VOA流行美語(yǔ) Unit 118: flunk/lose sleep over

李華正在家里批改中文班學(xué)生的考卷。Larry來(lái)找他。今天李華會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：flunk和lose sleep over.

(Paper rustling sounds)

LH: (sighs) 唉，這兩個(gè)學(xué)生又不及格了。這學(xué)期他們已經(jīng)是第三次考試不及格了！

LL: What? You're flunking them? I thought I told you to go easy on your poor students.

LH: 你在說(shuō)什么啊？flunk them? 什么是flunk?

LL: I said you are going to flunk the students. That means you're going to give them a failing grade.

LH: 噢！flunk就是給他們不及格分?jǐn)?shù)啊，那你還真說(shuō)對(duì)了。你看看他們的考卷！這能及格嗎？

LL: Heh, let me see... whoa, that guy even wrote his own Chinese name wrong! If he can't even get that right, he's almost definitely going to flunk!

LH: 就是嘛！連自己的中文名都寫錯(cuò)。我只能給他不及格了。等等，Larry，你先是說(shuō)我flunk這些學(xué)生，給他們不及格，現(xiàn)在又說(shuō)他們自己要flunk。這到底是誰(shuí)要flunk誰(shuí)啊？

LL: The word flunk can mean both "to give a failing grade to" as well as "to fail a course". So if you flunk that student, he will flunk the class. Got it?

LH: 噢，我懂了，flunk既可以指給學(xué)生不及格的分?jǐn)?shù)，也可以指學(xué)生自己考不及格。那Larry, 你是不是也有過(guò)不及格的時(shí)候啊？

LL: What? No way! ...well, almost. Actually, I almost flunked my first beginner's Chinese class. But I managed to pass with a C.

LH: 我的天啊！只拿到C？你啊！八成和我這些學(xué)生一樣懶散，不認(rèn)真。我要是你的中文老師，絕對(duì)讓你不及格的！

LL: Hey, I did my best! My first Chinese teacher even tutored me on her own free time. If it weren't for her, I would have flunked!

LH: 嗯，那是你運(yùn)氣，老師愿意幫你補(bǔ)課。我也愿意幫這些學(xué)生補(bǔ)習(xí)，可是他們經(jīng)常連課都不來(lái)上，我能怎么辦？

LL: They don't come to class? What a couple of idiots. Well, go ahead and flunk them, then.

******

LH: (Sighs) 唉！我真不知道該怎么處理那兩個(gè)學(xué)生的成績(jī)。

LL: Yeah, I'd go ahead and just flunk them. Don't lose any sleep over it, they deserve it.

LH: 你要我別怎么樣？睡不著覺(jué)？你在說(shuō)些什么啊？

LL: When I say lose sleep over something, I mean not to worry about it a lot.

LH: 噢，你這么說(shuō)我就懂了。Lose sleep over something就是說(shuō)你非常擔(dān)心某件事情，而到了睡不著覺(jué)的地步。Larry，你真以為我會(huì)為這兩個(gè)學(xué)生擔(dān)心到失眠吶？

LL: Of course not. When we use this phrase, we are just exaggerating. I know you won't really lose sleep over something like this.

LH: 原來(lái)lose sleep over是有點(diǎn)夸張的說(shuō)法。我雖然還不到失眠的程度。可是有時(shí)候我真覺(jué)得當(dāng)一個(gè)老師壓力好大，有好多責(zé)任呢！

LL: Most of your students seem to be doing pretty well, right? You aren't losing any sleep over the other students, are you?

LH: 沒(méi)有！我有一些學(xué)生非常聰明，也很用功。

LL: That's good. That means the other two students are just irresponsible. There's no need to lose sleep over them failing your class.

LH: 對(duì)了，就這兩個(gè)學(xué)生有問(wèn)題。他們不及格也是他們自己的責(zé)任。Larry, 我聽(tīng)說(shuō)你前幾天回絕了一個(gè)工作機(jī)會(huì)。怎么回事呀？

LL: That? Oh, I'm not losing any sleep over that decision. I just don't have time for that job, I had no other choice.

LH: 沒(méi)事就好。時(shí)間太緊張就別再給自己增加負(fù)擔(dān)，讀書(shū)還是比較重要的。

LL: That's right. I'd rather have a low income than flunk a class. That's the kind of thing I could really lose sleep over!

LH: 我真希望我所有的學(xué)生都像你一樣，寧可錢少，也不能不及格。

今天李華學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。第一個(gè)是flunk，意思是老師給學(xué)生不及格分?jǐn)?shù)，或是學(xué)生考不及格。另外一個(gè)常用語(yǔ)是lose sleep over something, 是為某件事?lián)亩搅耸叩牡夭健?BR>