李華在Larry 辦公大樓門口遇到他。Larry 看上去十分疲倦。今天我們要學(xué)
兩個常用語：back to square one和hankering.

    LH： Larry，你昨天晚上是不是又熬夜加班了？看上去一臉疲憊。

    LL： Did I ever ！ I was here all night doing work on this new marketing
project ， but ultimately I did not get anywhere. I may have to change
the ad's concept completely ， even though that would mean going back
to square one.

    LH：你要去square one出差？遠(yuǎn)嗎？

    LL： Square one is not an actual place. It means going back to the
beginning.

    LH：我明白了，square one就是從頭開始的意思。那上星期我寫論文忘了存
盤，結(jié)果電腦死機全丟了，只好從頭再來，這種情況就可以說I was back at square
one.對不對？

    LL： Yes， that's right ， Li Hua. Because you had to go back to the
beginning and all of the earlier work was deleted ， you had to go back
to square one.

    LH：我手里還有一篇論文要寫，但是還沒有下筆，能不能說I am only at square
one ？

    LL： You can use "square one" that way， but usually people say ，
"back to square one." This means that they did a lot of work， but it
did not help them get any closer to their goal.

    LH：這么說，我可不愿意go back to square one.

    LL： Exactly， I'm very frustrated that all of my work last night
did not get me anywhere. Even though I was here all night ， I'm back
to square one.

    LH：這么說，你的新市場營銷計劃如今又回到了起點，要從頭開始，你下一
步打算怎樣辦？

    LL： You know ， to be honest ， I am really not sure. I think maybe
I need some sleep to help clear up my head.

    LH：我對你深表同情。不過我比你還慘。上星期論文都快打完了，結(jié)果沒存，
I got sent back to square one.更糟糕的是，第二天就要交。

    LL： That does sound stressful， luckily I have still got a few weeks
before this project is due， so I think that I am going to go home and
get some sleep before starting again at square one.

    LH：你重新開始之前要不要一起吃點東西？

    LL： That sounds great Li Hua ， but first I need to get some rest.
How about we meet here at noon， grab something to eat and then I get
back to work？

    LH： Sounds great ！

    ******

    LH： Larry，你一覺醒來，一定是精神飽滿，干勁十足。

    LL： Yes， I had a very good nap， and now I have a hankering for
some Italian food.

    LH： A hankering？你是說你想吃意大利飯嗎？

    LL： Exactly， Li Hua ！ To have a hankering， for something means
that you want that thing. Usually someone would say they have a hankering
for a type of food or drink.

    LH：意大利飯也有很多種啊，你想吃意大利面，比薩餅，還是肉醬千層面？

    LL： You know ， lasagna sounds really good to me ， but what do you
have a hankering for Li Hua ？ What are you in the mood to have for lunch？

    LH：我也說不清楚想吃什么。要不吃個三明治，還是去吃中國飯？

    LL： It doesn't really sound like you have a hankering for anything
in particular at all.

    LH：肚子餓的時候，當(dāng)然是吃什么都香。

    LL： Maybe you should compare the types of food that you have a hankering
for to decide what you want to eat.

    LH：一方面，我特別想吃辣的，可另一方面，我又怕麻煩。

    LL： Either food that you choose is fine by me. Italian ， Chinese，
sandwiches……

    LH：現(xiàn)在聽起來，我好象又都不那么想吃了。

    LL： No ？ Then it looks like we are back at square one then.

    LH： Yes， we are back at square one. 不過，我已經(jīng)知道要吃什么了。

    LL： Well what do you want to have for lunch？

    LH： Sushi！快走吧，我已經(jīng)在流口水了。

    今天李華學(xué)了兩個常用語。一個是back to square one意思是回到起點。另
一個是hankering ，意思是特別想要。