今天Larry(LL)到Li Hua(LH)的宿舍去串门,Li Hua正在为期末论文和考试做准备,压力很大。我们要学两个常用语:hang in there和stressed out。
LL: Li Hua, you look exhausted. Is everything OK?
LH: 哎哟,Larry,我得在星期五以前赶出两篇论文,星期五还有一门课要大考,你说我能不累吗?I AM exhausted!
LL: Hang in there, Li Hua! After Friday it will be all over, and then you can relax.
LH: Hang in there? 那是什么意思呀?
LL: Hang in there. Hang in there just means "to keep enduring" or "to persist through a difficult situation."
LH: 噢,hang in there的意思就是,在困难的情况下再忍一忍,或者坚持下去。Hang in there - Hmm……这个说法很有意思。不过hang这个词本意不是“悬挂”吗?
LL: That's right, but "hang in there" can also mean "to stay the same" or "to not give up".
LH: 噢,我明白了,hang in there就是要"坚持下去,不要放弃"的意思。
LL: Exactly! Remember last semester when you had two tests and a term paper due the same week, you hung in there and even managed to get good grades. When things get tough, you just have to hang in there.
LH: 我当然记得上学期的那个礼拜。一个星期里,我有两门课要考试,还要交一篇学期论文。我当时咬紧牙关坚持学习,结果还得了好分数。所以你说,这就是hang in there的意思吧?
LL: You're right! Let me give you another example. If someone is having an emergency and calls the 9-1-1 emergency hotline, the operator might say, "Hang in there, an ambulance will be there in a few minutes".
LH: 噢,你说要是遇到紧急情况打911电话,接线员可能会说,Hang in there! 也就是说:"别着急,坚持一下,救护车马上就到"的意思。
LL: So, just hang in there, Li Hua. You'll finish the papers before Friday and get good grades for the test too!
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LH: 嗨,Larry, 我刚考完试。现在好了,我可以轻松一下了。
LL: Well, I'm glad to see you so happy now that your test is over and those papers are done. You were really stressed out last week!
LH: 就是啊,我现在好高兴。可是,你说我上星期怎么了?Stressed out?
LL: I said you were "stressed out". Stressed out means that you were under so much stress and pressure that you barely made it.
LH: 噢,stressed out意思就是“压力太大,几乎承受不了”。Hmm, 这话一点没错,我上个星期还真是有点顶不住了。Larry, 你倒是好像不太容易stressed out。
LL: That's because I know that to be stressed out usually makes things worse. I find that I do better on a test when I'm not stressed out about it.
LH: Hmm, 我也有这种感觉,你越是感到压力大,越会坏事。在这种情况下,考试都是考不好的。
LL: Last week, you appeared a little bit impatient, but I understand it's because you were really stressed out about your papers. So I encouraged you to HANG IN THERE.
LH: 我上星期显得很烦躁呀!哟,我自己还没有察觉呢。Larry, 我要是对你显得不耐烦, 对不起哟!下次再遇到压力很大的情况,也就是我stressed out的时候,我一定会记住,要坚持下去,要hang in there.
LL: Oh, don't worry about it. The last thing I want is for you to stress out about making me upset. By the way, did you call Michael last night?
LH: 对,我打了。他说他还不太习惯那儿的生活,我让他hang in there! Try not to be stressed out. 他还让我向你问好呢!
LL: That's nice!