李華告訴Larry說，她跟一個學生約好，十點在她的辦公室見面，談談這個學生的成績，可以這個學生沒有赴約。李華今天要學兩個常用語no show和lala land。

LL: So, you made an appointment with this student to talk about his grades, and he was a no show?

LH: A no show? 對呀，他沒來，沒有出現，所以叫no show。這種說法簡潔明了。

LL: Right, a no show is some one who doesn't show up when they have agreed to. But, it is really rude to be a no show.

LH: 確實不禮貌。我專門跑到辦公室來，等了他好長時間，誰知道他卻是個no show。

LL: So, he didn't even call you to tell you that he wasn't going to come? It is even ruder to be a no show and not have called to let the person know you can't come.

LH: 對呀，不來就已經很不禮貌了，連個電話都不打，就更不禮貌了。說實話，我挺意外的，因為這個學生看起來不象是那么不懂事的人。

LL: Well, maybe something unexpected happened to him. There might be a good reason why he was a no show.

LH: 失約還有什么好理由嗎？

LL: Well, maybe he was a no show because his car broke down, or he got lost, or even worse maybe he had an accident.

LH: 是呀，我怎么就沒想到呢。他的車可能會在半路拋錨。還有他可能會迷路。更可怕的是，還可能會出車禍。我本來挺生氣的，讓你這么一說，我反而開始替他擔心了。

LL: I remember one time when I was in college I made an appointment with a professor and ended up being a no show because my car ran out of gas.

LH: 什么，車跑到半路沒油了？你那個教授肯定火冒三丈。那后來呢？

LL: I felt so bad about being a no show, the first thing I did when I got to a phone was call the professor and apologize.

LH: 打電話道歉？那我們再等等吧，也許過一會兒我的學生就會打電話來了。

LL: Have you ever been a no show for anything, Li Hua?

LH: 倒是有一次，我的鬧鐘沒響，所以睡過了頭，結果沒去上課。

LL: That's not so bad. Lots of students are no shows for classes.

LH: 不好意思的是，那是我教的一門課。(Phone rings) 等等，我接一下電話。

******

LL: Hey, was that your student? Did he have a good reason for being a no show or was he just in lala land?

LH: 打電話的就是那個學生。你為什么會覺得他在lala land呢？Lala land在哪呀？

LL: Lala land isn't a real place. It is a state of mind. It is where you go when you are day dreaming and not paying attention to the things going on in the real world.

LH: 我明白了，lala land不是一個地方，而是仙境、幻境的意思，做白日夢就是去了 "lala land"。這樣說來，那個學生確實是去了lala land。

LL: Really?! He was off in lala land when he forgot his appointment with you?

LH: 沒錯，他當時正在跟朋友吃飯，完全忘記了跟我約好要見面。

LL: Yes, it sounds like he was in lala land. So what did you say when he told you this?

LH: 雖然我知道“忘了”不能算是失約的理由，但我還是很高興他能打電話來道歉，誰都有忘事的時候。換句話說，大家可能都到過lala land。

LL: That's right. Just last week I was a no show for a haircut appointment because I was off in Lala land.

LH: 還有更好笑的。昨天我監考，有個學生走過來問我問題。

LL: Let me guess, you were so far off in lala land, you didn't even know the student was there!

LH: 你怎么知道的！我當時確實有點兒心不在焉，那個學生碰了一下我的肩膀才讓我醒過神來。

今天李華學到了兩個常用語。一個是no show，意思是失約。另外一個是lala land，意思是身處幻境，心不在焉。