Larry在學校的電腦室里見到了李華。李華今天要學會兩個常用語ASAP和crank out。

LL: Hey Li Hua! What are you working on? A paper?

LH: 不是，我在寫申請威廉森中國歷史獎學金的申請書。

LL: What? But that's due tomorrow! You'd better finish that ASAP.

LH: 我知道明天是申請的最后期限，所以我在趕吶。ASAP, 那是什么意思啊？

LL: ASAP means "as soon as possible". You need to finish that application as soon as possible!

LH: 噢，原來ASAP就是盡快 - as soon as possible 的縮寫。 Larry，那你為什么不說as soon as possible而是說ASAP呢？

LL: Well, people say "as soon as possible", but if you are in a hurry, it's easier to just say ASAP.

LH: 匆忙的時候說ASAP，這能節省多少時間呢， 頂多半秒鐘吧。

LL: Well, it also sounds more forceful. For instance, if your boss tells you, "Li Hua, I need you to get this done ASAP!" you know that he is in a hurry!

LH: 那倒是。ASAP聽起來比較干脆，比較有力。

LL: Or if your mechanic tells you that you car is leaking oil, and that you need to have it fixed ASAP, you'd better take his word for it.

LH: 你別舉這種讓我倒霉的例子。不過，要是我的車漏油了，我當然得盡快修理。I need to have it fixed ASAP。

LL: Wait, Li Hua, you promised me yesterday that you would proofread my Chinese composition. Have you done that yet? I need to hand it in ASAP!

LH: 天啊， 昨天我答應幫你修改中文作文，我怎么把這件事給忘了呢？真的好對不起。那你今天下午交還來得及嗎？

LL: I need to go to work ASAP, so I need to hand this in before I go.

LH: (Sighs) 如果你一定要在上班之前把作業交上去， 那我現在就幫你看吧。

LL: Thank you so much, Li Hua. You're such a good friend.

******

(Larry returns to the computer lab later in the day.)

LL: Hey Li Hua! I am back from work. Are you still working on that statement?

LH: 是啊， 我還在寫申請。哎，Larry, 寫申請有什么竅門嗎？你怎么每次都寫得那么快呢？

LL: Oh, I don't know. I guess because I have written so many of them, now it's easy for me to crank them out.

LH: Crank them out? 這是什么意思呀？

LL: To crank something out means to produce something quickly and mechanically, without much thought.

LH: 嗯，To crank something out就是不需要太多思考，很機戒地做成某種事。

LL: Well, when I was an undergraduate, I would just crank out essays and term papers, no problem. Of course, it's not that easy these days.

LH: 我聽說了，你讀本科的時候是寫作高手， 論文和學期作文都難不倒你。現在當研究生就不一樣了；你要作大量研究才能有根有據地寫。

LL: Exactly. So, did you ever just crank out essays when you were a student in China?

LH: 當然了，我在中國讀中學的時候， 半個小時就能crank out兩頁的政論文章。Larry, to crank out這個短語還能用在別的地方嗎？

LL: Sure, for instance, at McDonald's, they crank out hundreds of hamburgers every day.

LH: 麥當勞每天制作成千上萬個的漢堡包。這一點也不錯。

LL: And Hollywood cranks out stupid action movies every other week.

LH: 我從來不看好萊塢制作的那種武打片，所以我就不太清楚了。

LL: Anyway, I have another piece of homework for Chinese class that I need you to look at ASAP. Can you help me?

LH: 沒問題，我可以幫你看中文作業，不過你得幫我修改一下我寫的申請書。I need to drop it in the mail ASAP。

LL: Ok, no problem. Show me what you've written so far。

今天李華學到了兩個常用語。一個是ASAP, 意思是盡快。還有一個是crank out， 意思是不需多加思考地，機戒地制作某種東西。