Larry 陪李華去買電腦。今天我們要學兩個常用語：do the trick和a grain
of salt.

    LH： Larry，你覺得我應該買PC還是蘋果？

    LL： Well ， I'm not a computer expert， but I think Macs are a lot
more user friendly.

    LH：我也老聽人說蘋果機怎么怎么好，可是我從沒用過蘋果，而且PC價格也
比較便宜。

    LL： Well ， they are both really good computers. I think either one
would do the trick.

    LH： Do the trick ？ Larry，我買電腦是查資料，學論文用的，可不是為
了玩游戲。

    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就是足以達到預期效果的意思。你是說不論PC還是蘋
果，都夠我用的了。

    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。這句話意思是，Joe 反正是一個人過，有個小公寓就夠了，用
不著住大房子。那 Larry，你說我們去哪家店買電腦呢？

    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：上網定購？不好，不好，要不，咱們上蘋果專賣店去轉轉，我去玩玩蘋
果機，你也可以看看是不是買個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：老實說，你那手機再不換，就要變成古董了。你上星期不是說不好用了
嗎？

    LL： Actually ， just the battery broke. But I went to the store and
got a new battery ， which did the trick.

    LH：所以你就換了塊電池準備接著用？我真服了你，省錢固然沒錯，可也不
能太落伍呀！現(xiàn)在的新手機上什么功能都有，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：對了，蘋果公司新推出的iPad，就有讀電子書的功能，要不你買個iPad
吧！

    LL： As far as I'm concerned， Lihua， old-fashioned paper books still
do the trick.

    ******

    Larry 和李華來到百思買看電腦。

    LH：嗨Larry ！你覺得這臺電腦怎么樣？我需要的功能上面都有，價錢也還
可以，只要2000塊。

    LL： Two thousand dollars ？ That sounds pretty expensive to me. Are
you sure it's worth it to buy such an expensive computer？

    LH：當然值了，你沒聽剛才那個店員說么，這是他最喜歡的一款電腦，強力
推薦。

    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？加撮鹽？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。你是說店員
總想把貴的商品推銷給顧客，所以他的話不能全信？

    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：沒錯，Emily 總喜歡夸大其詞，所以她的話不能全信。

    LL： So Lihua ， what are the features that make this computer so
good？

    LH：產品介紹上說，這款電腦的電池可以連續(xù)用15個小時，是市場上其他電
腦的兩倍。

    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 買的就是這個牌子的電腦，說特別好。

    LL： But Lihua， Tammy only uses computer to check emails. I would
take her opinion on computers with a grain of salt.

    LH：可你也不是高科技專家啊，就看你那只老古董的手機就知道了。

    LL： That's true. I don't know much about technology， so I would
take all my advice with a grain of salt.

    LH：別擔心，你對手機、電腦這類高科技產品的建議，我總是反著聽的，只
要是你說不買的東西，買了一定沒錯。

    LL： Haha …… very funny ……

    今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是do the trick，意思是足以達到預期效果。
另一個是a grain of salt ，意思是有所保留。