李華正在幫Larry 為面試做準備。今天我們要學兩個常用語：shot in the
arm 和off the cuff.

    LH： Larry，明天早上求職面試，你現在心里是不是特別激動？

    LL： Actually ， I'm pretty nervous about this job interview. I really
want to work at this company， so I need to make a good impression.

    LH：別緊張，你一定沒問題。再說了，不錄用你是他們的損失，象你這么出
色的人才，想要你的公司多的是。

    LL： Thanks Lihua. That encouragement is a real shot in the arm for
me.

    LH： A shot in the arm？

    LL： You can say that something is a shot in the arm if it gives you
a lot more confidence and energy.

    LH：哦，就是中文里說的強心針。你是說我剛才鼓勵你的話大大地增強了你
的信心嗎？

    LL： Right. For example ， I could say that Joe was thinking of dropping
out of his economics class because it was so hard. But when he got an
A on the midterm， it was a real shot in the arm and he decided not to
quit.

    LH：就是說，期中考試得了A ，極大增強了Joe 對自己修完經濟學這門課程
的信心。

    LL： Exactly. You know， Lihua， my career hasn't been going well
lately， but I think this job could give it a real shot in the arm.

    LH：你現在的工作確實沒什么發(fā)展?jié)摿�，換個新工作一定會對你今后的事業(yè)
發(fā)展有好處。對了，我還沒問你，你明天準備面試的那家公司是做什么的？

    LL： Well Lihua ， it's a small company that sells Chia Pets.

    LH：什么？是一家賣草頭娃娃的零售商？

    LL： Yeah ， but it hasn't been doing well lately. I hope that with
my business experience and passion for Chia Pets， I could give this company
a real shot in the arm.

    LH：你當真��？？？嗨，不管怎么說，我支持你去追求自己的夢想。

    LL： Thanks ， Lihua. Did you know that Chia Pets cost about $15 each？
If everybody went out and bought one， it would give the economy a real
shot in the arm.

    LH：好，為支持你，只要你得到這份工作，我保證一定去買一個草頭娃娃。

    ******

    LH：言歸正傳，Larry ，你有沒有想好他們可能會問你哪些問題呢？

    LL： Well ， just a little. But it would probably be good to practice
a little bit.

    LH：那好，我假裝考官，我們來模擬一下怎么樣？

    LL： Sounds good！ It's important for me to prepare beforehand， because
I'm not good at speaking off the cuff.

    LH： Speaking off the cuff？這是什么意思�。�

    LL： You can say that someone speaks off the cuff when he talks spontaneously
without any preparation.

    LH：噢，就是在沒有事先準備的情況下即興發(fā)言。

    LL： Right. For example ， some politicians can speak very well when
they have a speech prepared ， but don't do well when they have to respond
to questions off the cuff.

    LH：我明白了，你還記得上個周末我們一起去看電影，我穿了一件白色大衣，
看上去圓滾滾的嗎？你還說我象個大白兔奶糖。

    LL： Oh come on Lihua ， it was just an off-the-cuff remark ！ You
know I didn't mean it.

    LH：我一點都沒生氣，反而覺得很好笑。Your off-the-cuff jokes are so
funny.對了，我以前聽人說過 "off-hand，" Off-hand跟off-the-cuff是同一個
意思嗎？

    LL： It's very similar. An off-hand comment is something you didn't
think about or consider very seriously before you said it.

    LH：忘記告訴你了Larry ，你帶著這副厚厚的黑邊眼鏡活像一只眼鏡猴。

    LL： What ？ No I don't. I look very smart， like a scholar.

    LH：別生氣啊，It was just an "off-hand" joke. 我是隨便開玩笑的。

    LL： Alright Lihua， I understand your point. I won't make any more
off-hand jokes about your fashion sense. Now can we please get back to
practicing for my interview ？

    LH：那好，面試現在正式開始。 Larry，你想加入我們公司來賣草頭娃娃嗎？

    LL： Of course. I really love Chia Pets.

    LH：這我信，看你留的發(fā)型，就知道你是個草頭娃娃的忠實愛好者。

    LL： Another off-hand joke， Lihua？

    LH：哈哈哈……對不起，你的發(fā)型跟草頭娃娃實在是太象了。

    今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是shot in the arm ，意思是強心針。另一
個是off the cuff，或是off-hand，意思是即興的。