李華正為了完成一項(xiàng)作業(yè)而焦頭爛額。她和Larry 要用到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：Do something
till you're blue in the face和run a tight ship.

    Larry ： Hey， Lihua， are you ready to go to dinner？ I'm starving.

    LH：吃飯？我可沒(méi)心情吃飯。我沒(méi)想出這作業(yè)要怎么寫。我們小組的組長(zhǎng)肯
定饒不了我！

    Larry ： You've been sitting there for almost four hours！ Let's go
get something to eat， and then you can come back and think about it some
more.

    LH：不行，我發(fā)誓，不寫出個(gè)提綱我就絕食！

    Larry ： Look ， Lihua， if you don't eat anything， you can sit there
and think about your project till you're blue in the face and you still
won't get any good ideas.

    LH：�。课业哪樧兂伤{(lán)色？這怎么可能？

    Larry ： That's just an expression， Lihua. If you do something till
you're blue in the face ， you're doing something over and over again
for a very long time - and making no progress.

    LH：哦，Do something till you're blue in the face ，就是說(shuō)反復(fù)做一
件事，但一直不成功。你是說(shuō)我癟了半天也寫不出論文，可還拼命地想。但是，
我不管，我非寫出來(lái)不可！

    Larry ： But， Lihua， I'm starving ！

    LH： Larry，別嚷嚷了，就算你一直抱怨到y(tǒng)ou're blue in the face ！我
是不會(huì)理你的。

    Larry ： OK ， OK. I get the point. Maybe I can help you. What's the
project about ？

    LH：這就對(duì)了！這個(gè)作業(yè)是美國(guó)歷史課的。我們小組的每個(gè)人都要介紹一個(gè)
美國(guó)歷史人物，可是別的組員都是美國(guó)人，他們的歷史知識(shí)當(dāng)然比我豐富啊！

    Larry ： Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Why don't you ask
your group for some help？ That would be more productive than sitting
here until you're blue in the face.

    LH：可是，我們組長(zhǎng)兇巴巴的，特別不好說(shuō)話，還讓我們明天都要交一份提
綱出來(lái)！

    Larry ： Hmm……I think I have an idea， Lihua. Why don't you do your
report on George Washington ！ He was a military leader who ran a very
tight ship in the American Revolution.

    LH： A tight ship ？一艘很緊的船？喬治華盛頓不是美國(guó)第一任總統(tǒng)嗎？
難道他還在美國(guó)獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間當(dāng)過(guò)船長(zhǎng)？？

    Larry ： No ， he wasn't the captain of a ship； he was the Commander
in Chief of the entire army ！ And he ran a very tight ship with his soldiers
- meaning ， he was a very strict leader.

    LH：原來(lái)如此！ To run a tight ship就是指紀(jì)律嚴(yán)明的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)風(fēng)格，嚴(yán)格管
理。

    Larry ： That's right. He ran such a tight ship ， in fact， that
he was able to lead an army of largely untrained soldiers through a very
harsh winter during the war.

    LH：率領(lǐng)沒(méi)受過(guò)什么訓(xùn)練的士兵在寒冬作戰(zhàn)，這可不簡(jiǎn)單！

    Larry ： Well ， Lihua， a good leader can run a tight ship no matter
how bad the situation is.

    LH： Larry，這倒讓想起了我們的組長(zhǎng)。她對(duì)我們特別嚴(yán)格。

    Larry ： It certainly sounds like your group leader runs quite a tight
ship， but a good leader can command the respect of his soldiers by setting
a good example， not yelling. Without that respect， you could yell until
you're blue in the face and you still wouldn't be able to lead effectively.

    LH：沒(méi)錯(cuò)！嚴(yán)格管理并不等于每天沖手下人大喊大叫。我們這個(gè)小組的組長(zhǎng)
人特別厲害，可說(shuō)實(shí)話沒(méi)什么威信。我真希望下次分到別的組，不要再待在她的
tight ship上。

    Larry ： I hope so， too. Now ， since you have your topic， let's
go eat pizza！

    LH： Pizza？？不行！我在減肥！

    Larry ： Oh ， Lihua， you're so skinny already ！ You could diet
until you're blue in the face and it won't make any difference. Don't
be so hard on yourself！

    LH：��？你說(shuō)我已經(jīng)很瘦了，所以再怎么減肥也不會(huì)變更瘦？得了！我現(xiàn)在
比在中國(guó)時(shí)胖了好多，我要看牢自己的嘴，I'm going to run a tight ship ，
只吃健康食品！

    Larry ： Not another tight ship ！ I think I'm getting sea-sick.

    今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是 Do something till you're blue in the
face，意思是“重復(fù)做某事，但是不成功”。另一個(gè)是run a tight ship，意思
是“嚴(yán)格管理”。