李华是在纽约上大学的中国学生。今天她的美国同学Michael陪她练习开车，准备去考驾照。他们在路上几次遇到惊险的情况，尽管这样，李华还是学到了两个常用语，一个是：cop；另一个是：to freak out.

M:Your driving is getting better, Li Hua. Hey, you'd better slow down. This is a 35 mile per hour zone.

L：这地区每小时只能开35英里呀？我是不是开太快啦？哟，我的天呐，警察车跟在我后面，那怎么办呐？

M:Calm down, Li Hua. Just find a parking lot and stop the car. The cop will follow us, and come over to your window to talk to you.

L：哪儿有停车的地方呀！行，就停在这里吧！你刚才说谁会过来跟我说话？是警察吗？

M:That's right. "Cop" means police officer.

L：警察要来跟我说话！我会不会倒霉呀？我该怎么办呢？

M:Calm down! Sometimes the cops stop people just to warn them, not to give them a ticket. You weren't going very fast anyway.

L：你说警察可能过来只是警告我一下，不一定会给我罚单呀？但愿如此，我好象是没有开太快。Michael，你刚才说“cops”, 那警车里到底有几个警察呀？

M:When I say "the cops", I mean the police in general. I'm not talking about any cop in particular.

L：噢，cop 这个名词用复数的时候，cops，可以总的指警察，而不是指某个警察。我就把车停这儿吧。 Michael，我能称呼警察“cop”吗？

M:No! The word "cop" is too informal. You should show respect when talking to the cops. Call him "officer", don't call him "cop"!

L：天哪！原来“cop”是很随便的称呼，你干吗不早告诉我呀！我可不要惹警察生气！

M:Li Hua, don't worry. I'm sure this isn't very serious.

M:See, Li Hua, I was right. The cop didn't give you a ticket.

L：谢天谢地，他没有给我罚单。他要罚我好多钱的话，那我就糟糕了。

M:I told you not to freak out. If a cop sees that you are nervous, he will be even more suspicious of you.

L：你告诉我什么？叫我别下车？

M:No, I told you not to "freak out". "Freak out" means to panic or to act crazy and excited.

L：是啊，我经常听到一些人说freak out，原来是指过于激动，显得非常紧张。对不对？

M:That's right. Actually, I was the one who should have been freaking out!

L：你才该感到紧张？为什么？

M:Because this is my car, and you only have a learner's permit. I'd be responsible if you got in trouble.

L：这我就不懂了。是的，这是你的车，我只有一张学开车的许可证。可是，我开车出了问题，为什么警察会怪你呀？你为什么要freak out？

M:Hey! Li Hua, look out for that car!

L：Don't freak out, Michael. 我看见那辆车了。不过，那车差一点就撞到我们了！

M:Oh, man! that was close! That guy is crazy! I wish the cops were here to see that!

L：对，刚才是够险的，警察要看到他那么开车，准要给他罚单。不过，今天已经和警察打过交道了，够了。再要跟cops打交道，那我可真是要freak out了。

M:Me too. Now, drive carefully!

　　今天这两个年轻人真是够惊险的。不过，李华学到了两个非常有用的词汇: cop，警察；to freak out，非常紧张和激动。