Larry陪李华去买电脑。今天我们要学两个常用语：do the trick和a grain of salt.
LH: Larry, 你觉得我应该买PC还是苹果？
LL: Well, I’m not a computer expert, but I think Macs are a lot more user friendly.
LH: 我也老听人说苹果机怎么怎么好，可是我从没用过苹果，而且PC价格也比较便宜。
LL: Well, they are both really good computers. I think either one would do the trick.
LH: Do the trick? Larry, 我买电脑是查资料，学论文用的，可不是为了玩游戏。
LL: Actually Lihua, when you say that something does the trick, that means that it will be successful, or good enough.
LH: 哦，do the trick就是足以达到预期效果的意思。你是说不论PC还是苹果，都够我用的了。
LL: Right! Here’s another example. Joe doesn’t need to live in a big house. Since he lives by himself, a small apartment will do the trick.
LH: 我明白。这句话意思是，Joe反正是一个人过，有个小公寓就够了，用不着住大房子。那 Larry, 你说我们去哪家店买电脑呢？
LL: Well we could go to a big computer store, but the Internet will do the trick too. You can order your computer online.
LH: 上网定购？不好，不好，要不，咱们上苹果专卖店去转转，我去玩玩苹果机，你也可以看看是不是买个iPhone.
LL: That’s OK. I don’t need a lot of fancy features on my phone. My simple old cell phone still does the trick.
LH: 老实说，你那手机再不换，就要变成古董了。你上星期不是说不好用了吗？
LL: Actually, just the battery broke. But I went to the store and got a new battery, which did the trick.
LH: 所以你就换了块电池准备接着用？我真服了你，省钱固然没错，可也不能太落伍呀！现在的新手机上什么功能都有，你就不想要？
LL: Who needs all this technology? When I want to be entertained, reading a book always does the trick.
LH: 对了，苹果公司新推出的iPad, 就有读电子书的功能，要不你买个iPad吧！
LL: As far as I’m concerned, Lihua, old-fashioned paper books still do the trick.
******
Larry和李华来到百思买看电脑。
LH: 嗨Larry! 你觉得这台电脑怎么样？我需要的功能上面都有，价钱也还可以，只要2000块。
LL: Two thousand dollars? That sounds pretty expensive to me. Are you sure it’s worth it to buy such an expensive computer?
LH: 当然值了，你没听刚才那个店员说么，这是他最喜欢的一款电脑，强力推荐。
LL: Well, the salesperson always wants you to buy the most expensive item, so I would take what he says with a grain of salt.
LH: A grain of salt? 加撮盐？你什么意思啊？
LL: When you slightly doubt something you are told, you can say that you take it with a grain of salt.
LH: 哦，with a grain of salt意思就是有所保留，半信半疑。你是说店员总想把贵的商品推销给顾客，所以他的话不能全信？
LL: Right. Here is another example. Emily always exaggerates about her talents, so when she told me she is fluent in Japanese, I took it with a grain of salt.
LH: 没错，Emily总喜欢夸大其词，所以她的话不能全信。
LL: So Lihua, what are the features that make this computer so good?
LH: 产品介绍上说，这款电脑的电池可以连续用15个小时，是市场上其他电脑的两倍。
LL: You know, companies often make exaggerated claims about their products, so I would take that with a grain of salt.
LH: 可是我朋友Tammy买的就是这个牌子的电脑，说特别好。
LL: But Lihua, Tammy only uses computer to check emails. I would take her opinion on computers with a grain of salt.
LH: 可你也不是高科技专家啊，就看你那只老古董的手机就知道了。
LL: That’s true. I don’t know much about technology, so I would take all my advice with a grain of salt.
LH: 别担心，你对手机、电脑这类高科技产品的建议，我总是反着听的，只要是你说不买的东西，买了一定没错。
LL: Haha… very funny….
今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是 do the trick, 意思是足以达到预期效果。另一个是 a grain of salt, 意思是有所保留。