Carmelo： Hey there sweetness. Sorry， I’m late. How’re you doing？

Candy： Better， now that you’re here. Where’ve you been anyway？ ①Lebron and Dwayne have been biding their time over there for hours.

Carmelo： Damn girl， I know. My phone’s been blowing up all day. There’ve been like a million 1）tourneys going on around the city today. Up at Morningside Park they were filming one of those And1 videos， like my boy Skip 2 My Lou used to rock out on. Yo， that boy had crazy skills！

Candy： Not like you though， baby！ You’re the real king of streetball， and I ain’t seen anyone that can challenge you for the crown.

Carmelo： Yeah， you say that， but you don’t know the streets like I do. I’ve seen NBA all-stars come out here for a pick-up game on the 2）blacktop， only to get their 3）asses handed to ’em by some skinny teens， running the game like it’s second nature or something. ②I can see there’s a whole new generation of ballers coming up through the ranks. ③I think my days are numbered.

Candy： ④Well， I’ve never seen anyone get the better of you.

Carmelo： That’s only ’cause I spent all my free time hitting the gym and practicing mid-range jumpers to get where I am. And I always play like my life depends on it.

Candy： That’s ’cause your life did depend on it.

Carmelo： True that！

Candy： I mean， these other cats around here don’t even know you from the old days. They didn’t see you grow up and come into your own.

Carmelo： And they don’t know how hard we had it back then， with the gangs and drugs and all that.

Candy： And how you saved both our lives when you became a streetballer.

Carmelo： Well， you know my style was too 4）aggressive for the indoor game. I mean， you just breathe on someone and they 5）call a foul. That’s why I got kicked out of the 6）D-league.

Candy： And now Melo Jr.’s the captain of his school 7）varsity team.

Carmelo： I know， right？ That kid’s getting opportunities I never had. It’s like a real dream come true， you know？

Candy： You are a real man， baby； stronger than any of these clowns out here. So why don’t you go out there and drop some skills on ’em already？

Carmelo： I got you， babe！ Time to take the streets by storm！ East Side， represent！

卡梅洛：嗨，親愛的。對不起，我遲到了。你還好吧？

坎蒂：好多了，你終于來了。你到哪里去了？勒布朗和德韋恩已經(jīng)在那里耐心等了好幾個(gè)小時(shí)了。

卡梅洛：真是可惡，我知道。我的電話響了一整天，就好像今天這座城市正舉行著百萬場比賽一樣。就在晨邊公園那里，他們正拍攝And1（籃球運(yùn)動(dòng)品牌）的一個(gè)視頻，就像我的偶像街頭球王阿爾斯通（And1當(dāng)年的街頭球Rafer Alston的外號是“Skip 2 My Lou”）過去那樣秀出他的球技。喲，那小伙有著了不起的球技！

坎蒂：但還是不如你呀，寶貝！你才是真正的街頭球王，我看不到有誰能挑戰(zhàn)你摘得桂冠。

卡梅洛：是啊，你是這樣說，但你對街頭籃球的了解不如我。我看過NBA全明星球員就在柏油路上進(jìn)行表演熱身賽，被一群瘦弱的少年打得一敗涂地，這群少年在球賽中的表現(xiàn)就好像是與生俱來的那樣自如。我能看到全新一代的球手正冉冉升起。我認(rèn)為我輝煌的日子不多了。

坎蒂：呃，我從沒見過有人打敗過你。

卡梅洛：那只是因?yàn)槲野阉械目臻e時(shí)間都花在健身房里鍛煉，練習(xí)中距離跳投以達(dá)到我現(xiàn)在的水準(zhǔn)。而我總是表現(xiàn)出我的生活依賴著它。

坎蒂：那是因?yàn)槟愕纳畲_實(shí)依賴著它。

卡梅洛：確實(shí)如此！

坎蒂：我是說，這里的其他愛好者都不知道你的過去，他們沒有見證你的成長和輝煌。

卡梅洛：而且他們不知道那時(shí)我們打球有多難，團(tuán)伙和毒品等諸如此類的東西橫行街頭。

坎蒂：你成為街頭籃球手的時(shí)候，你救了我倆的性命。

卡梅洛：嗯，你知道，我的風(fēng)格太有侵略性，不適合室內(nèi)的游戲。我的意思是，你只是對著某人呵氣，他們就罰你犯規(guī)，那就是為什么我被踢出國家籃球發(fā)展聯(lián)盟。

坎蒂：現(xiàn)在小梅洛是他學(xué)校校隊(duì)的隊(duì)長了。

卡梅洛：我知道的，好嗎？那小子得到了我從沒有過的機(jī)會(huì)。你知道嗎？就好像是真正的夢想實(shí)現(xiàn)了?？驳伲簩氊?，你是個(gè)真正的男人，比這里這些小丑都要強(qiáng)大。所以為什么你還不出去，展示一些球技給他們看看？

卡梅洛：我明白了，寶貝！是時(shí)候掀起街頭風(fēng)暴了！東區(qū)代表來了！

Smart Sentences

① Lebron and Dwayne have been biding their time over there for hours. 勒布朗和德韋恩已經(jīng)在那里耐心等了好幾個(gè)小時(shí)了。

bide one’s time： wait patiently（耐心等候）。例如：

She decided to bide her time until her children were all in school before she went to graduate school.

她決定耐心等候，等兒女都上學(xué)了，再去讀研究生。

② I can see there’s a whole new generation of ballers coming up through the ranks. 我能看到全新一代的球手正冉冉升起。

come up through the ranks： rise to a position of leadership by working up through a sequence of lower positions（級級攀升，一步一步升上來）。例如：

The general came up through the ranks. There is no other way to become a general.

將軍得一級級晉升上來，要成為將軍沒有其他方式。

③ I think my days are numbered. 我認(rèn)為我輝煌的日子不多了。

days are numbered： sth./sb. will not survive or be successful for much longer（日子不長）。例如：

When the company couldn’t pay our salary on time， I knew their days were numbered.

當(dāng)公司未能按時(shí)支付我們的工資時(shí)，我就知道他們挨不了多久。

④ Well， I’ve never seen anyone get the better of you. 呃，我從沒見過有人打敗過你。

get the better of： be superior to sb. or to beat sb.（占上風(fēng)，戰(zhàn)勝某人）。例如：

He was determined to get the better of his competitors.他決定要擊敗對手。