美語情景對話 第383期:Phones 電話

Simon: Yeah, hey Todd, I have one complaint. Why can't I never reach you on the phone?

西蒙：嘿，託德，我要抱怨一下。爲什麼你的電話總是打不通？

Todd: Ah, I know, I'm really bad with my phone. I hate the phone. I can not stand the phone. I hate talking on the phone, so I have a hand-held phone and I always go and put it in the closet and I turn it off.

託德：啊，我知道，我實在搞不定我的電話。我討厭電話。我受不了電話了。我討厭用電話通話，我有個便攜式電話，我總是把它關機然後放進櫃子裏。

Simon: Oh, really! Yeah, you said hand-held. I usually call it a cell phone or a mobile phone. (Yeah) but, uh, well, I mean, these days everybody has one, so uh, I think they're quite useful actually. You can call people when you want, and you can call people who you want. You don't have to pick up like you don't sometimes, it's.

西蒙：哦，真的嗎？你剛剛說便攜式電話。我通常稱它爲手機。（是啊）可是，嗯，我是說，最近幾乎人人都有手機，我認爲手機非常有用。你可以隨時打電話，給任何人打電話。你也不必拿起聽筒，沒有必要。

Todd: See the thing is, if somebody calls me, right, and I see that they called me, I feel really guilty for not calling them back, or no answering the phone if I'm very busy, so I don't want to feel guilty, so I just turn off the phone and put it in my closet.

託德：你看是這樣的，如果有人給我打電話，我知道他們給我打了電話，可是我非常忙就沒有回電話或是沒有接電話，那我就會爲此感到內疚，可是我不想有內疚的感覺，所以我就把手機關上放進櫃子裏。

Simon: Well, I guess that's why you like land lines, because you can pretend like you didn't hear it or that you weren't home at the time.

西蒙：嗯，我想這就是你喜歡固定電話的原因，因爲你可以假裝你沒有聽到電話鈴響，或是那時你並不在家。

Todd: Exactly, I really miss the old style phones. The old phones that would ring and you'd have to walk over and pick up the phone. I thought those were great.

託德：沒錯，我真的很想念老式電話。老式電話鈴響時，你要走過去拿起聽筒接電話。我覺得那太棒了。

Simon: You know what, I think that you're just not going with progress. The old style, uh, life has changed, yeah, we use technology every day, and this is just the next step, you know, being able to communicate at all times, anywhere and anyhow, and we're using technology right now.

西蒙：你知道，我認爲你只是沒有跟上進步的步伐。老式電話……生活已經改變了，我們現在每天都要應用技術，你知道，這只是下一個階段，你可以隨時隨地和別人交流，而我們現在就在應用技術。

Todd: That's true, I mean, obviously I have my website, I'm very into computers. I love e-mail. I love Internet telephone like Skype but there's just something about hand-held phones that I don't like. I don't know why. I just don't like them.

託德：沒錯，顯然我在用網絡，我非常喜歡計算機。我喜歡發郵件。我喜歡用Skype這種網絡電話，不過我就是不喜歡便攜式電話。我也不知道爲什麼，我就是不喜歡它們。

Simon: OK, well, let's agree to disagree.

西蒙：好吧，我們保留各自的看法吧。

重點講解：
1. turn off
關上；關掉；截斷，切斷（…的供應）；
eg. The boy had the presence of mind to turn off the gas.
那男孩子鎮定地關掉了煤氣。
eg. I have to get up and turn off the radio.
我必須起牀關上收音機。
2. pick up
拿起；提起；拾起；撿起；
eg. I was hoping you'd pick up.
我正希望是你來接電話。
eg. They depend on the goodwill of visitors to pick up rubbish.
他們相信遊客會自覺撿起垃圾。
3. call back
給…回電話；
eg. I will call back later.
我稍後再打電話來。
eg. I'm not sure, but I'll tell her to call back when sh's home.
我不確定，不過她到家時我會請她回電。
4. be into sth.
對…很感興趣；極喜歡；
eg. Women are into decisive men who know what they want.
女人喜歡決絕果斷，明確知道自己想要什麼的男人。
eg. He is into rock music.
她熱衷於搖滾樂。
5. agree to disagree
擱置爭議；同意各自保留不同意見；
eg. You and I are going to have to agree to disagree then.
那你我只能各自保留不同意見了。
eg. I know we'll never agree on the issue of parenting but let's agree to disagree, shall we?
我知道我們在教養兒女這個議題上不會有共識，但是讓我們接受彼此會有不同的見解的事情。