今天李華到Larry家來借一本書,碰巧Larry的媽媽打電話來。什么事呢?你聽了他們的對話就知道了。今天李華會學(xué)到兩個常用語:play hooky和put one's foot down。
(Hang up phone)
LH: Larry,怎么啦?你看起來很不高興。
LL: Oh, it's just that my little sister is giving my mom a lot of trouble. She played hooky from school two days in a row last week.
LH: 你妹妹給你媽惹麻煩了。你說她上星期在學(xué)校連續(xù)兩天played hooky? 那是一種游戲嗎?為什么你媽媽會生氣啊?
LL: No, it's not a game. To play hooky is to skip school or work when you have no excuse for doing so.
LH: 噢!play hooky就是逃學(xué),曠課的意思。那很嚴(yán)重耶!我要是逃學(xué),我媽媽一定會非常非常生氣!
LL: Every kid plays hooky once in a while, but playing hooky as often as my little sister does is a serious problem. It's affecting her grades.
LH: 對,偶爾曠課還可以,如果像你妹妹這樣常常逃課,成績當(dāng)然會受影響嘍!那你媽媽打算怎么做?
LL: She'll forbid my sister from watching TV, talking on the phone, or going out with her friends for at least a month.
LH: 哇!至少一個月不能看電視、不許和朋友通電話,也不可以和朋友出去。這樣的處罰是夠厲害的。不過也許她能得到教訓(xùn),以后不再逃學(xué)。
LL: I hope so. Hey, you really never played hooky when you were a kid?
LH: 嗯,有那么幾次我不想上學(xué),就裝病待在家里。這樣也算play hooky嗎?
LL: Of course, that counts! Actually, I think every kid has used that trick to play hooky at least once.
LH: 對,假裝生病是孩子們想逃學(xué)時常用的借口。我記得我是因為有的同學(xué)老是取笑我,所以我不想上學(xué)。
LL: Unfortunately, I think that's probably a very common reason for playing hooky from school.
******
LH: Larry,剛才是誰打電話來?
LL: That was my sister. My mom really put her foot down this time. She's not allowed to watch TV or see her friends for two months. She's really upset.
LH: 你媽媽罰你妹妹兩個月不準(zhǔn)看電視,也不準(zhǔn)和朋友出去玩,那是夠厲害的。可是,Larry, 你剛才說"put her foot down"是什么意思?
LL: Oh, to put one's foot down means to take a really firm stance on something and enforce it.
LH: Put one's foot down就是采取堅定立場,嚴(yán)厲執(zhí)行。你媽媽是不是也曾經(jīng)對你這么嚴(yán)格???
LL: I was generally a good kid, but she did put her foot down once that I can remember. She thought one of my friends was a bad influence, so she didn't allow me to hang out with him
LH: 那是可以理解。中國人常說,“近朱者赤,近墨者黑,”你媽媽是怕你交了壞朋友,所以才不讓你跟他交往。
LL: Well, haven't you ever had to put your foot down with anyone?
LH: 你還記得我那討厭的同屋嗎?在她開始偷我的東西之后,我就對她不客氣了。
LL: Yeah, I remember that. I think you probably should have put your foot down before then, but you were too nice.
LH: 是,我可能早就不該遷就她了。不過,我總覺得不太好意思,不太敢和別人發(fā)生沖突。
LL: You've got to learn to put your foot down when it's necessary, otherwise people will take advantage of you.
LH:沒錯,必要的時候就得學(xué)會對別人硬一些,有的人就是會欺軟怕硬。
今天李華學(xué)到兩個常用語。第一個是play hooky, 是逃學(xué),或曠課。另外一個常用語是put one's foot down, 意思是很堅定,采取嚴(yán)厲手段。