跟他比？

    M： Whatever， I rule the pool table， no matter who I play against！

    L： Michael，你打得怎么样，输了还是赢了？

    M： Not so well. Say， Li Hua， can I borrow five dollars？ I just blew my money on playing pool with them， and I need to put gas in the car so we can get home.

    L： 你说你的钱怎么了？你是不是在赌博啊？

    M： No， I said I blew my money on pool. That means I spent all of my money very quickly. Blew is the past tense for blow.

    L： 噢，“blow money on something”就是为了做某件事很快把口袋里的钱花光了。

    M： That's right. Like when we were at the mall the other day， and you blew a whole week's pay on shoes.

    L： 我是花了一星期的工资买鞋，可你不觉得我买的鞋价廉物美，所以不能说我浪费啊。

    M： Well， I guess sometimes it's ok to blow one's money on something useful.

    L： 就是嘛。哎，我倒是想起了一个你乱花钱的例子，记不记得你大学一年级的时候到赌城拉斯维加斯，blew all of your money on black jack.

    M： Ha ha ha……yeah， what a wonderful memory. but， I'll never blow all of my money like that again. I am older and wiser now.

    L： 得了吧，你年龄的确是越来越大，可脑筋并没有越来越聪明。要不然你今天怎么会玩台球把钱都花光呢？

    M： Those guys are good. They play quickly， and they both beat me several times. Also， we agreed that the loser had to pay for the pool table. So of course I blew all of my money very quickly.

    今天Michael可是够倒霉的，输了球，还花光了钱。不过李华倒是收获不小，她今天学到两个很有用的词。一个是：to rule，是很棒的意思。另一个是：to blow one's money on something，意思是把钱都浪费在了某样东西上。