Larry 來找李華玩。今天我們要學(xué)兩個常用語：the ball is in your court
和happy hour.

    LL： Hi Lihua ， How's it going ？

    LH：還不錯，就是特別忙，一整天都在寄簡歷找工作。

    LL： Oh yeah？ How's that going ？

    LH：挺煩的，不過今天終于有公司給我回電話了。

    LL： That's great Li Hua， what did they say？

    LH：我當(dāng)時正在上課，所以沒接到，聽的也是留言。

    LL： Ah ， it sounds like the ball is in your court now.

    LH：找工作可不是鬧著玩的，什么球不球的。

    LL： No ， Li Hua ， the ball is in your court means that it's your
responsibility now to call them back.

    LH：哦，原來你是這個意思，那倒沒錯，the ball is in my court.不過我
心里特緊張，又想要這份工作，又害怕打電話。

    LL： Why is that Lihua？

    LH：我不知道拿起電話來要怎么說。

    LL： Well the important thing is to research the company before calling
and remember what position you applied for.

    LH：好主意，打電話之前先要了解一下這家公司的情況。

    LL： Well ， the ball's in your court ， so you can call them back
when you feel comfortable. At least now they aren't catching you off guard.

    LH：這倒是真的，我可以做好充分準(zhǔn)備后，再給他們回電話。不說我了，你
最近工作還順心嗎？

    LL： Well the boss just told me that a large client just dropped their
old advertising agency， so they might go with us. Now the ball's in my
court to come up with a good proposal and win them over.

    LH：太好了，你又有表現(xiàn)的機會了，一定要寫好這個廣告創(chuàng)意，把這個大客
戶爭取過來。

    LL： It sure is a good opportunity， but to be honest I'm pretty nervous
about this. It's the first time I've gotten this much responsibility.

    LH：你一定沒問題。

    LL： Thanks Lihua.

    LH：對了，那家公司是做什么生意的？

    LL： It's an ad for sneakers. Their sales have been down lately.

    ******

    李華給Larry 打電話，問他下班后要不要一起去酒吧。

    （Ring……）

    LL： Hello， Larry London speaking.

    LH： Hi Larry ！

    LL： Oh hi Lihua， how's it going ？

    LH：沒什么事。就是想問你下班后要不要一起去喝點東西。

    LL： You mean go to happy hour together ？

    LH： Happy？跟你出去，我當(dāng)然高興了。

    LL： Right， but happy hour means the hour after work when people
often go out for a drink or some snacks.Usually the bar or restaurant
will have some sort of discount.

    LH：哦，原來happy hour是說同事下班后一起去酒吧喝酒，而且酒吧為了促
銷，這段時間酒水往往比一般價格便宜。我以前好象聽過這種說法。

    LL： Yes， it is a pretty common phrase.

    LH：那你到底要不要跟我一起去happy hour呢？

    LL： Sounds good to me.

    LH：我們?nèi)ツ膬篐appy hour？

    LL： Wherever you want is fine with me.

    LH：我去找你怎么樣？你公司附近有什么可以去happy hour的酒吧嗎？

    LL： There are a few places that have a happy hour， and that would
be very convenient for me.

    LH：那好，一言為定。你幾點鐘下班？

    LL： Well I get out of work at five. We can go to the place across
the street where they have a happy hour. Does that sound alright to you？

    LH：沒問題，那我們就在酒吧里見！

    LL： Excellent. I will see you for happy hour.

    LH：我今天有重要的事情告訴你。

    LL： Important news ？ What sort of news？

    LH：天機不可泄露。You will just have to wait until we meet at the
happy hour.

    LL： Oh come on ， you can't call me up and tell me you have news
and then leave me hanging all afternoon. We're not meeting for a happy
hour until 5：00， that's a long time from now.

    LH：哈哈，我就是要調(diào)調(diào)你的胃口。

    LL： It's cruel ！ What about the topic at least？

    LH：跟我有關(guān)。

    LL： You and……？

    LH：跟我和學(xué)校有關(guān)，我只能告訴你這么多了。

    LL： Ok ， that's fine. I'll see you for happy hour at five ？

    LH： See you then ！

    今天李華學(xué)了兩個常用語。一個是the ball is in your court 意思是現(xiàn)在
該你采取行動了。另一個是happy hour意思是酒吧傍晚前后的減價時段，同事朋
友可以一起去喝東西。