Part 2 At the Orthodontist's II 在牙醫診所（下）

Dialogue Script 2 對話原文 2

Tim: Here I am! The guy that looks like an idiot!
Mom: Now don't be so silly. Lots of young people like you have braces.
Tim: That doesn't make me feel better, Mom.
Mom: What did Dr. Andrews say?
Tim: She said I have to keep them super clean. And I have to see her every two weeks.
Mom: Will you need a retainer after they come off?
Tim: She's not sure about that yet. It depends on how well the teeth move.
Mom: How long will you have to wear the braces?
Tim: Probably for two years. Two very long years.
Mom: You'll see. You'll thank us when you're older.
Tim: It's hard to look that far ahead, Mom. No girl will want to date me now.
Mom: If a girl won't date you because of braces, then she isn't the right girl for you.
Tim: A girl might have dated me if I had gotten the see-through braces, Mom!
Mom: Those ones are a rip-off, Tim! And they aren't invisible or anything like that.

講解：

1. 對話中，Tim從牙醫診所回到了家，很不滿意，覺得戴上牙套的自己就像個傻瓜。媽媽安慰他說，別傻了，很多像Tim一樣的年輕人都在戴牙套。Don't be silly.就是告訴別人不要犯傻，不要想那么多了。比如說，Don't be silly! He's not coming back! 別傻了，他不會回來了。

2. Tim聽了媽媽的話，并沒有覺得好受多少，大家都戴牙套并不等于戴牙套就很好看。媽媽又問Andrews醫生是怎么說的。醫生說Tim必須讓牙套保持超級干凈。還有就是他每兩周都要去一次牙醫診所復查。

3. And I have to see her every two weeks.當中的see her并不是說去看望她，而是去她的診所看病。就像我們平時說的see a doctor表面上看是“去看望醫生”，其實是說“去醫院看病”。那么在牙套拿下來之后Tim還需要戴固定器嗎？固定器的說法是retainer。在戴牙套的療程結束之后，會繼續戴一陣子固定器，來固定牙齒的位置。

4. 醫生也不確定Tim到底用不用戴固定器，這要看牙齒移動的情況而定。那么Tim的牙套到底要戴多久呢？也許會戴兩年，這兩年對Tim來說，將會是非常漫長的。媽媽說到時候Tim就會知道戴牙套的好處了，那時他非常感謝他們。但是誰能看得那么長遠呢？It's hard to look that far ahead.

5. Tim怕戴上牙套之后就沒有女生愿意跟他約會了。媽媽說如果一個女孩因為你戴牙套就不跟你約會，那么這個女孩就不是適合你的女生。Tim覺得如果他戴的是透明牙套，女生說不定就愿意跟他約會了。

6. see-through表示“透明的”。媽媽告訴Tim說那些所謂透明的牙套都是騙人的東西，而且不是真的一點都看不到。Those ones are a rip-off當中的 rip-off 是一個俚語詞匯，表示“騙人的、騙錢的東西”。比如說，10 Dollars for a cup of coffee! What a rip-off! 一杯咖啡要10美元！真是宰人！還有一個俚語是 rip sb off，表示“欺騙某人，特別是欺騙某人的錢財”。比如說，The old man tried to rip me off. 那個老頭想騙我的錢。

Part 3 Brace-face 鐵面人

Dialogue Script 1 對話原文 1

Mom: Hey, Tim! How was your first day at school?
Tim: I have a new nickname... "brace-face".
Mom: "Brace-face"? Ah, that ain't so bad! Kids used to call me worse names than that!
Tim: You're just trying to cheer me up.
Mom: No! We used to call kids with braces "metal mouths." Ha-ha!
Tim: Yeah, well, they call me that too, Mom.
Mom: Oh, I'm sorry! But who cares! They're only names. I know you're tougher than that!
Tim: I just always feel so stupid. I'm afraid to smile.
Mom: It would be a shame if you stopped smiling for the next two years.
Tim: I feel like a little kid.
Mom: Just trust us on this one. One day you;ll be able to look back at this and laugh.
Tim: Right. I'll be laughing with tears in my eyes because it's so sad.
Mom: Ha! Sometimes you're funny when you're silly. If you ever need a date, I'm always available.
Tim: Yeah, thanks, Mom.

講解：

1. 今天是Tim開學的第一天，他感覺怎么樣呢？Tim有了一個新外號，brace-face，就是“鐵面人”，或者叫“牙套男”也行。nickname是指“外號，綽號”，比如說，As he was always cheerful he had he nickname "Smiler". 因為他總是樂呵呵的，所以他的外號叫“樂樂”。

2. nickname 還可以表示“愛稱，昵稱”，舉個例子，Harold's nickname was Harry. Harold的昵稱是Harry。 nickname跟name一樣，也可以作為動詞，意思是“給別人起外號”，比如說，He was nicknamed Fatty because he was so skinny! 因為他很瘦，所以給他起個外號叫“胖子”！

3. 媽媽說，“鐵面人”這個綽號已經不錯了，她小時候還有過更糟糕的外號呢，Tim不相信，說媽媽只是哄他開心罷了。cheer sb up 表示“讓某人更高興或者更快活”，比如說，He made faces to cheer up his sister. 他做鬼臉逗妹妹笑。

4. cheer up 也可以單獨使用，表示“高興起來，振作起來”，比如說，You seem to need cheering up. 你似乎需要振作起來。cheer up 還有一個比喻的用法，表示“為某物增添光彩”，比如說，The flowers always cheer the room up. 房間里一有花就滿室增輝。

5. 媽媽小時候那些戴牙套的小孩子都會被稱為“大鋼牙”，metal mouth。媽媽沒想到的是Tim的同學也這樣叫他。媽媽安慰Tim說，沒關系，這些只是名字而已，不要那么介意，Tim足夠堅強可以應付得來。

6. Tim一直覺得戴牙套很傻，也一直不敢笑，但是如果他接下來兩年都不笑的話，可就太糟糕了。Tim此時感覺自己就像個小孩子，那么無助。媽媽說這件事聽他們的準沒錯，有朝一日Tim會笑著回顧這段時間的。trust sb on sth 表示“相信某人對某事的判斷。

7. 這里 look back at/on sth and laugh 表示“笑看往事”。當你面對不愉快的事情的時候，與其一直耿耿于懷，不如換個角度想，等到事過境遷的時候，或許這會是一段很有意思的回憶。這時候就可以用look back at/on sth and laugh這個句式了。我們來用一段對話作例子，---We'll look back at this and laugh one day. ---I hope so, because I just want to cry now. ---有朝一日我們回想起這件事的時候會覺得很好笑。---但愿如此，因為現在我只想哭。還有，---In ten years, you'll look back at your childhood dairies and laugh. ---My kids might think they're funny, too. ---十年后，你會笑著看你小時候寫的日記。---我的孩子說不定也會覺得很好笑。

8. Tim還是很悲觀，他說，沒錯，到時候我會笑中還有淚，因為回想起來實在是太悲哀了。媽媽開玩笑說Tim犯起傻氣來還真可愛。還大方地說，無論Tim什么時候需要約會對象，她都有空奉陪。這可讓Tim哭笑不得，只好道謝。

Dialogue Script 2 對話原文 2

Tim: Mom! My teeth are killing me. And the skin inside my mouth is all cut up.
Mom: Did Dr. Andrews say that was normal?
Tim: Yeah. I spit up blood sometimes, too. It's gross. The tightening today was torture!
Mom: The doctor told me the tightening is the worst part because it forces the teeth to move.
Tim: She said I could put some wax pieces on the braces to smooth them out.
Mom: Give it a whirl then, I'm sure it'll help.
(Later)
Tim: Gross! Look at this meat and lettuces from my burger today!
Mom: Where? I don't see any?
Tim: In my teeth! See! There's always guck hiding in there.
Mom: Just pick it out.
Tim: Sometimes, it comes flying out by itself! Even worse, sometimes it's when I'm talking to people - even girls!
Mom: Maybe you can carry a net in front of your face?
Tim: Ha! Sure, Mom!
Mom: At least I make you smile again...finally!

講解：

1.Tim的牙齒很疼，嘴里的皮肉都被割破了。My teeth are killing me.當中的 kill 不是“殺死某人”的意思，而是指“令人疼痛”。我們還可以說My back/head/finger...is killing me. 我的背/腦袋/手指頭等身體部位疼死了。

2. 媽媽很心疼Tim，問Andrews醫生是怎么說的呢？她認為這種現象是正常的嗎？帶牙套難免會磨破口腔里的皮膚，所以這種現象還是正常的。有時候Tim還會吐血，spit up blood。

3. 關于spit還有一個在口語中比較常用的用法，就是 spit it out，表示“有什么事情就痛快說出來，別婆婆媽媽的”。例如，What exactly are you trying to say? Come on, just spit it out! 你到底要跟我說什么？你就爽快點說出來吧。Tim說吐血很惡心，It's gross. gross這個詞在口語中表示“讓人厭惡的，惡心的”。

4. 今天Tim又去了牙科診所把牙套綁緊，差點沒把他疼死，真是一場酷刑，The tightening today was torture!。媽媽也聽醫生說因為綁緊牙套是在強迫牙齒移動，所以說是最難受的部分了。

5. 醫生告訴Tim可以在牙套上放一些蠟塊，讓牙套平滑一點。wax piece 就是指“蠟塊”，一種像粘土的軟蠟，戴牙套的患者可以取一小塊覆蓋在牙套銳利的地方，來防止割破口腔。

6. 媽媽說，既然醫生這么說了，就試試吧，Give it a whirl then。whirl當名詞的時候，可以當“混亂，旋轉”，但在Give it a whirl這個口語用法中，就是“嘗試”的意思。我們用一個對話來作例子，---Here, let's give this game a whirl. ---All right. Here goes nothing. ---來，咱們來試試這種游戲。---好啊，反正沒什么損失。還有，---You mind if I test-drive your motorcycle? ---Give her a whirl. ---介意我試騎一下你的摩托車嗎？---騎騎看吧。

7. Tim照鏡子看自己的牙套，覺得好惡心，上面還有今天吃的漢堡里面的肉和萵苣。牙齒里面總是有些黏黏的東西。There's always guck hiding in there. guck表示“黏滑討厭的東西”。

8. 媽媽說沒關系，挑出來就好了。Tim說有時候這些黏黏的東西還會自己飛出來，更糟糕的是，有時候是在他跟別人說話的時候，甚至是和女孩子說話的時候，這下可糗大了。媽媽建議說，也許Tim可以在臉的前面掛一張網，這樣說話的時候就不怕東西噴出來了。Tim大笑起來，覺得老媽真可愛，竟然想到這個點子。媽媽也松了一口氣，她終于又讓Tim開口笑起來了，真不容易。