Y: 大家好。我是杨晨。
M: 我是Mark.
Y: Mark，你真好，不像Partrick, 只会带我去打put-put golf，迷你高尔夫。
I’m really excited to play regular golf today.
M: I enjoy play regular golf too. Any sport that let’s you drive around in little cars and smoke cigars while you’re playing has got to be awesome.
Y:No physical exercise required at all! 可是你说还要smoke cigars抽雪茄?
M: You don’t have to if you don’t smoke. Now come on, are you ready to tee-off ?
Y: Yes, I’m ready.
M: This course is a par 72.
Y: A what 72?
M: A par 72. The par of a golf course is the number of strokes it should take to complete it.
Y: Par72就是高尔夫球术语里的标准72杆。
M: Right. If you are 5 under par, that means you used five shots less than the average to finish the course.
Y: 那 under par 在高尔夫球里是好事，对不对?
M: Exactly! But in everyday usage, being under par is not a good thing.
Y: 为什么?
M: If something is not as good as it should be, you can say that it is sub-par. For example, my Chinese skills are sub par.
我的中文说得不好。
Y: How can you say that? 大多数老美还不会说中文呢。
M: That’s true. Actually, you could say that in America, not speaking Chinese is par for the course. When something is par for the course, that means that it is normal, or average.
Y: 就是正常的， 理所当然的。我可不可以说 for Patrick, being lazy is par for the course.
M: Ha, well I guess you’re right. But we shouldn’t talk behind his back.