VOA流行美語 Unit 335:儘可能多做事&打發時間
Larry跟李華約好，下班後一起在餐館吃飯，李華先到了一步。今天我們要學兩個常用語：have a full plate和to kill time。
LH: (遠遠地) Hey, Larry! 我在這兒呢！
LL: Hi Li Hua. Phew! It's so good to finally sit down and relax.
LH: 你怎麼累成這副樣子？沒不舒服吧？
LL: I'm just a bit tired...I've got quite a full plate at work right now; it's been a very stressful couple of weeks.
LH: A full plate? 什麼？你在辦公室已經吃了滿滿一盤子飯菜？不是說好跟我一起吃飯的嗎？
LL: Oh, I don't mean a real plate of food, Li Hua, it's just a figure of speech. Saying you have a full plate at work means that you are very busy, it doesn't actually have anything to do with food.
LH: 哦，我明白了，說自己have a full plate意思就是在有限的時間裏有許許多多的事情要做。
LL: That's right. That's exactly how I would describe my situation at the office right now.
LH: 那我期末考試前沒日沒夜地複習功課，也可以說I had a full plate？
LL: Yea, that would be a perfect example. Everyone feels like they have a lot on their plate when finals come around. Or, last fall when my friend Steve was working two part-time jobs while going to school—I could say he really had a full plate back then.
LH: 好，我明白了，說了這麼半天a full plate, 我肚子已經咕咕叫了。服務員來了，你想好點什麼了嗎？
LL: You bet I am! I've had such a full plate at work, I didn't even have time to eat lunch today!
LH: 什麼？你居然忙得連午飯都沒顧得上吃，早知道這樣，我們應該去吃自助餐纔對！
Larry和李華吃完晚飯，Larry一副酒足飯飽、心滿意足的樣子。
LL: (Sounding satisfied) Ah! That was a superb bacon-cheeseburger. Now if only I didn't have to worry about going back to work tomorrow morning....
LH: 不想去上班？你開什麼玩笑？我敢擔保，象你這種閒不住的人，如果沒工作，整天待在家裏，一定會無聊得發瘋。
LL: Li Hua, You don't know how lazy I can be. Killing time is one of the things I do best...
LH: Killing time? 什麼是kill time?
LL: Killing time is just another way of saying "wasting time." Of course I wouldn't actually kill anything!
LH: 哦，killing time就是中文裏說的打發時間。
LL: That's right. And I am an expert at killing time.
LH: 這一點我可以作證。你每天把大把的時間都用來打電子遊戲，浪費時間的能力確實已經達到了“專家”的水平。
LL: Very I like to kill time with my Playstation on the weekends, there's nothing wrong with that. And besides, I'm not the only one who knows how to kill time...I always see you playing those online games with your friends.
LH: 這倒是真的，上網玩遊戲確實是消磨時間的好辦法，可以讓我放鬆。Well, I guess I am good at killing time too.
LL: Now if I didn't have such a full plate at work, we could have more time to kill together.
LH: (哈哈)，要不這樣吧，你明天下班來圖書館陪我看書，我準備考試，你消磨時間。
LL: Well...I think I'd rather go shoe shopping before staring at the walls in some library...
LH: Shoe shopping? 對啊，好主意，我們去逛鞋店。
LL: 's just say I'd much rather kill some time at home rather than spending a few hours at the library or the shoe store.
LH: 想反悔，沒那麼容易，既然你主動提醒我，那就一定要陪我去逛街。
LL: (Reluctantly) OK,,,Can I at least listen to my mp3 player while you try on the shoes. Listening to music is a very relaxing way to kill time.
今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是have a full plate, 意思是在有限的時間裏有好多事情要做。另一個是to kill time, 意思是打發時間，消磨時光。
