今天要讲的习惯用语由floor或者ceiling组成。Floor是“地板”，而ceiling解释为“天花板”。好，让我们由下而上来学吧。一栋房子的底层常常叫作the ground floor。在生意场上你很可能会听到这样的说法：get in on the ground floor。Get in on the ground floor并不简单地解释为“从底层进来”。让我们听一个例子来琢磨它的意思。
例句-1: He got in on the ground floor when he bought a lot of stock in a new computer company. People thought he was crazy but the company was a big success and now the stock is worth many times more.
这段话说的是：他不失时机地及早买下一家新电脑公司的大量股票，当时人们认为他简直疯了，但是这家公司随即取得很大的成功。如今他买进的股票价值是原来的好多倍。
听了这段话我们能体会到get in on the ground floor在这句话中的含义是早期入股，取得优先地位。
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我们今天学的第二个带有floor这个词的习惯用语是：mop the floor with。听这个习惯用语你脑子里大约会出现这样的景象：用拖把擦去地板上的污迹。实际上mop the floor with描绘的却是对手间的胜负高低。在运动场上常常会用到它。
现在让我们来听电台广播员对一场美式足球赛结局的评论。这是纽约市和华盛顿市之间的美式足球赛。纽约足球队号称Giants。就是巨人队，而华盛顿队叫Redskins，就是红人队。好，我们来听这段体育新闻吧：
例句2: This afternoon the New York Giants mopped the floor with the Washington Redskins. The score was 41-7, the biggest loss the Redskins had suffered in many years.
这段话说：今天下午纽约巨人队把华盛顿红人队打得一败涂地。比分是41比7。这是红人队多年未有的一次惨败。
可见mop the floor with含义就是把对方打得一败涂地。
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接下来我们要转移方向，学和天花板ceiling有关的习惯用语。Glass ceiling，玻璃天花板，必然是粗看似乎没有，而实际上却挡在上方的一层障碍。好，我们来听一个例子，有个人在评论六名女律师控告她们所属的律师事务所的事情。
例句3: I think these six women can certainly prove their firm has a glass ceiling: the firm has 19 senior partners and all of them are men. It"s hard to believe that they"ve never had even one woman lawyer qualified for a top spot there.
他说：我 认为这六名妇女一定能证实她们事务所，存在人为的升迁障碍。这个事务所有十九名高级主管，全是男性。令人难以置信的是那里的妇女谁也够不上高升的资格。
从这段话能体会到glass ceiling形像地表达了阻碍某些人升迁的无形障碍。
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我们还要学一个带有ceiling这个词的习惯用语：hit the ceiling。想象一下，如果一个人跳得百丈高，甚至碰到了天花板，那他一定是恼怒极了。好，我们来听个例子。
例句4: When I got home and saw what my dog had done , I really hit the ceiling. The dog got up on my desk and chewed up the papers there, including a long report I was writing for my boss.
他说：我回家一看到我的狗都干了些什么，简直气得发疯。它在我的书桌上把纸张都嚼烂了，其中包括我正写给上级的那份长篇报告。
你一定能想象说话人当时火冒百丈，hit the ceiling就是这个意思。
美国习惯用语第285讲
今天要讲的习惯用语都有一个关键词run。我们要学的第一个习惯用语是：run like clockwork。 Cclockwork意思是钟表的机件，发条装置。钟表的机构当然该是精确无误的；run like clockwork这个习惯用语起始于十七世纪后期，沿用至今已经有三百年的历史了。那么这个习惯用语含义是不是像钟表一样准确运转呢？
让我们从一个例子来判断这个习惯用语的含义。当今让有些美国家长们头疼的一个问题是学校对孩子管束不严，校内纪律松懈。针对这个问题，不少家庭想到了一条解决途径。下面这段话说的就是这个。请你特别注意里面的习惯用语run like clockwork。
例句-1: Some parents like a military school, because it runs like clockwork. Everything is strict and runs on time from physical training to classes and self-study.
这段话说：有些家长喜欢军校，因为它的运作规律一丝不苟，纪律严明，从体育锻炼到上课和自修时间都掌握得分秒不差。
所以run like clockwork含义就是精确不误，有规律地运作。
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我们今天学的第二个带有run这个词的习惯用语是：cut and run。Cut and run这个习惯用语起源于航海。海上的船只如果遇上了紧急情况，例如，突如其来的风暴或者强大的敌舰，船长急于躲避灭顶之灾，往往不像平常那样下令起锚，而会叫船员砍断锚链，尽快地逃走。这就是cut and run这个习惯用语的出处。但是cut and run现在被广泛应用在其它场合。我们接下来要听一个有关房地产业的例子。
例句2: When the price of new houses dropped so fast, a lot of builders simply cut and ran - they abandoned the houses they were building and that started the bad times in the real estate market.
这段话说，当新房子的价格猛跌的时候，许多建筑商弃阵而逃。他们的建筑工程都半途而废。这导致房地产市场的萧条。
从这段话里可以看出cut and run 含义就是急忙退避不利的形势。
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接下来我们还要学一个带有run这个词的习惯用语：Dry run。Dry run和我们刚学的两个习惯用语不同，这里的run可以当名词用。为了让你体会dry run这个习惯用语含义，我们要听一个例子。这是一位导演在跟即将参加公演的演员们说话：
例句3: Okay, this is our last dry run - the show opens tomorrow. So come on, people, be serious! This is your last chance to improve before we have a live audience sitting out there.
他说：好，这是我们最后一次排练，明天就要开演，希望各位认认真真地排，因为这是你们和观众见面前，最后一次改进机会了。
我想你已经理解这段话里的dry run就是“排练”，但是dry run除了用在表演艺术方面，还常用来指军事演习。比方说：The plane dry runs就是飞机作模拟投弹、假俯冲，或者空弹演习。
美语咖啡屋第13课声音
J: Hello everyone and welcome to American Cafe! My name"s Jody.
Y: 欢迎大家到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。
J: Hey, Yang Chen, I have a joke. Do you have a minute?
Y: Uh huh.
J: Okay, did you hear the one about the mushroom who walked into the bar?
Y: 一只蘑菇走进一个酒吧，很好笑啊。
J: Well, a mushroom walked into a bar and the bartender said, "Hey, get out of here. We don"t serve your kind."
Y: 为什么？
J: That"s exactly what the mushroom asked. "What do mean you don"t serve my kind...I"m a fun guy!" Fun-guy. You know, fungus ... See the mushroom"s a fungus. Oh, never mind. It"s kind of funny. Yang Chen, are you there? Don"t you get it? Fungus...Fungi...
Y: Haha ... 是挺幽默的。我相信我们的听众在收音机前已经笑得直不起腰来了。
J: Oh, you know what, don"t humor me, Yang Chen.
Y: 不错，你还是挺会讲笑话的。继续努力。
J: You know maybe I should take me friend"s comedy class. You know, polish my act a little.
Y: A little？
J: Yeah, you know polish it up a little.
Y: 真的有这种专门教人讲笑话的课吗？
J: Oh sure. My friend Jason teaches a stand up comedy class so I went to check it out.
Y: 怎么样，有什么收获吗？
J: Actually the thing that surprised me the most was how serious the class was. Jason talked a lot about the pain and sorrow in comedy.
Y: 痛苦，悲伤？你确定他们上的是喜剧课？
J: I was surprised too. But let"s here from Jason as he describes his philosophy of comedy.
实录1 Jason: Comedy is actually your pain turned into comedy; that is what it is. It"s the things that affect you in your life. Unfortunately the things that most people will laugh at are your pain and your sorrow that actually is actually in their life as well in some sort of fashion, maybe a bad mother, a bad father, bad working conditions, something like that, but they can still identify.
Y: Jason讲的倒是挺有道理的。幽默就是把自己的痛苦经历当笑话讲给别人听。这样既可以引起他们的共鸣，又可以让他们哈哈一笑，忘记了生活中的不愉快。这的确是很深奥的道理。
J: I agree. We all laugh at things we can identify with. As a comic Jason is not afraid of sharing the most painful parts of his life. During our interview as we were driving from his stand-up class Jason talked about how he grew up with a heart condition, his open heart surgery and the connection to comedy.