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2025.11.05 07:14
第叁部 第六课: to chip in , snail mail
- Michael 和李华好几天没有见面了，今天刚好在校园裡碰到，两个人就聊起天来了。李华会学到两个常用语： to chip in 和 snail mail。
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- 嗨，Michael, Bob 明天要开生日 party，你去吗？
- Yes, I'm going with a few friends. We decided to chip in and buy him a leather jacket. He's been talking about buying a jacket for a long time.
- 你要和几个朋友一块儿去参加 party，还要给他买一件皮夹克啊？可是，皮夹克很贵耶，你们是不是準备大家凑钱给他买呢？你刚才说 chip in 是不是就是这个意思呀？
- That's right. To chip in, c-h-i-p, in, i-n, it means to each contribute money to buy something.
- 哦～，那就是我们中国人说的凑钱买东西嘛。
- Usually you say "chip in" if each person in a group of people gives some money to buy someone a present.
- 哦～，要是每个人都出些钱给谁买个礼物，人们一般都会说 to chip in。
- To give you another example, my mother said her colleagues always chip in to buy gifts to celebrate someone's birthday or when someone has a new baby.
- 这跟上面你说的，几个朋友凑钱给 Bob 买皮夹克差是不多的。疑？那 to chip in 还可以用在什麼其它场合呢？
- You can also use "to chip in" if you are going out with a group of people for dinner or a drink.
- 哦，原来几个朋友一块儿出去吃饭、喝酒，每个人出些钱来付帐，这也可以说是 chip in。
- Yes, the guys and I usually each chip in a few dollars when we go out for pizza on Friday nights. Last week, I paid 10 dollars, Bob chipped in $4, John chipped in $2. There is one guy who never chips in. He's cheap. Whew, It really makes me mad.
- 哎，等等等等，你说上星期五你们几个人出去吃比萨饼，你付了十美元，Bob 出了四美元，John 也出了两美元。还有一个小气鬼，从来不出钱啊？喝！他真好意思！Why don't you ditch him, 甩了他不就得了！
- Oh, we've been friends for many years, and it's only a few bucks!
- 你不愿意甩了他，那你就别生气啊！
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- 哎，Michael, 你手裡拿的是什麼啊？好像是信吧！现在还有人写信呀？
- I got two letters today from a couple of old friends! I hardly ever get snail mail anymore.
- 你说什麼？Snail mail, snail 不就是蜗牛吗？那 mail 就是信，信和蜗牛又有什麼关係呀？
- Snail, s-n-a-i-l, is an animal known for its slow movement. "Snail mail" means real letters that you get in your mailbox.
- 哦～，我知道了，蜗牛走的很慢，所以 snail mail 就是指通过邮局寄的信．疑？我以前怎麼没有听说 snail mail 这种说法呢？
- Well, ever since e-mail became popular, people have used "snail mail" to talk about paper mail, because it is slower than e-mail.
- 对喔，邮局寄的信和电子邮件相比啊，那真是慢多了，叫它 「蜗牛信」 倒也挺合形像的喔。
- Yeah, everyone (is) so busy nowadays, no one seems to have time to write snail mail anymore.
- 你说得没错，大家现在都很忙，没有多少人还会坐在那儿写信。邮局裡送来的邮件啊，不是账单就是广告，疑？那这一些也能叫做 snail mail 吗？
- No, only a letter written to you by a friend or family member can really be called "snail mail".
- 哎，说起写信啊，我还真是应该写信给我爸爸妈妈了。
- I'm just too lazy to write snail mail. I think I'll go write some e-mails.
- 我的父母在中国，他们还没有电脑，所以啊，I have to write snail mails to them. 我得走了，下回再聊吧！
- Okay, bye!
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- 李华今天学到两个常用语，一个是： to chip in，意思是「凑钱买什麼东西」；另一个是： snail mail，那是指「通过邮局寄的信」。
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