VOA流行美語 Unit 145: back to square one/killer

Larry在幫李華寫一篇報告，因為李華的電腦出了問題，她寫的整個報告都丟了。今天李華會學到兩個常用語：back to square one和killer.

LH: 電腦出了問題，我寫的東西全沒了！真糟糕，現在我得從頭開始寫了！

LL: I'm sorry, Li Hua. It's a real bummer, but I guess we're back to square one.

LH: Larry，我急都快急死了，你還在做什么游戲，什么方塊一，方塊二的。方塊和我寫報告有什么關系？

LL: Oh, when you're back to square one it means that you are back where you started and you have to start all over again.

LH: 噢，原來back to square one就是回到開頭的地方，一切都得從頭來起。唉，看來我也只能這么做了。

LL: You must remember some of what you wrote. You can start by writing that down before you forget it.

LH: 我腦子里是記得一些我寫的東西。先把我記得的部份寫下來。這倒是個好主意，這樣總比一切從頭開始要好一些。

LL: Don't feel so bad, Li Hua. It could be worse. My uncle spent years working on a novel. But a computer virus destroyed his computer and the backup disk. He was back to square one.

LH: 我的天啊！你叔叔比我更慘，寫了多年的小說就這樣沒了。要是我的話，我可能就會放棄了。

LL: But my uncle said he's going to rewrite the novel despite the fact he had to start from square one.

LH: 你叔叔真有毅力呀！嗯，Larry，你有沒有聞到一股燒焦味？

LL: Oh no! I forgot about the pizza in the oven. It's burning! Li Hua, I'm so sorry. I'm afraid that we're back to square one with dinner, too

LH: 不得了，比撒餅在烤箱里都忘了。哎呀，你看，都烤焦了。看來我們得重新打電話訂比薩餅了。

LL: That's a good idea because this one is completely burned.

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LL: Let's watch TV while we're eating. The Simpsons are on. I love watching The Simpsons; it's such a killer show.

LH: 哎喲，Larry，你有沒有搞錯啊？“辛普森家族”是個卡通節目，很好玩的。哪是什么殺人行兇的節目呢？

LL: No, I don't mean "killer" as in deadly. I mean killer as in awesome or really cool.

LH: 噢，原來這里的killer不是殺人，而是指某樣東西很棒，很酷。我也覺得“辛普森家族”是個很棒，很好笑的節目。

LL: This is killer pizza, too. I'll have to remember to order pizza from the same restaurant next time.

LH: 對，這比薩餅真好吃。沒錯，下回再到這個飯館去訂。 Larry，我已經看過這一集“辛普森家族”了，這一集真的很好笑。

LL: Yeah, you're right, this is a killer episode. I can watch it over and over again and never get tired of it.

LH: 這一集我也看了好幾遍了，但是還沒有看厭。Larry，我覺得另外一個電視連續劇也可以算得上是個killer show。

LL: What show?

LH: 那個描寫6個年輕男女在紐約市的“六人行”節目。那是我最喜歡的電視節目之一，每次播那個節目，我絕對不會錯過！

LL: There are probably several million people who agree with you. That is a killer show, and one of the most popular TV shows in history.

LH: 許多人都同意我的觀點！ 那是美國電視節目有史以來最紅的節目之一。這么說，你同意我的判斷嚕？

LL: I think the show could be better, but Jennifer Aniston has killer legs.

LH: 啊！原來你的注意力全在女主角的一雙漂亮的腿上呀？

LL: It's not the only reason, but she does have killer legs.

今天李華學到兩個常用語。一個是back to square one, 是指一切從頭來過。另一個常用語是killer。這是形容某樣東西或某件事很棒，很酷。