Larry跟李華約好,下班后一起在餐館吃飯,李華先到了一步。今天我們要學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ):have a full plate和to kill time.
LH: (遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地) Hey, Larry! 我在這兒呢!
LL: Hi Lihua. Phew! It's so good to finally sit down and relax.
LH: 你怎么累成這副樣子?沒(méi)不舒服吧?
LL: I'm just a bit tired...I've got quite a full plate at work right now; it's been a very stressful couple of weeks.
LH: A full plate? 什么?你在辦公室已經(jīng)吃了滿滿一盤(pán)子飯菜?不是說(shuō)好跟我一起吃飯的嗎?
LL: Oh, I don't mean a real plate of food, Li Hua, it's just a figure of speech. Saying you have a full plate at work means that you are very busy, it doesn't actually have anything to do with food.
LH: 哦,我明白了,說(shuō)自己have a full plate意思就是在有限的時(shí)間里有許許多多的事情要做。
LL: That's right. That's exactly how I would describe my situation at the office right now.
LH: 那我期末考試前沒(méi)日沒(méi)夜地復(fù)習(xí)功課,也可以說(shuō)I had a full plate?
LL: Yea, that would be a perfect example. Everyone feels like they have a lot on their plate when finals come around. Or, last fall when my friend Steve was working two part-time jobs while going to school - I could say he really had a full plate back then.
LH: 好,我明白了,說(shuō)了這么半天a full plate, 我肚子已經(jīng)咕咕叫了。服務(wù)員來(lái)了,你想好點(diǎn)什么了嗎?
LL: You bet I am! I've had such a full plate at work, I didn't even have time to eat lunch today!
LH: 什么?你居然忙得連午飯都沒(méi)顧得上吃,早知道這樣,我們應(yīng)該去吃自助餐才對(duì)!
******
Larry和李華吃完晚飯,Larry一副酒足飯飽、心滿意足的樣子。
LL: (Sounding satisfied) Ah! That was a superb bacon-cheeseburger. Now if only I didn't have to worry about going back to work tomorrow morning....
LH: 不想去上班?你開(kāi)什么玩笑?我敢擔(dān)保,象你這種閑不住的人,如果沒(méi)工作,整天待在家里,一定會(huì)無(wú)聊得發(fā)瘋。
LL: Lihua, You don't know how lazy I can be. Killing time is one of the things I do best...
LH: Killing time? 什么是kill time?
LL: Killing time is just another way of saying "wasting time." Of course I wouldn't actually kill anything!
LH: 哦,killing time就是中文里說(shuō)的打發(fā)時(shí)間。
LL: That's right. And I am an expert at killing time.
LH: 這一點(diǎn)我可以作證。你每天把大把的時(shí)間都用來(lái)打電子游戲,浪費(fèi)時(shí)間的能力確實(shí)已經(jīng)達(dá)到了“專(zhuān)家”的水平。
LL: Very funny...So I like to kill time with my Playstation on the weekends, there's nothing wrong with that. And besides, I'm not the only one who knows how to kill time...I always see you playing those online games with your friends.
LH: 這倒是真的,上網(wǎng)玩游戲確實(shí)是消磨時(shí)間的好辦法,可以讓我放松。Well, I guess I am good at killing time too.
LL: Now if I didn't have such a full plate at work, we could have more time to kill together.
LH: (哈哈),要不這樣吧,你明天下班來(lái)圖書(shū)館陪我看書(shū),我準(zhǔn)備考試,你消磨時(shí)間。
LL: Well...I think I'd rather go shoe shopping before staring at the walls in some library...
LH: Shoe shopping? 對(duì)啊,好主意,我們?nèi)ス湫辍?/p>
LL: Uhh...Let's just say I'd much rather kill some time at home rather than spending a few hours at the library or the shoe store.
LH: 想反悔,沒(méi)那么容易,既然你主動(dòng)提醒我,那就一定要陪我去逛街。
LL: (Reluctantly) OK,,,Can I at least listen to my mp3 player while you try on the shoes. Listening to music is a very relaxing way to kill time.
今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是have a full plate, 意思是在有限的時(shí)間里有好多事情要做。另一個(gè)是to kill time, 意思是打發(fā)時(shí)間,消磨時(shí)光。