這是星期天的早晨。李華和Larry正在星巴克咖啡館里喝咖啡。今天李華會學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語：on the spot和schmooze.

LL: I'm dreading my Chinese exam tomorrow. The teacher will give us a topic and she expects us to talk about the topic for two minutes on the spot.

LH: 你明天要考中文呀？老師給每個(gè)學(xué)生一個(gè)題目，讓你們當(dāng)場就這個(gè)題目講兩分鐘。這是好難。不過Larry，別擔(dān)心，你可以先跟我練習(xí)啊！對了，你剛才說on the spot，那是什么意思?

LL: Oh, to do something "on the spot" is to do it immediately - right then and there.

LH: On the spot就是立刻，當(dāng)場的意思。所以你剛才的意思就是教授在考試的時(shí)候當(dāng)場給題目，你就得立即上臺講兩分鐘。

LL: Exactly. It's always nice to have time to prepare, but sometimes doing something on the spot can be fun.

LH: 有充份時(shí)間做準(zhǔn)備那當(dāng)然好呀。但是，我可想不出有什么事情馬上要做而能讓我感到有意思的。你給我舉個(gè)例子好不好。

LL: Well, we can decide right here - on the spot - to go to the movies. That would be fun, right?

LH: 嗯，我們現(xiàn)在就決定去看電影，那當(dāng)然好玩呀。可是我們不知道看哪部電影，到哪里去看哪。

LL: That's a problem. Where can we find the newspaper or a computer on the spot!.

LH: 就是嘛，我們既不能上網(wǎng)，也沒有報(bào)紙可以查電影時(shí)間表。而且你明天不是有中文考試嗎？你現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該在家里背單字嘛！

LL: I should. If I don't study the vocabulary, then I won't be able to come up with a speech on the spot.

LH: 對，要當(dāng)場發(fā)表兩分鐘講話，不熟悉有用的詞匯是不行的。

LL: No, it's more like a good strategy for failing my test. Hey, why don't you help me study?

LH: 一點(diǎn)沒錯(cuò)，要是你不多記住一些單詞，那你肯定會考砸的。你要我就在這里幫你復(fù)習(xí)功課？On the spot？

LL: Why not? I brought my Chinese book with me.

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LH: 我真不敢相信，咖啡館的那個(gè)女服務(wù)員居然會送你一杯免費(fèi)的咖啡！

LL: Well, it helps that I schmoozed her a little bit.

LH: Larry，你對那個(gè)女服務(wù)員怎么啦？Schmooze是什么意思啊?

LL: To schmooze means that someone is extra nice to him or her, usually in the hope that you'll get something in return.

LH: 噢，schmooze就是對某人特別好，希望能得到一些回報(bào)。那不是“討好、獻(xiàn)殷勤”嗎？你想讓服務(wù)員對你客氣一點(diǎn)，所以你就對她特別好啊？

LL: Well, no. I was actually hoping to get her to go out on a date with me, but I'll settle for free coffee.

LH: 原來你是想約那個(gè)女孩出去，現(xiàn)在喝了一杯免費(fèi)咖啡就滿足了。哎呀，你呀，你還不如去schmooze你的中文老師，讓她明天評分的時(shí)候?qū)δ憧蜌恻c(diǎn)。這不是更實(shí)際嗎！

LL: Hopefully, I won't need to schmooze my teacher in order to get a good grade.

LH: 不討好老師也能得好分?jǐn)?shù)，你怎么一下子變得那么信心十足了呢。不過，你要我?guī)湍銖?fù)習(xí)功課，那至少也該schmooze我這個(gè)義務(wù)家教吧！

LL: Hey, you're my friend, you're supposed to do things out of friendship, not because you want something.

LH: 我知道啦。我是跟你開玩笑的！不過，你要是想對我好一點(diǎn)，schmooze我一下，我也不會反對的！

LL: I'm always nice to you - and it's not because I'm trying to schmooze you.

LH: 那倒是，你一向?qū)ξ也诲e(cuò)，算得上是我最好的朋友嘍！

今天李華學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語。第一個(gè)是on the spot，就是即刻，當(dāng)場，馬上的意思。另一個(gè)常用語是schmooze，這是指討好某人，對某人獻(xiàn)殷勤，通常是想得到回報(bào)。