Larry在告訴李華這個(gè)星期他辦公室發(fā)生的一場(chǎng)爭(zhēng)論。今天李華會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：to have a beef with someone和hit pay dirt。

LL: The boss still wants to fire Jim because they had a beef over the last sales report.

LH: 老板要開(kāi)除Jim，因?yàn)樗麄冇惺裁?？A beef？你是說(shuō)他們?yōu)榱艘恍┡Ｈ庠诔臣埽?

LL: No (laughing), not beef as in the beef that you eat. To have a beef with someone means to have a disagreement. The boss and Jim had a disagreement over the sales report.

LH: 噢，哈哈，原來(lái)have a beef with someone就是和某人有爭(zhēng)執(zhí)。這和我們吃的牛肉一點(diǎn)關(guān)系也沒(méi)有。你老板為什么會(huì)和Jim吵架呢？

LL: Well, the boss felt that Jim had done a really bad job of preparing the report and Jim felt that the boss did not give him enough time to do the report properly.

LH: 噢，老板覺(jué)得Jim寫的報(bào)告太差，而Jim覺(jué)得老板沒(méi)給他足夠的時(shí)間，所以兩人就這么吵起來(lái)啦？Jim had a beef with the boss。我說(shuō)得對(duì)嗎？

LL: Yep. Now, the boss is making everyone else miserable because of his beef with Jim.

LH: 他是和Jim鬧不開(kāi)心，這跟其他人有什么關(guān)系呢？

LL: He's just been in a really bad mood and he's being tough on everyone. It's not fair. His beef is with Jim, not the rest of the people in the office.

LH: 他不高興就對(duì)辦公室里每個(gè)人都特別厲害。這是很不公平。他是跟Jim吵架，又不是和全辦公室吵架。

LL: Exactly. I'm worried that the situation will go too far and there will be major problems in our office.

LH: 你怕情況發(fā)展下去辦公室會(huì)出大問(wèn)題呀？你們?yōu)槭裁床蛔孞im向老板道個(gè)歉。這不就完了嗎？

LL: I don't think he'll do that.

LH: 他不會(huì)道歉？啊呀，你勸勸他嘛。關(guān)鍵在他身上， 道了欠緊張氣氛就化解了，對(duì)大家都有好處。

LL: It's worth a try. Maybe Jim will be willing to sacrifice his own interests and resolve his beef with the boss.

******

LL: Hey, Li Hua, you really hit pay dirt with that suggestion you made. Jim apologized to the boss and everybody is happy now.

LH: Jim和你們老板道歉啦？那太好了！不過(guò)，Larry，你說(shuō)hit pay dirt是什么意思，我聽(tīng)不懂耶！

LL: To hit pay dirt means that you found something that turned out to be profitable or beneficial.

LH: To hit pay dirt就是發(fā)現(xiàn)了很有好處的東西。所以你剛才的意思是我的建議非常有用。不過(guò)，這三個(gè)詞hit, pay, dirt合在一起挺怪的。這說(shuō)法是從哪里來(lái)的？

LL: When miners would dig for gold, they would say that they had hit pay dirt when they found dirt that contained gold.

LH: 噢，原來(lái)是采金礦的工人在挖到含黃金的礦石時(shí)，他們就會(huì)說(shuō)hit pay dirt，這樣一解釋，我就懂了。

LL: They sometimes say "strike pay dirt". Anyway, LI Hua, I also hit pay dirt today.

LH: 你今天也挖到寶啦？怎么說(shuō)？

LL: I got a job offer for after I graduate.

LH: 你已經(jīng)找到畢業(yè)后的工作啦！那太好了！是哪家公司要雇你呢？

LL: Actually, the office I'm working in offered me the job.

LH: 真的？就是你現(xiàn)在打工的這家公司？不過(guò)你真的想在那兒工作嗎？

LL: At first, I wasn't that interested, but when they told me what my salary would be, I realized that I'd really hit pay dirt.

LH: 哇，太棒了，你很快就能把你的破車賣了，買一輛高級(jí)車，a nice set of wheels。我們一塊兒出去慶祝慶祝吧！

今天李華學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。第一個(gè)是have a beef with someone，就是和某人爭(zhēng)吵，關(guān)系緊張的意思。另一個(gè)常用語(yǔ)hit pay dirt，也可以說(shuō)strike pay dirt，就是指發(fā)現(xiàn)了有價(jià)值的東西。