美語情景對話 第407期:Embarassing Moment 尷尬的時刻

My most embarrassing moment was probably when I lived in Germany. One day I decided to go shopping and I drove into town. I had a car. And I was very, very pleased because I found a parking space immedately which was rather unusuAl. I did my shopping, which only took half an hour and I went back to my car, and to my absolute horror it was no longer on the ground but it was suspended in the air. I really did not know what to do at this point so I walked back into town and I went to the police station. The police were very kind to me and I was very grateful for that and they interviewed me.

我最尷尬的時刻發生在我住在德國的時候。有一天我決定去購物，於是我開車去了城裏。我有一輛車。我非常非常高興，因爲我很快就找到了停車的地方，這相當不尋常。我購物的時間大概只用了半個小時，然後我回去找我的車，讓我感到非常可怕的是，我的車已經不在地上了，而是被懸掛在半空中。當時我真的不知道要做什麼，所以我走回城裏去了警察局。警察對我很友善，我對此很感激，然後他們詢問了我情況。

They asked me what had happened and I said 'I'm really sorry, I didn't buy a parking ticket' and they said 'We hadn't even noticed that!', they said 'Do you realise where you had parked?' and I said 'Well no, I have no idea' and they said 'Well actually you parked into the entrance to a car park and as a result nobody could get out of the car park because you were parked in the entrance'. So I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time then. It was very embarrassing: I hadn't seen the sign, I hadn't noticed the car park which was rather silly. Erm, but now my friends think it is really funny when I tell them the story. I also think it's funny but it was an expensive mistake!

他們問我發生了什麼，我說“我很抱歉我沒有買停車票”，他們說“我們都沒注意到那個！”，他們問我“你意識到你停在哪裏了嗎？”我回答說“不知道，我不清楚”，他們說“實際上你停在了停車場門口，這導致沒有人能把車開出停車場，因爲你把車停在了門口處。”我當時真是又想笑又想哭 。這真讓人感到難爲情：我沒有看到標誌，我沒注意到停車場的標誌，這真是太愚蠢了。額，但是我跟我的朋友們說這件事的時候，他們都認爲這非常有意思。我也覺得那很有趣，但是那是讓我付出了很大代價的錯誤！

重點講解：
1. no longer
不再；已不；
eg. The construction industry is no longer as depressed as it was.
建築業不再像以往那樣蕭條了。
eg. This word is no longer in current use.
這個詞現在已經不再使用。
2. on the ground
（相對於空中的）地面；
eg. Coordinating airline traffic on the ground is as complicated as managing the traffic in the air.
協調地面的航空交通與管理空中交通一樣複雜。
eg. Vendors displayed their wares in baskets or on the ground.
小販們把他們的商品擺放在籃子裏或地上。
3. be grateful for
感激的；表示感謝的；
eg. All of that is awesome and I'm grateful for the support.
這一切都棒極了，我很感激這些支持。
eg. We all have something to be grateful for but we don't realize it.
我們都擁有值得感激的東西，但我們沒有認識到這一點。
4. as a result
結果，因此；
eg. As a result, services have been drastically reduced.
結果是服務業急劇萎縮。
eg. Millions of people are threatened with starvation as a result of drought and poor harvests.
幾百萬人因乾旱和歉收而受到飢餓的威脅。
5. at the same time
同時；
eg. Never before has the industry had to cope with war and recession at the same time.
這個行業以前從未有過必須同時應付戰爭和蕭條的經歷。
eg. At the same time, rulemaking can provide individuals with important protection.
同時, 規則制定可爲個人提供重要的保障。