美語情景對話 第215期:禮物 The Gift

Todd: John, can you talk a little bit about the frog that you got for your Valentine's day gift.

託德：約翰，你能談談那隻青蛙嗎，你在情人節收到的禮物？

John: Sure, yeah, my wife gave me this Pac Man frog for Valentine's day, and basically it was this enormous, stinky frog that would only eat baby mice, so you had to like feed it like a little tiny cute baby mouse like every week and then it would just like leave this big mess, this stinky mess, and you'd have to clean it up and at the time I had just gotten rid of an iguana, and like I didn't want any pets and that was the gift my wife gave me so!

約翰：當然可以，我妻子把這隻吃豆蛙當作情人節禮物送給了我，其實這隻又大又臭的青蛙只吃小老鼠，所以你每週不得不餵它吃可愛的小老鼠，而且它還會弄得一團糟，還有難聞的氣味，所以你不得不進行清理工作，而當時我剛剛擺脫掉一隻鬣蜥，所以我並不想再養寵物，可是那是我妻子送我的禮物！

Todd: Oh, man, well, how long did you have it?

託德：哦，夥計，那你養了多久？

John: I think I kept it for about six month. Maybe even a year.

約翰：我想我大概養了6個月左右。也可能是一年。

Todd: That's a long time.

託德：那是挺長的時間了。

John: Yeah. Well see, I kept it until she moved in with me and then when she moved in with me, she said, "Wow, that thing really stinks!" We should get rid of it." So we took it back to the pet store and just gave it back to them.

約翰：是啊。我一直養到她搬來和我一起住，她搬過來以後，她說：“哇，那隻青蛙實在是太臭了！我們應該處理一下。”於是我們把它送還給了寵物店。

Todd: Oh, so you took it back to the pet store. They took it.

託德：哦，那你把它送回寵物店。他們就接受了。

John: Yeah, they took it. I looked around for someone to like give it to, and everyone was like, "No, that thing is disgusting. No one wanted it and I asked the pet store would they like pay for it, and they were like "No, no, you bought it" so I was just like, "Here, OK, have it back" and they were "Fine, we'll sell it again"

約翰：對啊。他們接受了。我想找一個想養它的人，可是幾乎所有人都說，“不，那隻青蛙太噁心了。沒有人想養它。”而我問寵物店他們是不是可以爲它付錢的時候，他們則說，“不，不，你已經買了它。”所以我只能說，“給你，拿回去吧。”他們說，“好吧，我們會再找買家的。”

Todd: OK, do you ever know what happened to the frog?

託德：嗯，那你知道後來那隻青蛙怎麼樣了嗎？

John: No, maybe, I went back to that pet store like a year after I gave it back to them and it was still there and it was like twice the size, so I don't know if they ever got rid of it or not.

約翰：不知道，還回青蛙一年以後我又去了那家寵物店，那隻青蛙還在那裏，體型已經是原來的兩倍了，所以我不知道他們有沒有擺脫掉它。

Todd: Great story.

託德：很好的故事。

重點講解：
1. clean up
清理，清除；打掃；清掃；把…弄乾淨；
eg. Nina and Mary were in the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner.
吃過晚飯，尼娜和瑪麗在廚房裏收拾。
eg. Under pressure from the public, many regional governments cleaned up their beaches.
迫於公衆壓力，許多地區政府對各自海灘進行了清理。
2. get rid of
扔掉；丟棄；擺脫；甩掉；趕走；
eg. The owner needs to get rid of the car for financial reasons.
因爲經濟原因，車主必須把汽車處理掉。
eg. He believed that his manager wanted to get rid of him for personal reasons.
他認爲經理是出於個人原因想開除他。