这个人说：我们开舞会可别请迪克，他那愁眉苦脸的样子，还老说那些没有人感兴趣的话，太扫兴了。
下面这个例子是一个人在谈论国家经济动向的问题：
例句-2: Bad news today: the government says that corporate earnings weren"t as good as expected the last quarter. That"ll throw a wet blanket over plans of investors to get into the stock market.
这句话的意思是：今天的消息可不好。政府说，上一季度私营企业的盈利并没有期望中那么好。这个消息对那些想在股票市场投资的人来说就好像泼了一盆冷水一样。
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下面我们要给大家介绍的一个习惯用语是：to throw a monkey wrench。A monkey wrench就是那种用来拧螺丝的活动扳头。要是一个工人在工作的时候不小心把扳头掉到正在运转的机器里去了，那个机器就会停顿。这也正是to throw a monkey wrench的意思，那就是影响、或终止某些本来该发生的事。下面的例子是一个人在对他的朋友诉苦：
例句-3: The family and I planned to leave Monday for a two-week vacation in California. But the boss threw a monkey wrench into our plans today when he told me I have to go to a business meeting in New York next week.
他说：我们全家计划星期一去加州两个星期渡假。但是，老板今天突然要我下星期去纽约参加一个会议，这下可把我们全家人的计划都打破了。
下面这个例子是美国人可能在新闻节目里听到的消息：
例句-4: A federal judge threw a monkey wrench into the project to build a new oil refinery on the river. He ordered the company to stop work until they had a better plan to guard against water pollution.
新闻报道说：联邦法官终止了在河上修建新的炼油厂的工程。他下令那个公司在制定出更好的防止水污染计划之前停止这项工程。
流行美语第85课
Michael因为家里有急事而匆匆走了。今天，Michael的好朋友Larry和Li Hua在一起谈到Michael。Li Hua会学到两个常用语：live it up和Yeah right!
LL: Hey Li Hua. You look unhappy. What"s up?
LH: Michael原来计划下个月去中国学中文，可是他突然家里有急事要他马上去，所以他只好直接从家里去北京了，我都没有机会跟他说再见。I hope he"ll be O.K in China.
LL: Of course he"ll be O.K.! I bet right now Michael is living it up in China.
LH: 哎呀，你说什么呀！Michael现在人已经到中国了，他当然是living in China啦！
LL: No, no, Li Hua. I said that he is "living it up in China". To "live it up" means to live a fun and extravagant lifestyle, like a rich person who is always partying and never has to work.
LH: 噢，live it up意思就是“尽情享受生活”，就好像有钱人可以过奢侈的生活一样。唉，Michael他是个穷学生，他哪能像有钱人那样过日子呀。
LL: Well, as a foreign exchange student, he doesn"t have to worry about paying for tuition, or rent or food, because he"s already paid for it... so in China, for just a few dollars a day, he can live it up!
LH: 真的？参加交换项目去中国留学，学费、食宿都不用自己付啊！Larry, 那你当初在北京留学的时候肯定也lived it up喽？
LL: Oh, we had fun alright. We usually didn"t have a lot of homework, and didn"t have to go to work, so on the weekend, we had plenty of time to live it up!
LH: Hmm, 功课不多，又不用打工，这么说，你们大老远跑到中国，说是去留学，其实是去过逍遥日子、尽情享受去啦？
LL: Hey, I didn"t say we didn"t study! We got to live it up while we learned Chinese.
LH: 哎哟，和你相比，我在美国的留学生活可就没那么自在了。
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LH: (sound of cell phone ringing) (speaking into the cell phone) Hello? Michael! 你好吗？哎呀，中国现在的时间是半夜了吧？还是我明天再给你打吧！Michael, 你学完一年回来的时候，你的中文肯定要比Larry 强。 Sure. Have fun! Bye bye! (cell phone shuts off) Larry, Michael said to tell you "hi".
LL: You think Michael"s going to speak Chinese better than I? Yeah Right!
LH: 你说什么？Yeah Right! 从你说话的口气看，你是在说反话吧？也就是说，你根本不相信我说的话？
LL: You"ve got it. I said "yeah right" When someone says "yeah right" like this (uses sarcastic tone of voice) "yeah right" or this "yeah right", it means they don"t believe something is true, or don"t agree with something.
LH: 你看，我猜对了吧！听你的口气就带着讽刺的意味。怎么，你觉得一年以后Michael的中文不会超过你啊？可是Larry, Michael比你更用功呦！
LL: Yeah, right! I lived in China for two and a half years. I"m practically fluent in Mandarin. Michael can"t catch up with me in just a year.
LH: 什么？你自以为你的中文讲得流利？Yeah right! 虽说你在中国呆过两年半，Michael他只有一年的时间，可是只要他用心听课，认真完成作业，他的中文肯定能超过你。
LL: You think someone can learn Chinese just by going to class and doing homework? Yeah right! I learned more spoken Chinese by living it up and hanging out with Chinese friends than I did in class.
LH: Hmmph. 我看Michael他也挺喜欢交朋友的，他肯定也能找到好多人练习中文会话。
D: Yeah right! But he"ll never catch up with me!
L: Yeah, right!
今天李华从Larry那儿学到两个常用语。一个是live it up, 表示“尽情享受生活”。另一个是Yeah right, 这是带有嘲讽口气的反话，表示不相信对方。
「美国习惯用语」第八十六讲
to let the cat out of the bag
look like the cat that ate the canary
今天我们要给大家介绍的习惯用语是和猫，也就是cat有关的。以后我们还要讲和狗，就是dog有关的俗语。
我们先给大家介绍：to let the cat out of the bag。从字面上来解释，to let the cat out of the bag它的意思是：让那只猫从口袋里出来。但是，它的实际意思是：在不小心的情况下泻露了秘密。下面这个例子就能说明这个俗语的意思：
例句-1: I bought a nice wrist watch as a surprise for my wife"s birthday. But I"m afraid I let the cat out of the bag--I hid it under my socks and she found it when she was putting my clean clothes away.
这位丈夫说：我给我太太买了一只很好的手表作为生日礼。我把手表藏在我的袜子底下，可是当我太太替我把乾净衣服放好的时候，她发现了那只手表。所以，我的秘密恐怕已经泻露了。
生日礼物被发现还不是什么严重的事，可是下面这个例子就不是开玩笑的事了：
例句-2: It was supposed to be a secret that we were firing our accountant for stealing money. But one of the secretaries saw the memo and let the cat out of the bag by telling her friends.
这个人说的是办公室里的秘密。他说：我们解雇了我们的会计，因为他偷钱。这件事原来是应该是保密的。但是，一个秘书看见了一张有关这件事的条子，然后就告诉了她的朋友，这样就泻露了秘密。
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下面我们要讲的一个和cat有关的俗语是：look like the cat that ate the canary。Canary就是金丝雀。Look like the cat that ate the canary这个俗语是用来形容一个人显得非常满足，就像一只猫终于实现了它长期来的愿望，把鸟笼打开，把里面那只可怜的金丝雀吃了一样地感到满足。下面的例子说的是两个朋友去赛马，其中的一个重要方面是个老手，可是却输了，而那个新手却赢了。这个老手说：
例句-3: My friend didn"t listen to my advice and he bet twenty dollars on the horse. Why, I couldn"t believe my eyes! The horse won by a nose and my friend came back with the two thousand bucks he"d just won, looking like the cat that ate the canary.
他说：我的朋友没有听我的劝告，在那个马身上压了二十块美元。我真是难以相信我的眼睛。那匹马跑得快了一点点就赢了。我那朋友拿了他刚赢的二千块美元回来，非常得意。
我们再来看看一个刚被提升的人是如何的得意：
例句-4: Say, I think Mister Green in Personnel just got that promotion he"s been wanting so much. I saw him walk out of the boss"s office like the cat that just ate the canary.
这是一位同事在说话：喂，人事处那个格林先生大概升了一级，这是他迫切期望的。我看见他从老板的办公室出来，得意非凡。
流行美语第86课
今天Larry到Li Hua的宿舍去串门，Li Hua会学到两个常用语：hang in there和to be stressed out。
LL: Li Hua, you look exhausted. Is everything OK?
LH: 哎哟， Larry, 我得在星期五以前赶出两篇论文，星期五还有一门课要大考，你说我能不累吗？I AM exhausted!