"No," they replied in unison.
But a check of their records showed that they had the same parents and were born on the same day. How could this be?
brain-teaser 脑筋急转弯
the first day of class 开学第一天
identical-looking 长相一样的
in unison 齐声
a check of their records 查他们的档案
A classic Brain-teaser
The Bixby Boys
It was the first day of class and Mrs. Feldman had two identical-looking pupils, Ben and Chris Bixby, sitting together in the first row.
"You two are twins, I take it?" she asked.
"No," they replied in unison.
But a check of their records showed that they had the same parents and were born on the same day. How could this be?
brain-teaser 脑筋急转弯
the first day of class 开学第一天
identical-looking 长相一样的
in unison 齐声
a check of their records 查他们的档案，
1951.A guy named 尴尬者 is a showy type of person. He writes well but he enjoys making sensational statements and pseudoscientific claims. He wants to promote himself by putting down others. To me, he is suffering from low self esteem. 有个名叫“尴尬者”的家伙是个喜欢作秀的人，他能写，但是他喜欢发表一些耸人听闻和伪科学的言辞。他透过踩别人来抬举自己，在我看来，他自尊心很低。Look at what he said: 全中国人异口同声地撒了一个自欺欺人的大谎！When only a small handful of people are studying English, how could you say that every Chinese is lying? 你看他造的句子，全中国人撒谎，但只有为数不多的人在读英文，你如何扯到全中国人在撒谎呢？Sensationalism is a good way for attention grabbing. 搞噱头总是引人注目的好办法。
1952.So many things popped up recently, and I am out of pocket. Sorry for that. 最近发生了好多事，我跟大家失去联络了，对不起。out of pocket, 失去联络，外出。Can you cover for me? I’m gonna be out of pocket for a while. 你能顶我一会儿吗？我要出去一下。
1953.After a guy is told that he has swine flu, a lot of questions zip through his mind.当一个人得知他患了猪流感后，他脑海里就会翻滚出一系列问题。
1954.When I am sick, I have a dulled appetite. 病了后，我吃什么都没有胃口。
1955.This disease is life-threatening. 这个疾病能致命。
1956.After he dumped her, she has locked up her heart, convinced that no one would love her anymore. 他把她甩了后，她就一直封闭了心门，不再相信还会有人会爱上她。If the computer is locked up, you can start it again. 如果电脑死机了，你可以重新启动。
1957.Everyone who knows John knows of the torch he carries for Ashley. 认识约翰的人都知道他对艾斯丽怀着单相思。
1958.Do you mind if I tag along? 我跟你一起去好吗？（口语一点的翻译：我作你的跟屁虫好吗？）tag along, 一种累赘性质地跟着。
1959.Do not approach her, you have no chance. Don’t even get your hopes up, there is no way she’d even consider it. She is a Touch-Me-Not. 休得打她的主意，你不会得逞的。你想都不要想，她根本不会考虑（嫁给你）的，她是个冷美人。get your hopes up, 燃起希望，touch-me-not 那种拒人于千里之外的人。
1960.比较make a life and make a living: We girls nowadays want to make a life for ourselves. 我们现代的女孩要独立创造生活。It is rather difficult to make a living with only minimum wage. 最低工资很难维持生活。
1961.What then? 后来呢？
1962.So what? 那有怎样？You are not happy. So what? 你不高兴，那又怎样？
1963.A guy named 尴尬者 has tried to trivialize Teacher X’s work, but Teacher X’s post has got the most readers. What can he do? 有个名叫“尴尬者”的人想着法子要贬低信老师的文章，但是信老师的帖读者最多，他又能怎样呢？
1964.How come? 怎么会这样？When you disagree with Beijing authorities, how come they act like it is our problem? They say you are the problem. 如果大家与北京当局的看法不一样，怎么他们会觉得是我们的不是？他们说，人民才是问题。
1965.Don’t steal. The government hates competition. 切莫偷窃，政府最恨的是竞争。（这句话的意思是讽刺政府才是最大的偷盗者。）
1966.Grumbling and strong social critique are two different things. The former is someone’s personal dissatisfaction with a social issue while the latter offers insights into the root of social problems.抱怨与对社会的强有力的批判是两回不同的事。前者是出于个人对社会某个问题的不满，而后者则是对社会问题在根源上提出深入的探讨。
1967.This robot can self-sustain, reproduce and learn from experience. That is scary. It means it can control us humans someday. 这个机器人能独立生存、繁衍后代，并且不断从经验中学习。这真是太可怕了，这意味着这机器人有天会控制我们人类。
1968.Hi, did I catch you at a bad time? 喂，现在给你电话不方便吗？
1969.前面介绍了一个说“胖女人”的委婉语：She isn’t fat, she is just big boned. 她不胖，只是体型魁梧而已。另两个“胖”的委婉的说法是full figured：She is a full figured woman. 她是个十分丰满的女人。还可以说plus size，大号，实际上这是指超大号。Where can you find some plus size women clothing? 你在哪里可以找到超大号女士衣服？千万不要说某女人很fat,或big，小心她杀了你。
1970.Be serious. This is no laughing matter. 严肃一点，这可不是闹着玩的。
有时候在大学区的网吧上网，看到里面是通宵玩游戏的学生，真是为他们感到心痛，现在不好好学习，以后如何找好的工作？今天的几句话都是围绕“时间”展开。
1971.Time is life. If you waste your time, you waste your life. You waste others’ time, you waste others’ life. When you give someone your time, you are giving them your life. 时间就是生命，你浪费自己的时间就是浪费自己的生命。你浪费别人的时间，就是浪费别人的生命。你为谁舍时间，就是为谁舍命。
1972.“One of these days” really means “none of these days”. “日后有一天”实际意思是“不会有这一天”。人们常说的一句话是：One of these days, I will do…日后总有一天我会去做。。。这样的话都是给自己今天不行动找借口。 “Tomorrow” is Satan’s favorite word.“ 明天”是魔鬼的口头禅。
1973.Do first things first. 先完成重要的事。或者说，Set your priority straight. 孰重孰轻，先要弄清。