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第 129 课:play hooky / put one's foot down

今天李华到Larry家来借一本书,碰巧Larry的妈妈打电话来。什么事呢?你听了他们的对话就知道了。今天李华会学到两个常用语:play hooky和put one's foot down。(Hang up phone)

LH: Larry,怎么啦?你看起来很不高兴。

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: 你妹妹给你妈惹麻烦了。你说她上星期在学校连续两天played hooky? 那是一种游戏吗?为什么你妈妈会生气啊?

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就是逃学,旷课的意思。那很严重耶!我要是逃学,我妈妈一定会非常非常生气!

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: 对,偶尔旷课还可以,如果像你妹妹这样常常逃课,成绩当然会受影响喽!那你妈妈打算怎么做?

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!至少一个月不能看电视、不许和朋友通电话,也不可以和朋友出去。这样的处罚是够厉害的。不过也许她能得到教训,以后不再逃学。

LL: I hope so. Hey, you really never played hooky when you were a kid?

LH: 嗯,有那么几次我不想上学,就装病待在家里。这样也算play hooky吗?

LL: Of course, that counts! Actually, I think every kid has used that trick to play hooky at least once.

LH: 对,假装生病是孩子们想逃学时常用的借口。我记得我是因为有的同学老是取笑我,所以我不想上学。

LL: Unfortunately, I think that's probably a very common reason for playing hooky from school.

LH: Larry,刚才是谁打电话来?

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: 你妈妈罚你妹妹两个月不准看电视,也不准和朋友出去玩,那是够厉害的。可是,Larry, 你刚才说put her foot down是什么意思?

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就是采取坚定立场,严厉执行。你妈妈是不是也曾经对你这么严格啊?

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。中国人常说,“近朱者赤,近墨者黑,”你妈妈是怕你交了坏朋友,所以才不让你跟他交往。

LL: Well, haven't you ever had to put your foot down with anyone?

LH: 你还记得我那讨厌的同屋吗?在她开始偷我的东西之后,我就对她不客气了。

LL: Yeah, I remember that. I think you probably should have put your foot down before then, but you were too nice.

LH: 是,我可能早就不该迁就她了。不过,我总觉得不太好意思,不太敢和别人发生冲突。

LL: You've got to learn to put your foot down when it's necessary, otherwise people will take advantage of you.

LH:没错,必要的时候就得学会对别人硬一些,有的人就是会欺软怕硬。

今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是play hooky, 是逃学,或旷课。另外一个常用语是put one's foot down, 意思是很坚定,采取严厉手段。