第一， 迷你對話

A: She refused?

她拒絕了？

B: Yes. Do you think I can persuade her if I try again?

是拒絕了。你認為如果我再試一次，我可以勸服她媽？

A: She’s not the kind of woman you can persuade.

她不是那種你勸得動的女人。

B: I know her characteristic, but I don’t give up the chance.

我了解她的性格，但是我不想放棄這次機會。

A: You know, you are flogging a dead horse. Up till now, no have ever seen successful in talking her to anything she refused.

你知道嗎，你是在白費勁。直到現在，她拒絕的事情，沒有人能夠勸說得了。

第二， 地道表達

flog a dead horse

1. 解詞釋義

Flog a dead horse的字面意思是“打死一匹死馬”，比喻為“徒勞，白費力氣”或者是“事情已經決定，不必再加討論”的意思。其英文解釋為：to insist on talking about something that no one is interested in, or that has already been thoroughly discussed。

2. 拓展范例

e.g. The history teacher lectured us every day about the importance of studying history, until we begged him to stop flogging a dead horse.

歷史老師每天跟我們說學習歷史的重要性，直到我們求他停止做徒勞無益的事情。

Jill: I think I'll write the company president another letter asking him to prohibit smoking.

我覺得我要另外寫一份信件給公司經理，讓他說禁止吸煙。

Jane: There's no use beating a dead horse, Jill; he's already decided to let people smoke.

你那是在做徒勞無益的事情，Jill，他已經決定允許大家抽煙了。

第三， 咬文嚼字

1. give up：停止，放棄

e.g. He was compelled by illness to give up his studies.

他因病被迫放棄學業。

e.g. Father told Harris not to give up his friends when he moved away.

父親告訴哈里斯他搬走后不要與他的朋友們中斷往來。

2. up till now：直到現在

e.g. Up till now, The shadow over me still fails to recede.

時至今日，我心中的籠罩的陰影仍然揮之不去。

e.g. Problems of ours are that up till now we have not found an exact method to solve this difficulty yet.

我們的問題是到目前為止我們還沒找到一個真確的方法去解決這個困難。

3. be successful in sth.：在……取得成功

e.g. Why do you feel you will be successful in this work?

你為什么覺得你能勝任這份工作？

e.g. He was successful in the examination.

他考試成績良好。

4. talk sb. to sth. ：說服某人做某事

e.g. All levels of the oil industry are prone to talk themselves into a crisis.

石油工業界各階層人士都不難說服自己相信有一次危機即將到來。

e.g. Don't you ever try to talk me into consent on his behalf.

不要說服我去贊同他的利益。