李華和Larry 要去聽演唱會。今天我們要學兩個常用語：run-of-the-mill
和roll the dice.

    LH： Larry，今天晚上的演唱會好聽么？那個樂隊是什么類型的�。�

    L ： Well …… they're kind of hard to describe. Their music is a
mixture of many different styles.

    LH：各種音樂的混合？聽著很有新意！現(xiàn)在很多樂隊都沒有自己的風格，跟
別的樂隊差不多，沒意思。

    L ： I totally agree， Lihua. Luckily ， they are not just some run-of-the-mill
rock band.

    LH： Run of the mill？是什么意思？

    L ： When you say that something is run-of-the-mill ， that means
that it is very average ， or just like all the others.

    LH：哦，run-of-the-mill 就是沒特色的，千篇一律的。你的意思是，這個
樂隊并不是那種毫無特色的樂隊。

    L ： Exactly！ For example， the makers of Avatar said it would not
be just another run-of-the-mill action movie， and would be like nothing
anyone had seen before.

    LH：對，電影“阿凡達”當初宣傳的時候，就說自己是非同尋常的，觀眾從
沒看過的新類型電影。對了，Larry ，這個樂隊我怎么從沒聽說過��？

    L ： Well ， they still aren't very well known， so only music magazines
write about them. You won't read about them in the standard ， run-of-the-mill
newspapers.

    LH：哦，主流媒體沒報道他們，只有在比較專業(yè)的音樂雜志上才會看到關(guān)于
他們的介紹。Larry ，我有點餓，咱們?nèi)パ莩獣�前是不是先吃點東西？

    L ： Sure ， where do you want to eat ？

    LH：不知道……麥當勞吧！

    L ： McDonalds？ I don't want to eat at some run-of-the-mill fast
food restaurant.

    LH：可是演唱會還有半個小時就開始了。吃麥當勞快啊。

    L ： Don't worry， we can be a little late. I think the opening band
is just some run-of-the-mill pop band.

    LH：你是說，負責暖場的樂隊沒什么特色，不看也沒關(guān)系。那咱們?nèi)コ詨鬯?br /> 吧。

    L ： Sounds good！ Let's go.

    *****

    Larry and 李華在談論剛結(jié)束的演唱會。

    LH： Larry，這個樂隊太棒了！他們肯定會紅！

    L ： Do you think so？ It takes a lot of luck to become a famous band.
There is a lot of competition out there.

    LH：你說得也對。不過要想成名，就得努力抓住機會，試試看嘛！

    L ： Right， even though the chances aren't very good ， sometimes
you just have to roll the dice.

    LH： Roll the dice？你是說擲骰子么？

    L ： Right. When you roll the dice， that means that you take a chance，
just like when you make a bet gambling.

    LH：哦，roll the dice 和擲骰子一樣，表示碰碰運氣！你是說，雖然很多
樂隊最終紅不了，但是想出名的人還是應該碰碰運氣，說不定就能成功？

    L ： Exactly. Here's another example. Terrence wasn't sure he would
like living in New York ， but he decided to roll the dice and move there
anyway.

    LH：哦，Terrence并不知道自己會不會喜歡紐約，不過他還是決定先搬過去，
住住試試。Larry ，如果是你，你想住在什么地方？

    L ： Definitely Hawaii！ I'm not sure that I could find a job there，
but it's such a beautiful place that sometimes I think it's worth rolling
the dice.

    LH：哈哈，即使冒著找不到工作的危險，你也想搬去夏威夷？我和你不一樣，
我想去羅馬，而且我肯定能有工作，我要去當意大利菜大廚！

    L ： Wow， that is definitely a roll of the dice. You don't know how
to cook Italian food！

    LH： A roll of the dice ？你是說我希望渺茫？我不管，不會可以學嘛！
對了，說到意大利菜，咱們?nèi)ツ慵腋浇�那個餐館吃點宵夜吧。

    L ： I don't know …… I read in the newspaper that it's just boring，
run-of-the-mill Italian food.

    LH：別聽報紙的，咱們自己試試去！

    L ： Well alright ， let's roll the dice and see what happens.

    LH：好！吃完了咱們再去看個午夜場電影！最近有什么好片么？

    L ： I'm not sure …… Let's just roll the dice. We'll just go to
the theater and watch whatever movie happens to be playing.

    LH：這樣也不錯！走吧！

    今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是run-of-the-mill ，表示沒有特色，千篇
一律。另一是roll the dice ，意思是碰運氣。