Larry 和李華一起去參觀藝術(shù)博物館。他們會(huì)用到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：Overkill和
write something off.

    LH： Larry，聽(tīng)我的對(duì)了吧。逛藝術(shù)博物館比看電影強(qiáng)多了！

    L ： Well I agree. But the art museum would be even better if it served
popcorn too ！

    LH：這倒也是，要是博物館里也賣(mài)爆米花、熱狗、啤酒，邊逛邊吃，那該有
多舒服��！

    L ： Hot dogs and beer？ I don't know ， Lihua. I think that might
be overkill.

    LH： Overkill 是什么意思？

    L ： When you think that an idea goes too far ， you can say that
it is overkill.

    LH：哦，overkill就是過(guò)份的想法或行為。你是說(shuō)，在博物館里賣(mài)爆米花似
乎還不錯(cuò)，可如果連熱狗和啤酒都一起賣(mài)就太夸張了。

    L ： That's right ！ Here is another example. Elliot's boss thought
about firing him for being an hour late to work ， but then decided that
would be overkill.

    LH：哦，Elliot遲到了一個(gè)小時(shí)，老板本來(lái)想因?yàn)檫@個(gè)而炒他的魷魚(yú)，不過(guò)
后來(lái)覺(jué)得，這么做太過(guò)份了。對(duì)了，Larry ，博物館這么好，我們天天來(lái)這里逛
如何？

    L ： Lihua， I really enjoy the art gallery ， but coming here every
single day would definitely be overkill.

    LH：什么過(guò)份，你真沒(méi)有藝術(shù)細(xì)胞！我的藝術(shù)氣質(zhì)比你濃多了，我看，我干
脆去讀個(gè)藝術(shù)史的博士好了！

    L ： Lihua， it's fine to enjoy art as a hobby， but I think getting
a PhD in art history would really be overkill.

    LH：呵呵，我開(kāi)玩笑的。對(duì)了Larry ，你還記得上次咱們?nèi)トA盛頓看兵馬俑
展覽么？

    L ： I sure do！ That was one of my favorites.

    LH：就是，多好看啊�？上д钩龅闹皇且徊糠�，要是所有兵馬俑都到美國(guó)來(lái)
展覽就好了！

    L ； I don't know …… I was satisfied seeing just a few. I think
bringing the entire collection here would be overkill.

    LH：才不會(huì)呢！要看就得看全的！那個(gè)氣勢(shì)，肯定不一樣！我給你買(mǎi)張機(jī)票，
你去中國(guó)看吧！

    L ： Lihua， it's nice that you're encouraging me to see the Teracotta
Warriors， but buying me a plane ticket to China is definitely overkill！

    ******

    LH： Larry，你喜歡什么流派的藝術(shù)�。楷F(xiàn)實(shí)主義還是抽象主義？

    L ： I definitely prefer the realistic kind. Anybody can make abstract
art ！

    LH：人人都能創(chuàng)作抽象派藝術(shù)作品？那好，你創(chuàng)作一個(gè)給我看看！

    L ： Er …… I guess you're right. I shouldn't write off abstract
artists so quickly.

    LH： Write them off ？這是什么意思？

    L ： When you write something off ， that means you decide that it
isn't important.

    LH：哦，就是小看，不看好的意思。你是說(shuō)，你不該小瞧抽象派藝術(shù)家。

    L ： Right！ Here is another example. In high school most people had
written Jack off as an actor， so they were really surprised when he became
a movie star years later.

    LH：我明白了。高中時(shí)大家都覺(jué)得Jack肯定當(dāng)不了演員，可后來(lái)他成了電影
明星，所以大家都很吃驚。

    L ： That's right ！

    LH：對(duì)了Larry ，你說(shuō)這些藝術(shù)品的創(chuàng)作者一定都很有錢(qián)吧？他們的作品都
賣(mài)得好貴哦！

    L ： Actually I don't think so. Many great artists were written off
in their own time ， and people only started to appreciate them many years
later.

    LH：也是，好多藝術(shù)家在世的時(shí)候不被世人重視，總是死了之后才得到人們
的認(rèn)可，真可惜！哎， Larry，你喜不喜歡畫(huà)畫(huà)？

    L ： I thought of being an artist when I was a little kid ， but I
wrote that dream off a long time ago when I realized I was bad at drawing.

    LH：哦，你發(fā)現(xiàn)自己畫(huà)畫(huà)不行，就放棄了當(dāng)畫(huà)家的夢(mèng)想。

    L ： Yeah ， but I still like to draw as a hobby. Even though I can't
be a professional artist， giving it up even as a hobby would have been
overkill.

    LH：要不這樣吧，Larry ，把你最近畫(huà)的大作拿來(lái)，跟我五歲時(shí)畫(huà)的兒童簡(jiǎn)
筆畫(huà)比比，看看你有沒(méi)有達(dá)到我五歲時(shí)的水平？

    L ： Very funny ， Lihua. I'll write that off as a joke ！

    今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是overkill，表示過(guò)份的想法或行為。另一
個(gè)是write something off ，意思是“小看，不看好”。