LL: Oh, I don"t know. I don"t really care if I"m ripped or not. I just want to lose some flab so that I can go to the beach without being laughed at.
LH: 我同意你的想法，不管健美不健美，只要把多余的肥肉去掉，到海滩去不给人笑就好了。其实，对大多数女人来说，健美倒不一定是她们心目中理想的男人的主要条件！
LL: Really? So you"re saying women don"t really care if a guy is strong and ripped?
LH: 是呀！至少我是这么想的。当然太胖，flab太多也不行。
今天李华从Larry那儿学到了两个常用语。一个是flab, 是指身上股出来的脂肪肥肉。另一个常用语是ripped，形容人身材健美、肌肉强壮。
流行美语第113课
今天Larry要开车去接李华一起去上课。李华会学到两个常用语：get it together和tough。
(Doorbell Rings)
LL: Hey, Li Hua!? You"re not ready for school! We need to go now! It"s already 8:30.
LH: (Yawns) Larry? 你怎么这么早就来啦！现在几点了？
LL: Get it together, Li Hua! It"s already 8:30! We need to leave in fifteen minutes, or we"ll be late to class!
LH: Get it together? (Groans and yawns) 把什么放一起啊？你在说什么嘛？
LL: I said "get it together"! That means, get organized, focus on what you need to do.
LH: 噢，你是要我赶快准备好上学。Get it together就是要人打起精神做该做的事。那除此之外，Larry，get it together还能用在什么场合呢？
LL: "To get it together" , or "get one"s act together" can also mean something very general, such as arranging one"s life for the better.
LH: 哎哟！get it together既可以指准备去上学，又可以指把一个人的生活安排得更好。Larry，这听起来很复杂，我都有点糊涂了。
LL: Here"s an example: After finishing college, I didn"t work hard to plan for the future for several years. But finally I got my act together, and got accepted into graduate school.
LH: 大学毕业后悠闲几年，没有长远打算这在年轻人里也是常事。不过，你们这些生在美国的孩子真幸福。要是在中国，错过一次机会以后恐怕就难了。
LL: That"s right... here in the U.S. people usually have several chances to get it together. One of my friends almost failed his first semester of college. But he got his act together, and now he"s a Ph. D. candidate at Yale.
LH: 哇！你这个朋友还真是好样儿的。大学第一学期差点儿不及格，现在居然是耶鲁大学的博士生了。可有的人犯了错，一开始失败了就很难再振作起来，做好事情了！
LL: Right, right... enough talking! Get it together, Li Hua. If you"re not ready in ten minutes, I"m leaving!
LH: 好啦！好啦！别催我嘛！再给我5分钟！
******
LL: All right, let"s go. Now.
LH: 等一等！还不能走啦！我还没吃早餐呢！
LL: Well, that"s tough. You"ll just have to wait until after your first class to eat something. Now let"s go!
LH: Tough? 你是要我坚强一点，就这么饿着啊？
LL: No, that"s not what I mean. When I say "that"s tough" that means "too bad". Sometimes, you can just say "tough" by itself. Anyway, It"s too bad that you can"t eat breakfast, but we have to go now.
LH: 噢！tough就是指：没办法了，你就忍着点吧。哎，Larry，你真不讲道理！
LL: That"s right, its not very polite to say "that"s tough!" when someone complains or has a problem. Usually when you say "that"s tough" it means you don"t care about their problem.
LH: 原来你真的一点都不同情我啊！That"s tough, 是不太礼貌的用法，表示你根本不在乎别人的问题。哎呀，Larry我们可不可以至少去一下麦当劳买点吃的！我这样肚子空空的上课也不能专心。
LL: That"s just tough, Li Hua. We don"t have time to get you breakfast. You should have gotten up earlier.
LH: 可是... 起的晚又不是我的错，是我的闹钟坏了嘛！
LL: Tough! I don"t care why you"re late this morning, I just want to get to class on time. Let"s go.
LH: 你真是毫无同情心。我既没有吃早餐，我连今天上课要用的材料都还没看呢！
LL: Tough. You can look at you notes in the car. I"m leaving right now... you"d better come with me if you want a ride to school.
LH: 好啦！好啦！我来了啦！噢！我真的好饿噢！
LL: Tough, Li Hua. If you"d just get yourself together, this kind of thing wouldn"t happen. Let"s go!
今天李华学到两个常用语，一个是get it together, 也可以说get one"s act together, 意思是打起精神，做好该做的事。另一个常用语是tough, 意思是：情况就是这样，没办法了。这是不太礼貌的说法，表示你对别人的困难不在乎。
流行美语第114课
李华和Larry在学生中心的咖啡馆里休息。今天李华会学到两个常用语：cop out和to get worked up.
LL: Hey Li Hua. Some friends and I are planning to go camping and hiking next month. Do you want to come along?
LH: 嗯...去露营啊？嗯，下个月我可能会很忙耶！噢！对！那个周末我已经答应帮我邻居照顾他的狗。
LL: What? I didn"t even tell you when we"re going! Sounds like a cop-out to me!
LH: 对，你还没有告诉我是哪个周末。不过，A cop? cop不是丨警丨察吗？我不去露营和丨警丨察有什么关系？
LL: No, no, I don"t mean "cop" as in "police officer". A cop out, is a weak excuse for not doing something.
LH: 噢，原来cop out是想推脱做某件事，但是理由又很牵强。哎呀，好啦！我招了，我是不喜欢露营！要走那么多路，又会被虫咬，还得睡睡袋，而且我还听说美国有很多熊呢！
LL: Bears? Don"t tell me you won"t go just because you"re afraid of bears. That"s an even stupider cop out.
LH: 好啦好啦！跟熊没有关系，我就是懒惰！不喜欢露营嘛！
LL: That"s what I thought. Well, it"s better to be honest than to cop out. So do you understand what "cop out" means now?
LH: 嗯，我想我大概懂cop out的意思了！给你举个例子吧！我的朋友Jeanna老是说她想学中文，可是当我主动提出要教她时，她又总是说没时间。这就是cop out喽！
LL: Yeah, that sounds like a cop out to me. Most people just aren"t willing to put the time and effort into really learning another language.
LH: 说到学外语，Larry，我记得不久前，你也叫我教你读中文报纸，怎么样？你明天有时间吗？
LL: I, um... I think I"m busy tomorrow. The plumber is coming to my house sometime in the afternoon, so I have to wait for him, and...
LH: 得了吧！ 什么等工人来修水管？谁会相信这种借口。你这才是真正的cop out！
******
LH: (Growls) 嗨！这些学中文的学生，我真不想教了！怎么考试考得这么糟！我看啊，这学期他们一个也别想拿A！
LL: Calm down, Li Hua. Don"t get so worked up over it.
LH: 你要我别work up？你是说我不必那么努力，那什么意思呀？
LL: No, I don"t mean you have to work harder. I mean, you shouldn"t get worked up. To get worked up means to get angry or excited.
LH: 噢，don"t get worked up是别生气的意思！不生气？你看看他们写的中文有难看，而且还老是写错别字。
LL: Let me see those. Hmm... Wow, this isn"t bad at all. I can tell they"re a lot better than they were a few weeks ago. Don"t get so worked up over a few small mistakes!
LH: 你觉得他们比几个星期前进步多了？我看看...嗯，也许你说的对，也许我对他们要求太高了。
LL: That"s right. I can tell most of these students want to learn Chinese. If you always get worked up when they make mistakes, you won"t notice when they improve.
LH: Larry，你说的对，大多数学生都是真的想学，我不应该看到他们的错误就生气，应该多多鼓励他们。
(Sound of distant argument)
LH: 嘿！Jack和Ben两个人在那儿那么生气吵什么啊？
LL: Oh, nothing. It"s election year, and those two are always getting worked up over politics.
LH: 噢，我知道美国人在竞选总统方面意见不一致，但是没有想到有些人会争的面红耳赤。
LL: Yeah, sometimes when you get worked up about something, it shows that you really care about it. Just like you with your students!
LH: 那倒是，关心某件事才会激动，就象我很在乎我学生的成绩。说到学习，Larry你准备好上中文课了吗？
LL: Um... well... OK. No more cop outs. Let"s get started.
今天李华学到两个常用语。一个是cop out，意思是用牵强的借口来逃避做某件事。另一个常用语是to get worked up，就是为某件事生气。