李華打電話問Larry,想不想到動物園參觀新的熊貓展覽。今天李華會學到兩個常用語:to putz around和worrywart。
LH: 嘿,Larry,你在做什么?忙不忙?
LL: Not really. I was just putzing around the apartment, cleaning up a little and putting some things away. Why? What do you have in mind?
LH: 噢,你在家打掃,整理東西。你還在家干什么啦?什么是putzing around?那是什么意思?
LL: To putz around is to behave idly, without anything very urgent or important to do. I don't have anything special to do, so I'm just putzing around doing minor things.
LH: To putz around就是沒有什么迫切或重要的事做,只是在家東晃晃,西摸摸。嗨,既然你沒什么重要事做,要不要一塊兒去動物園。我想去看新來的熊貓。
LL: Sure. We can putz around the zoo and look at the animals. The weather is beautiful today, so it will be nice to go outside.
LH: 就是啊,今天天氣這么好,待在家里太可惜了,還不如到動物園去逛逛,看看動物。
LL: Yeah, it's much better to putz around outside in the sunshine. It's so great to have time to relax.
LH: 沒錯。前一陣子我忙得連睡覺的時間都沒有,更別說四處閑晃了。說實話,我還真喜歡閑逛,I like to putz around。
LL: When do you want to leave?
LH: 嗯,你半小時內(nèi)能出門嗎?我聽說熊貓在下午的時候比較活躍,這時候去最有意思!
LL: Sure. I'll meet you at the university gate in half an hour.
LH: 沒問題!一會兒見!
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LH: Larry,快點!我怕我們會錯過這班公共汽車,太晚了我們就看不到熊貓了!
LL: Calm down, Li Hua. Don't be such a worrywart. We have plenty of time to catch the bus and the pandas aren't going anywhere.
LH: 嘿!你又說我什么了?什么是worrywart?
LL: A worrywart, very simply, is a person who worries too much.
LH: A Worrywart,就是指一個人不是擔心這事,就是擔心那事,而這些都是一些微不足道的事情。那不就是我們中文里說的“杞人憂天”嗎?Larry,我真的是這樣的人嗎?
LL: Sometimes, you can be a worrywart. For instance, you worry a lot about your grades.
LH: 可是,擔心成績不好。這很正常啊!很多人都會擔心他們的成績,學習成績可不是什么微不足道的事呢!
LL: Most people worry about their grades, but you worry more than most people.
LH: 我比別人擔心更多!我才不信呢。你自己也不是老擔心工作,老擔心你老板和同事對你印象不好。
LL: I don't worry too much about work! I have a healthy concern for what my boss and my co-workers think, but I don't think I'm a worrywart.
LH: 噢,我擔心就是過份。你擔心就是正常的!你自己想想,你應該8點上班,可上星期你每天早上5點就起床,就怕遲到。這不是過份么?
LL: Yeah, I guess that is a little extreme. I think I'll get more relaxed at work once I've gotten more settled in. I'm still new.
LH: 我知道。你是剛到那家公司去工作,所以特別緊張。等到你習慣以后就會放松一些的。得了,我們還是好好享受今天這么棒的天氣,去看熊貓嘍!
今天李華學到兩個常用語。第一個是to putz around,就是四處閑晃,無所事事的意思。另外一個常用語是worrywart,是指一個人擔心個沒完,就像中文里所說的“杞人憂天”。