Larry和李华在纽约参加长跑比赛。李华今天要学两个常用语，eat my dust和sore loser.
LL: It’s a good thing you’ve been training for this race, Li Hua. But you are still going to eat my dust.
LH: Eat your dust? Yuck. 吃你的土？这是什么意思啊！
LL: When someone says ”eat my dust,” they are saying to their competitors in a race situation that they are confident they are going to win the race, leaving everyone else far behind.
LH: 赢比赛跟让别人吃土又有什么关系呢？
LL: Well, when you run, you kick up dust from the road. So, if I run very fast and you are behind me, you’ll be getting my dust in your face – and eating my dust.
LH: 噢，我明白了，跑在前面的人掀起的尘土，会落在后面人的脸上，原来是从这儿来的。不过，Larry, 我为今天的比赛已经训练两个多月了，也许你会eat my dust呢！
LL: But I’ve been running for years, and I’ve been in many races. And most of the time, the other runners end up eating my dust.
LH: 那也许你能象环法自行车大赛七连冠阿姆斯特朗一样，让其他人都ate his dust.
LL: Now that I think about it, Li Hua, I prefer to think of myself as the cheetah of the running world. As the fastest animal on land, all the other animals eat the cheetah’s dust.
LH: 你还真自信！大话说出来，可千万别落在别人后面噢。
LL: Actually, Li Hua. I am just joking. I’m not really the cheetah of the running world. There are so many runners in this race, I am pretty sure I will be eating someone else’s dust.
LH: 输赢并不重要，重在参与嘛！
LL: You are right, Li Hua. And since this is a race for charity, it doesn’t matter if you eat my dust – or I eat yours. In the end, everybody wins.
LH: 对呀，比赛收益全都要用来帮助无家可归的人。Okay, Larry. 准备好，你要eat my dust了！
******
LL: Whew! That was a great race. Even though I didn’t place, I’m pretty happy about my overall time. I’m just disappointed by the guy who placed second – what a sore loser!
LH: Hmmm…得第二名的那个人好像特别不高兴，又跺脚，又挥拳头，嘴里还骂骂咧咧的。你说，这就叫sore loser吗？
LL: Yes, He clenched his fists and stomped around, saying things that weren’t very nice. That is a sore loser!
LH: 在中文里，我们说这种人输不起。
LL: But I don’t know why he was being such a sore loser, to place second out of the hundreds of people participating in the race should be something to celebrate.
LH: 就是啊。我要是得了第二名，一定乐死了。这种输不起的人，让所有人都觉得扫兴。
LL: It’s true. Do you remember when you were a kid, Li Hua – and you were playing a game? If one of the kids started acting like a sore loser, the game wasn’t so fun anymore.
LH: 我当然记得。小孩子都不愿意输。我有个外甥，一输就哭鼻子。
LL: Yeah, but most people grow up and become adults – and grow out of being sore losers.
LH: 但是有的人就是长不大，我就见过很多sore loser.
LL: That is true. I’m trying really hard not to be a sore loser myself.
LH: 你怎么会是sore loser呢？
LL: Well, I am kind of embarrassed that you beat me in the race, Li Hua. Especially since I told you that you were going to eat my dust. But I am not going to be a sore loser – I’m proud of you and how well you did in the race.
LH: 噢，原来是因为这个。谢谢你，Larry, 我确实花了很多时间为这次比赛做准备。
LL: Say, maybe we should celebrate the outcome by racing over to the ice cream store for an ice cream cone!
LH: 好啊！但是你肯定会eat my dust, 你知道我一见冰激凌就没命了。
今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是eat my dust, 是输给我的意思。另一个是sore loser, 是指输不起的人。