下面这个例子是讲一对夫妇。一开始的时候，那个丈夫在外面有外遇。后来，太太也决定用同样的方法来治她的丈夫。下面是他们的一位好朋友在说话。
例句4: Jack and Joan have been my friends for over ten years. I felt bad for Joan when Jack started to have an affair last year. But Joan"s decision to fight fire with fire by having an affair herself made things much worse.
这个朋友说：我跟杰克和琼已经是十几年的朋友了。杰克去年开始在外面有外遇。我为琼感到很难受。但是，琼决定自己也去找一个男朋友，用以牙还牙的方式来对待杰克。这可是把事情弄得越来越糟。
流行美语第246课
Larry到李华家来看蜘蛛人的DVD。李华今天要学两个常用语，rocket science和chemistry。
LL: What"s the matter, Li Hua? I can"t believe you are having trouble with the DVD player. I mean, it"s not rocket science!
LH: Rocket science？这是我家，又不是航空航天局，怎么会有火箭科学。
LL: Well, when I said it wasn"t rocket science, I meant it shouldn"t be hard for you to get the DVD player to start.
LH: 噢，rocket Science在这儿的意思是指很难弄懂的东西。但是使用DVD机不该是什么难事。
LL: That"s it! Getting the DVD player to work should be as simple as pushing a few buttons, and not nearly as complicated as rocket science. . . Hey, look, you got it working, Li Hua!
LH：行了，没什么难的，只要知道按哪个键就行了。
LL: Now all we need is popcorn to eat with our movie. I can go make some. I mean, making popcorn isn"t rocket science.
LH: 好啊，你负责爆米花，东西都在厨房微波炉下面的抽屉里。
LL: Ok, I"m in the kitchen looking at the microwave, and I see three drawers. Which one is it?
LH: It"s not rocket science, Larry. 你把三个抽屉都拉开看看不就行了吗！
LL: Oh, look at that! The popcorn was right on top. Now let me read the instructions. Hmm....Should be very easy. One doesn"t have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out.
LH: Larry, 你怎么这么长时间啊！要帮忙吗？用微波炉爆米花，不应该是什么rocket Science吧。
LL: It isn"t rocket science, Li Hua. The instructions are very easy. It"s just I can"t get the plastic wrapper off the popcorn packet.
LH: 包装纸撕不开？I"m not a rocket scientist, but let me try. . .你看，只要抓住两边轻轻这么一拉就开了。
LL: Wow, Li Hua. Maybe you are a rocket scientist after all. That was pretty good. I better let you do the rest.
LH: Larry, 别这么懒，你又不是没用过微波炉。You know it"s not rocket science.
******
(Operating microwave machine.)
LL: Mmmm...This popcorn is really good, Li Hua. And so is the movie. The chemistry between the lead actor and actress is really good.
LH: 化学？我最后一次上化学课还是高中的事。化学跟蜘蛛人和他的女朋友Mary Jane有什么关系呀？
LL: When two people are attracted to each other or get along really well -- they have chemistry.
LH: 我明白了，就像做化学实验的时候一样。中文里也有两个人之间有化学反应的说法，就是说两个人互相吸引，或者是很合得来。
LL: So, now that you know what I meant by "chemistry," what do you think -- do the actors in Spiderman have good chemistry or not?
LH: 我觉得有。他们演得很逼真，真让我觉得他们彼此相爱。但是我有一个问题，Larry.
LL: What is it, Li Hua?
LH: 有的时候化学物质混在一起可能起发生爆炸，那这是不是“坏的”化学反应呢？能用来形容人跟人之间的关系吗？
LL: Absolutely! When two people really don"t like each other or can"t get along -- that is bad chemistry.
LH: 我原来有两个邻居，可以说是势不两立，经常互相对骂，他们俩而就是纯粹的bad chemistry.
LL: It sure sounds like it. Speaking of bad chemistry, one of the people I work with really doesn"t get along with my boss. They often argue about the littlest things.
LH: 你同事跟老板有bad chemistry？那可得小心，不定哪天就会被炒了鱿鱼。
LL: You"re right, Li Hua...Say, Li Hua, what do you think about the chemistry between us?
LH: Larry, 这还用问吗！It"s not rocket science. 我们认识都快七年了，没有good chemistry, 就不会一直做朋友做到今天了。
今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是rocket science, 意思是很难做，很难懂的事情。另一个是chemistry, 是指人跟人之间的感情关系。
美国习惯用语第247讲
这次节目里我们要讲的两个习惯用语都有一个关键的字。那就是：Half. Half就是什么东西，什么份量或重量的一半。我们今天要讲的第一个习惯用语是：Half-baked. Bake就是烤蛋糕，烤面包，或烤其他食品的烤。Bake的过去式就是在bake后面加一个d，成为baked。Half-baked这两个字之间有一个连接号。Half-baked的意思不难猜。要是一只鸡放在烤箱里没有烤熟就拿出来了。那就是half-baked。同样，一个没有完成的计划，或项目也可以说是half-baked。
在下面我们要举的例子里，一个公司的经理在对公司的经销部主任讲话。
例句-1: Bill, I"m sorry but this sales plan looks half-baked to me. There are some good ideas here, but I want you to take it back and do some more work on it.
这个经理说：比尔，我很抱歉。这个推销计划看起来好像还不完整。计划里有些主意很好，但是我要你把这个计划拿回去再在上面下点功夫。
******
每个人做事的作风不一样。有的人很麻俐，办什么事都乾净利索，有始有终。可是，也有人做什么事都是拖拖拉拉，而且还往往做了一半就不干了。下面是一个爸爸在劝自己的儿子做事不要虎头蛇尾。
例句2: You see, you washed the car, but left the Windows unclean. You did the dishes last night, but you forgot to turn on the dishwasher. Somehow you give people the impression that whatever you do is half-baked.
这个爸爸说：你看，你洗了汽车，但是没有把窗子打扫乾净。昨晚，洗了碗，但是你忘了开洗碗机的开关。你似乎给人一个印象，不管你做什么，你总是虎头蛇尾,没做完。
美国家庭往往给孩子分配一些适合他们的工作，培养他们帮助父母做一些家务的习惯。但是，现在很多地方都有机器洗汽车的服务，所以自己洗车的人越来越少。
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要是一个人对自己做的事缺乏热情，那这个人对自己从事的工作就会漠不关心，是成功还是失败都不在乎。这在英文里就是：Half-hearted. Half-hearted是由half和hearted这两个字组成，当中有一个连接号。Half-hearted从字面上就可以猜到它的意思。也就是：半心半意。Half-hearted的反面就是 wholehearted。那就是：全心全意。我们来举一个例子。
在这个例子里不仅有half-hearted跟wholehearted这两个字，而且还有我们刚才讲的第一个习惯用语half-baked。现在请大家听这个例句。
例句3: Normally I"d give my wholehearted support to a bill to cut taxes. But this bill is so half-baked I can only give it half-hearted support and hope that somebody else introduces a bill that makes better sense.
说这句话的人似乎是一个国会议员。他是在说他对其他议员提出的提案的看法。这句话的意思是：在一般情况下，我会全心全意支持减少税收的提案。但是这个提案很不成熟，我只能半心半意地支持它。我希望有人会提出一个更有意义的提案。
******
我们再用half-hearted和wholehearted这两个字来举一个例子。上面这个例句涉及政治问题。下面这个例句讲的是爱情。这是一个哥哥在劝他的弟弟。
例句4: Mark, you"re my brother, but I have to be frank with you. I can understand why your wife wants to divorce you. You must admit you"ve never loved her wholeheartedly and half-hearted love is worse than none.
这个哥哥说：马克，你是我的亲兄弟，可是我得跟你很坦率。我能够理解为什么你的妻子要和你离婚。你必须承认，你从来也没有全心全意地爱过她，而半心半意的爱比没有爱心更坏。
流行美语第247课
Larry有两张歌剧的票，邀请李华一起去。李华今天要学两个常用语，primo和glued。
LL: Hey, Li Hua, I"ve got two primo tickets to the opera. Would you like to come with me?
LH: 歌剧？好啊。不过Larry, 什么是primo ticket ? Primo听起来不太象英语，是外来语吧？
LL: You are right, Li Hua. Primo is an Italian word that means "number one" or "first-class."
LH: 噢，primo是意大利语，意思是最好的，最棒的。
LL: When I said I had primo tickets to the opera, I meant I had very, very good seats.