"布朗尼加分"口语课堂:胆小的抢劫犯
的网友们，大家好。今天Rose要给大家讲一个胆小的抢劫犯的故事。
In New York, nothing is surprising anymore. A man went into a bank in a town just north of New York City. He had a plastic bag over his head. He approached a teller and handed her a note. The teller took a look at the note. But she couldn't make heads or tails of it. The handwriting was terrible. She excused herself and went to consult with her co-workers. No one could read the note. Finally, one of the clerks figured out part of it. It said, "I have a gun." The clerks realized at last that the man was trying to hold up the bank. But when they looked up, the man with the bag on his head was gone. Apparently, he lost his nerve and ran away.
Why didn't the teller react to the plastic bag on the man's head? She said only, "I thought maybe he had a skin problem." Police officers are still trying to make sense of the robber's note. "The note says he has a gun, but we have to spend more time studying the rest of it," said one officer.
在纽约发生什么事儿都正常。所以，即使这个人头上罩着塑料袋，银行里的teller，出纳员，都没觉得多奇怪，倒是这个人递进来的纸条让她couldn't make heads or tails of。Can't make heads or tails of, 意思是“not be able to understand”，或者“be quite confused about” 弄不明白，无法理解。再比如：I can't make head or tail of these directions. 这些说明把我搞糊涂了。短语后面也可以接人，比如：John is so strange. I can't make heads or tails of him. 约翰太奇怪了。我真是搞不懂他。
银行的职员也没搞懂劫匪写的什么，于是，excused herself，excused oneself和apologize不同。前者表示ask permission to leave a person or place也就是，请求允许离开某人或某处。出于礼貌。而后者完全是要say sorry。道歉。比如，一个人在开会，突然手机响了，这时他可以说：“I'm sorry/I apologize. Will you please excuse me for a minute?” 对不起，我可以出去几分钟吗？
出纳员出去干什么了呢？Consult with her co-workers. Consult with同谁商量，向谁请教。故事中是同她的co-workers一起研究纸条上写的什么。Co-前缀表示“一起，相互”，比如现在最常说的”合作，协作”就是cooperation。
就在几个人刚刚看明白纸条上其中一句话是“I have a gun”的时候，还没等银行职员们害怕，劫匪却先“lost his nerve”并且run away了。nerve, 神经。lose ones nerve, 意思是become afraid and not do something, 也就是“失去勇气，不知所措”。来看一个例子：I wanted to ski down the expert slope but then I lost my nerve. 我是想从滑雪高手才能滑的那个坡道滑下去的，但是后来我害怕了，没敢。
好了，再来看看那张写的天书一样的note现在什么情况了吧。除了那句I have a gun是make sense的。其他的居然还要警察们花时间慢慢研究才能明白。make sense, 讲得通，有意义。比如：These raw numbers, precise as they are, do little to help make sense of the facts. 这些原始数据尽管很精确，但没有说清楚这些情况。Make sense也可以做“有道理的，明智的”讲。比如：It would make sense to leave early. 早点离开是明智的。
好了，今天的故事就到这里。不要忘了尝试一下自己复述故事哦。下期布朗尼加分口语再见。
