李華氣喘吁吁地來接Larry 。李華今天要學兩個常用語，off the hook和taken aback.

LL: Hey, I was about to call you. I was worried something happened to you, because you're really late!

LH: 實在對不起Larry, 路上出了點事。

LL: What kind of trouble? Was it a family matter? Are you ok?

LH: 沒什么。我因為怕遲到，所以開得快了點。誰知道...

LL: Uh oh. Did you get into an accident? I see you left your car running. Do you have engine trouble?

LH: 車倒是沒什么狀況，可以被警察攔了下來，說我超速。

LL: Did he give you a ticket?

LH: 奇怪的是，警察沒給我開罰單，但我的駕駛記錄上恐怕已經有污點了。他還說，"he would let me off the hook."那是什么意思啊？

LL: Oh, that's a good thing in your case! In this situation, "off the hook" means that you will not be punished for a rule or agreement you violated. The phrase "off the hook" can also mean that a person is relieved of an unwanted responsibility.

LH: 哦，我明白了，off the hook就是脫身，或是擺脫責任的意思。怪不得那個警察說，"I'll let you off the hook with a warning."就是說警告一下，下次注意就行了。

LL: Yeah. Let's get in the car. Don't speed, because you might not be let off the hook this time if an officer catches you!

LH: 一定一定。哦，Larry, 我來晚了，你沒生氣吧？You will let me off the hook for being late, right?

LL: Sure! You're doing me a favor anyway. Let's get to the car mechanic's shop and see if he fixed the company car my boss lent me for this weekend's business trip.

LH: 對啊，最好別讓你老板知道公司的車現在正在修車鋪里。You'll be off the hook if your car is fixed.

LL: Can you think of any other time that you've been let off the hook? The last time my boss let me off the hook was... hmmm... Never!

LH: Hahaha! 別急，Larry, 五點以前我們肯定能趕到修車行。

******

LL: Well, it looks like I'm NOT off the hook. My car won't be ready until next Monday.

LH: 要到星期一才能修好？修車工是怎么跟你說的？

LL: He ignored me for five minutes, and then I finally yelled... excuse me, could I have some service, please? I was really taken aback by his rudeness.

LH: Taken aback? 他干嘛推你啊？我們可以告他們！

LL: No. 'Taken aback' means surprised or shocked by something. I was really surprised by his rudeness, because he ignored me even though I was the only customer in the store.

LH: 什么？只有你一個人，他還讓你等那么久？太過分了。I am taken aback too. 我也覺得很吃驚。而且車也沒修好！

LL: It's ok. He told me that the car's engine needs to be completely redone. It doesn't matter how fast he goes, because he needs to order new parts for replacement.

LH: 哦，原來是發動機壞了，要先去買零件，怪不得要那么長時間。Well, I'm taken aback by this whole situation.

LL: I'm taken aback by the mechanic's behavior AND the terrible situation I'm in.

LH: 我有個主意。要不咱們去租輛車。這樣一來，等你老板發現后，就不會那么生氣了。

LL: That's true. He'll still be taken aback, but not as much, because I'll still have a car to use for my business trip this weekend.

LH: 快五點了，我們趕緊去租車。

LL: Thanks a lot, Lihua. I'm really taken aback by your kindness!

LH: (Laughing) 你是說我平時對你不好嗎？

LL: (Laughing) No, it's just that you have gone to a lot of trouble today to help me get out of this horrible situation!

LH: 別客氣。那我在車里等，你快進去租車吧！

LL: (Out of breath) Ok. It looks like I'm off the hook for the weekend - I got the last rental car available.

LH: 太棒了，周末開車出去要注意安全噢！

LL: You have a safe weekend too. And don't go over the speed limit. I'd be taken aback if the same officer caught you speeding again. He'd be so taken aback that you may get TWO tickets!

天李華學到了兩個常用語。一個是off the hook,指擺脫困境和責任。另一個是taken aback,指感到吃驚。