Dialogue 1
Jingjing: Wow, is it half past 12 already? Mark, it's great to see you; but do you mind if I get some more work done before we go to lunch?
京晶：哇哦，已經過了12點半了？馬克，很高興見到你來；你介意我們吃午飯前我再多完成點工作嗎？
Mark: Sure, I'll take 5.
馬克，當然不介意，我小憩一會兒。
Jingjing: How about 30 minutes? It's hard for me to think about food until I finish up a good chunk of this stuff.
京晶：30分鐘怎么樣？在我完成這些工作之前，我沒有心情吃東西。
Mark: 10-4, Jingjing. I'll go get us a table at the usual place. See you there sometime before 1.
馬克：我明白，京晶。我先去老地方找個餐位。一點前見。
Jingjing: Hey, Mark. There you are. Well, you got a good table by the window.
京晶：嘿，馬克。你在這。嗯，你找了一個靠窗的好位子呀。
Mark: Yeah. It wasn't crowded when I got here. I was worried they'd 86 me when it started to get packed though. So I ordered this bottle of wine.
馬克：是的，我到這時人還不擁擠。我擔心當餐廳人多起來時他們把我趕出去，所以我點了這瓶酒。
Jingjing: It's the middle of the day. I definitely can't have any booze, because I still have a half day of work ahead of me.
京晶：這會兒中午，我是絕對不能喝酒的，我還有半天的工作要做呢。
Mark: Don't worry. I haven't opened it. I'll just take it with me. It was the same price as at the supermarket.
馬克：別擔心。我沒有打開它。我會把它帶走。它和超市的價格一樣。
Jingjing: Well, ok. Say, what was that thing you said with numbers before you left my office earlier?
京晶：嗯，行。對了，你之才在離開我辦公室前用數字說的東西是什么意思？
Mark: Huh? One? That means one o'clock.
馬克：嗯？一？那意思是一點鐘啊。
Jingjing: No, I mean, something you said just before heading out: it seemed like a way to show you understood what I had said.
京晶：不，我的意思是，你在出去之前說過的話：似乎是表明你理解我所說的話的一種方式。
Mark: Oh yeah, that: 10-4. It means I caught what you said. I think it's from two-way radio—like, we have a clear enough signal that I can hear the difference between “ten” and “four”. It usually means just what you guessed, that I clearly understood what you said.
馬克：哦，那個10-4啊，意思是我明白你說的。我想它出自對講術語，比如，如果我們之間有足夠清晰的信號，讓我能聽出“十”和“四”之間的區別。它意思就是你剛才猜到的那樣，我能準確的理解到你的意思。
Jingjing: Well, that would be harder if people were using walkie-talkies in China, or said 10 and 4 in Chinese over the phone.
京晶：嗯，如果在中國用對講機，或者在電話里說“十”和“四”那就更難了。
Mark: Yeah, because those two numbers sound so similar in Chinese. That might have something to do with why those two numbers are in the idiom.
馬克：是的。因為在中文里這兩個數字的聽起來十分相似。這可能和為什么這兩個數字會被用在習語中有關系。
Jingjing: You think so?
京晶：你這么認為？
Mark: Well, it's all sixes and sevens to me. Just like why 250 in Chinese refers to a stupid guy. Why not 125, right?
馬克：這對我來說毫無意義了。就像為什么在中文里用250指一個愚蠢的家伙，為什么不是125，對吧？
Jingjing: It'd be interesting to know the answers about some of those. Oh, is that our food?
京晶：知道其中一些問題的答案會很有趣。噢，那是我們的食物嗎？
Mark: Yep. Here it comes. I'm in seventh heaven when I have something delicious to eat.
馬克：是的，上菜了。當我有好吃的東西的時特別開心。

New words : 習語短語
take 5 小憩
take a short break, have a rest for five minutes
10-4 I understand, I heard what you said 明白、理解（通常別人尚未解釋之前）
86 (someone) kick someone out of a place of business (86 something means to veto it)
將某人踢出營業場所（86某事意味著否決）
all sixes and sevens something that doesn't make sense 一些無意義的東西
in seventh heaven very happy 非常開心、高興

Dialogue 2
Jingjing: Well, Mark, this was a great lunch; but I'd better get back to my 9-to-5.
京晶：嗯，馬克，這可真是一頓很豐盛的午餐；但我最好還是回到我朝九晚五的工作。
jingjing
Mark: Yeah, you've still got the whole afternoon ahead of you. Take it easy.
馬克：是的，你還有整個下午的時間呢，放輕松嘛。
Jingjing: Hey, before I head back in, I wonder if you could tell me what a one-horse town is.
京晶：嘿，在我回去之前，我想知道你是否可以告訴我單馬鎮是什么。
Mark: Huh? What made you think of that?
馬克：嗯？你為什么想知道這個？
Jingjing: Before we started eating, we were talking about idioms with numbers.
京晶：在我們開始吃飯之前，我們一直在討論有數字的俚語。
Mark: Oh, ok. Well, a one-horse town is a small town, so small that there is only one horse. Of course, the idiom comes from a time before cars.
馬克：哦，好。單馬鎮就是一個小城鎮，小到只有一匹馬。當然，這個習語出自汽車時代之前。
Jingjing: I see. So it refers to a tiny town, with a population of only a few people.
京晶：我明白了，所以它指的是一個只有少量人口的小鎮。
Mark: Yeah. Even if it has a hundred thousand people now, lots of cars and even a few horses, someone could say, “I don't want to go to college here in this one-horse town.”
馬克：是的。即使現在有十萬人，有很多車，甚至還有一些馬，一個人就可以說，“我不想在這個小地方兒上大學?！?br />Jingjing: Oh, 10-4.
京晶：哦，10-4。（明白）
Mark: Um, actually, you can't use 10-4 after someone has explained something, only when they've given a command or arranged something.
馬克：嗯，實際上，當有人把某些東西解釋明白之后，你就不能用10-4了，只有在他們給出指令或安排了某些事情時才用。
Jingjing: Really? Do you know an idiom with numbers that people use to express understanding of something a person has explained to them, like just now?
京晶：真的嗎？你知不知什么數字成語可以表達一個人已經明白了他人剛剛解釋過的事情，就像剛才一樣？
Mark: Hmm, I can't think of one at the moment.
馬克：嗯，我現在想不出來。
Jingjing: Ten to one there is an idiom for that.
京晶：很可能有一個俚語可以表達這意思。
Mark: Sure. Thanks for not giving me the third degree about it, though.
馬克：當然可能有。但是，謝謝你沒有繼續難為我。
Jingjing: No worries. You didn't press me too much to explain 250. Hey, that reminds me: you'd better not drink that wine all by yourself, or you'll have one over the eight.
京晶：不用擔心。你沒有給我太多的壓力來解釋250. 嘿，這提醒了我：你最好不要自己喝完那瓶酒，你會醉的。
Mark: Never in a million years. I'll probably give this to someone as a gift.
馬克：當然不會。我可能會把這個當作禮物送給別人。
Jingjing: Great idea. Well, see you next time, Mark.
京晶：好主意。好吧，下次再見，馬克。
Mark: See you, Jingjing.
馬克：再見，京晶。


New words : 習語短語
9-to-5 a regular office job, with working hours between 9AM and 5PM
朝九晚五的常規辦公室工作
a one-horse towna very small town, with few people and not much to offer
人口和供給都很少的小鎮
ten to one 很可能
very likely
(give someone) the third degree 一直問同一個問題，為難某人
give someone a hard time, keep asking the same questions
have one over the eight be drunk 喝醉
never in a million years very unlikely, absolutely not 不可能，絕對不會