VOA流行美語 Unit 129: play hooky/put one's foot&nb
VOA流行美語 Unit 129: play hooky/put one's foot down
今天李華到Larry家來借一本書,碰巧Larry的媽媽打電話來。什麼事呢?你聽了他們的對話就知道了。今天李華會學到兩個常用語:play hooky和put one's foot down。
![VOA流行美語 Unit 129: play hooky/put one's foot&nb VOA流行美語 Unit 129: play hooky/put one's foot&nb](https://i3.yyxkb.com/131b9ea15ce070/5647d6/131a89b451/5647d6f60fb63b.jpg)
(Hang up phone)
LH: Larry,怎麼啦?你看起來很不高興。
LL: Oh, it's just that my little sister is giving my mom a lot of trouble. She played hooky from school two days in a row last week.
LH: 你妹妹給你媽惹麻煩了。你説她上星期在學校連續兩天played hooky? 那是一種遊戲嗎?為什麼你媽媽會生氣啊?
LL: No, it's not a game. To play hooky is to skip school or work when you have no excuse for doing so.
LH: 噢!play hooky就是逃學,曠課的意思。那很嚴重耶!我要是逃學,我媽媽一定會非常非常生氣!
LL: Every kid plays hooky once in a while, but playing hooky as often as my little sister does is a serious problem. It's affecting her grades.
LH: 對,偶爾曠課還可以,如果像你妹妹這樣常常逃課,成績當然會受影響嘍!那你媽媽打算怎麼做?
LL: She'll forbid my sister from watching TV, talking on the phone, or going out with her friends for at least a month.
LH: 哇!至少一個月不能看電視、不許和朋友通電話,也不可以和朋友出去。這樣的處罰是夠厲害的。不過也許她能得到教訓,以後不再逃學。
LL: I hope so. Hey, you really never played hooky when you were a kid?
LH: 嗯,有那麼幾次我不想上學,就裝病待在家裏。這樣也算play hooky嗎?
LL: Of course, that counts! Actually, I think every kid has used that trick to play hooky at least once.
LH: 對,假裝生病是孩子們想逃學時常用的藉口。我記得我是因為有的同學老是取笑我,所以我不想上學。
LL: Unfortunately, I think that's probably a very common reason for playing hooky from school.
******
LH: Larry,剛才是誰打電話來?
LL: That was my sister. My mom really put her foot down this time. She's not allowed to watch TV or see her friends for two months. She's really upset.
LH: 你媽媽罰你妹妹兩個月不準看電視,也不準和朋友出去玩,那是夠厲害的。可是,Larry, 你剛才説"put her foot down"是什麼意思?
LL: Oh, to put one's foot down means to take a really firm stance on something and enforce it.
LH: Put one's foot down就是採取堅定立場,嚴厲執行。你媽媽是不是也曾經對你這麼嚴格啊?
LL: I was generally a good kid, but she did put her foot down once that I can remember. She thought one of my friends was a bad influence, so she didn't allow me to hang out with him
LH: 那是可以理解。中國人常説,“近朱者赤,近墨者黑,”你媽媽是怕你交了壞朋友,所以才不讓你跟他交往。
LL: Well, haven't you ever had to put your foot down with anyone?
LH: 你還記得我那討厭的同屋嗎?在她開始偷我的東西之後,我就對她不客氣了。
LL: Yeah, I remember that. I think you probably should have put your foot down before then, but you were too nice.
LH: 是,我可能早就不該遷就她了。不過,我總覺得不太好意思,不太敢和別人發生衝突。
LL: You've got to learn to put your foot down when it's necessary, otherwise people will take advantage of you.
LH:沒錯,必要的時候就得學會對別人硬一些,有的人就是會欺軟怕硬。
今天李華學到兩個常用語。第一個是play hooky, 是逃學,或曠課。另外一個常用語是put one's foot down, 意思是很堅定,採取嚴厲手段。