美國(guó)之音之流行美語(yǔ)353 on the edge of one's seat...
李華和Larry在看世界杯足球賽，美國(guó)隊(duì)和阿爾及利亞隊(duì)。我們要學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：on the edge of your seat和down to the wire.
LH: Larry，今天這場(chǎng)比賽可很重要！美國(guó)要是贏了，就進(jìn)16強(qiáng)，要是輸了就得回家了。
L: I know! Who do you think will win? The U.S. or Algeria?
LH: 這可說不好。
L: I agree, it's hard to predict who will win. All I know is that I'm going to be on the edge of my seat the whole game.
LH: 什么？你要坐在椅子邊兒上看比賽？這樣坐著你一會(huì)兒就得累。
L: Actually, when you are really excited or nervous about something, you can say that you are on the edge of your seat.
LH: 哦，on the edge of your seat不是真的坐在椅子的邊兒上，而是形容緊張的樣子。你是說，這場(chǎng)比賽讓你感到特別緊張、興奮，簡(jiǎn)直坐也不是站也不是。
L: Right! Or for another example, my friend Eddie loved the new Jack Nicholson suspense movie. He said it kept him on the edge of his seat for two hours.
LH: 對(duì)！懸疑電影總是讓人的心提在嗓子眼，緊張得不行！哎，Larry, 你不是說你在網(wǎng)上買了一件美國(guó)隊(duì)的球衣么？寄來了沒有？
L: I've been waiting on the edge of my seat all week for it to come, but it hasn't arrived yet. I hope it didn't get lost in the mail.
LH: 別急，沒準(zhǔn)今天球衣就到了。你看別的世界杯比賽了嗎？
L: Yeah a few, but for me, none can keep me on the edge of my seat like a U.S. match does.
LH: 這倒是！不過，足球比賽太緊張了！要不我們還是看“美國(guó)偶像”吧，輕松一下。
L: No way! I'm always sitting on the edge of my seat whenever they announce the winner of American Idol.
LH: 你怎么看什么都這么激動(dòng)！對(duì)了，我還真沒看出來，你也是美國(guó)偶像的粉絲??！
L: Well you never know when you might learn something surprising about me, Lihua.
LH: 哈哈，那以后和你說話時(shí)我該緊張了，I'll be on the edge of my seat when I talk to you!
******
美國(guó)對(duì)阿爾及利亞的比賽結(jié)束了，Larry和李華在談?wù)撨@場(chǎng)比賽。
LH: 真夠懸的！雙方一直是0比0，我還以為美國(guó)隊(duì)要被淘汰了呢！誰(shuí)知美國(guó)隊(duì)居然在最后三分種里進(jìn)了個(gè)球，這下就挺進(jìn)16強(qiáng)啦！
L: I know! That was so amazing! If I watch a few more games like that, I'm going to have a heart attack!
LH: 心臟病？不至于吧！不過，這場(chǎng)比賽最后幾分鐘確實(shí)挺刺激的。
L: You're right. That game really came down to the wire.
LH: Down to the wire? 這是什么意思？
L: When something comes down to the wire, that means there isn't much time left.
LH: 哦，down to the wire就是指到了最后關(guān)頭。 你是說這場(chǎng)比賽在快結(jié)束的時(shí)候居然難分勝負(fù)。
L: Right. Here's another example. My big report for work is due tomorrow and I still have a lot of work to do, so it's really coming down to the wire today.
LH: 你是說，明天有報(bào)告要交，可你還沒怎么寫呢，所以今天是你完成報(bào)告的最后關(guān)頭了！哎？既然要寫報(bào)告，干嘛還看世界杯？
L: I'll just say that I know what's important in life. Say, how is your summer job search going?
LH: 還在找呢。我已經(jīng)快沒錢了，如果再找不到工作，我連房租也交不出來了。
L: Gosh, it sounds like it's really coming down to the wire. Have you had any success?
LH: 倒是有一份工作，我已經(jīng)進(jìn)入最后一輪面試了，公司說今天下午打電話通知我結(jié)果。
L: Wow, it sounds like it's coming down to the wire. You must really be on the edge of your seat.
LH: 是啊，已經(jīng)快5點(diǎn)了，還沒來電話，我都要急死了！
今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是on the edge of your seat, 表示緊張興奮。另一是down to the wire, 意思是到最后關(guān)頭。
