李華和Larry在夏威夷渡假,倆人出海釣魚。今天我們要學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語:off the hook和go overboard.
LH: Larry, 我總算明白你為什么這么喜歡釣魚了,撒下誘餌,就歇著了。
LL: Yeah, isn't fishing great? You get to just sit out in the boat and relax all day.
LH: 那好,如果一條魚都釣不到的話,你可得負(fù)責(zé)任。
LL: Believe me, Lihua. If we don't catch anything and have to eat pizza for dinner, I know you won't let me off the hook.
LH: Let you off the hook? 你是指魚鉤嗎?
LL: Right! When you let someone off the hook, you forgive them for doing something wrong, or allow them to escape a difficult situation.
LH: 哦,off the hook就是不用承擔(dān)責(zé)任。 To let someone off the hook意思就是放過某人,就好象是讓魚脫鉤了一樣。
LL: Exactly. Here is another example: Even though I didn't do my homework, my teacher let me off the hook because I was sick the day before.
LH: 就是說老師因?yàn)轶w諒到你是因?yàn)樯《鴽]做作業(yè),所以決定不追究你。
LL: Yeah. Or remember last year when I forgot your birthday? You still haven't let me off the hook for that.
LH: Larry, 你居然把我生日忘得一干二凈,我當(dāng)然要記你一輩子。對了,Larry, 我們的船什么時(shí)候還???
LL: We have it until 2 in the afternoon.
LH: 那可沒剩多少時(shí)間了。我們稍微晚一點(diǎn)沒關(guān)系吧?
LL: Actually, I don't think the rental company will let us off the hook. They said we have to pay an extra fee if we return the boat late.
LH: 這么說,我們就要抓緊時(shí)間了。也不知道這些魚都跑到哪里去了!
LL: I don't know. The manager of our hotel said this is the best place for fishing. If he was wrong, I'm not going to let him off the hook.
LH: 就是啊,如果害我們白跑一趟的話... Wait! Larry, 好象有魚咬鉤了。
LL: Quick, Lihua, pull it in!
******
李華釣到了一條大魚。
LH: Wow, Larry, 看來我天生就是釣魚的材料. 你看第一次就戰(zhàn)果累累。這就叫不鳴則已,一鳴驚人!
LL: Yeah Lihua, I'm really impressed! You must have a real talent for fishing.
LH: 你覺得,我是不是應(yīng)該退掉回程的機(jī)票,索性留在夏威夷當(dāng)漁民算了?否則我釣魚的才華豈不是白白浪費(fèi)了嗎?
LL: Well, it's only one fish. I wouldn't go overboard.
LH: Go overboard? 你不會是叫我下到海水里去摸魚吧?
LL: Actually Lihua, you can say that somebody goes overboard whenever they do or say something excessive.
LH: 哦,to go overboard就是采取過激行動的意思,你是勸我不要意氣用事、釣到一條魚就改行當(dāng)漁民嗎?
LL: Exactly. Here's another example. When I was looking for a hotel in Hawaii, I know I wanted to stay somewhere nice. But I didn't want to go overboard and rent a room for $500 per night.
LH: 對,500塊錢一晚上的旅館對我們來說確實(shí)太奢侈了。說正經(jīng)的,Larry, 你估計(jì)這條魚有多重?我猜得有100磅。
LL: It's a big fish, but I think 100 pounds is going a little overboard. It's probably 30 pounds.
LH: 反正是夠大個(gè)兒的。我準(zhǔn)備把魚的頭骨帶回去做紀(jì)念。
LL: Lihua, I think that's going a little overboard. Why don't we just take a picture so that you can remember your catch?
LH: 一點(diǎn)也不好玩。要不,我們多照幾張照片,寄給當(dāng)?shù)貓?bào)社,看他們愿不愿意采訪我們。
LL: Lihua, let's not go overboard. There are probably lots of other people who catch fish this big, so it isn't really a news story.
LH: 那我起碼要寄給我爸媽。好了,咱們快回去吃魚吧!
LL: But I haven't caught anything yet! Let's stay until I catch a fish too.
LH: 要不要我向你傳授一下我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)?。康谝惶谜n可以免費(fèi)!
LL: Haha... Thanks Lihua, In return, I will teach you one more vocabulary word: beginner's luck!
今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用。一個(gè)是off the hook, 意思是逃脫責(zé)任。另一個(gè)是go overboard, 意思是過份的,過激的。