Larry 準(zhǔn)備在公司匯報(bào)工作。事先想請(qǐng)李華幫他聽(tīng)聽(tīng)，看報(bào)告內(nèi)容能不能吸
引人。李華今天要學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是dud ，另一個(gè)是oomph .

    LL： Thanks for agreeing to listen to my presentation ， Li Hua. I
really don't want it to be a dud.

    LH： Larry，什么是 "dud"呀？

    LL： Oh ， A dud D-U-D is something or someone that doesn't live up
to expectations and is a disappointment.

    LH： Dud就是讓人失望的意思。你是不是想讓我?guī)湍懵?tīng)聽(tīng)，你的報(bào)告能不能
吸引人��？

    LL： Right！ I want my presentation to be lively and interesting.
If it is boring and difficult to understand ， it will be a dud.

    LH：愿意為您效勞！不過(guò)Larry ，你這人這么幽默，不用聽(tīng)我就知道，你的
報(bào)告肯定不會(huì)枯燥無(wú)味的。

    LL： You never know. I once worked with a woman who I thought was
really funny， and at work we really got along. But then we went on a
date， and it was a real dud.

    LH：你們約會(huì)的問(wèn)題出在哪里呢？

    LL： It turns out that we didn't have much in common except work.

    LH：噢，我知道了，你們倆這叫缺少共同語(yǔ)言。That date really does sound
like a dud.

    LL： What about you Li Hua？ Have you every gone out with a guy who
was a real dud？

    LH： Dud也能指人啊。那要這么說(shuō)，我可是遇到過(guò)真正的dud.

    LL： How was this guy a dud ， Li Hua ？

    LH：他長(zhǎng)得特別帥，可是我們倆出去吃飯，他從頭到尾都在沒(méi)完沒(méi)了地講他
自己，根本不問(wèn)問(wèn)我喜歡些什么。That date was a real dud.

    LL： Kind of like a firecracker that doesn't go off ！ We also call
fireworks that don't go off "duds."

    LH：沒(méi)錯(cuò)，我們管不響的爆竹叫" 啞炮".我最喜歡放炮了，特別是春節(jié)的時(shí)
候……

    Larry ，你干嘛呢？

    LL： I am trying to get the slide projector to work. It looks like
the light bulb is a dud ！

    LH：那就別擺弄幻燈了。我光聽(tīng)就行了。

    LL： Okay ， let's get started. Please be honest， Li Hua ， and don't
be afraid to tell me if you think my presentation is a dud.

    LH：你放心，我一定怎么想就怎么說(shuō)。

    ******

    LL： So ， what do you think， Li Hua ？ Does my presentation need
more oomph？

    LH： Oomph？這又是什么詞��！怎么這么難說(shuō)。

    LL： It is like "oom" from the word room， followed by an "F" sound.
Say it after me ， Li Hua. Oomph！

    LH：（Imitating ）"oom" ， "oom-f". Oomph ， oomph是什么意思啊？

    LL： When I asked if my presentation needed more oomph， I was asking
if it needed something extra to make it more lively or interesting.

    LH：噢，你是說(shuō)可以加點(diǎn)兒什么，讓你的報(bào)告更精彩是吧。老實(shí)說(shuō)，Larry ，
我覺(jué)得有的地方確實(shí)有點(diǎn)兒枯燥，需要加點(diǎn)兒oomph.

    LL： How do you think I could give my presentation more oomph ， Li
Hua ？

    LH：比方說(shuō)，你一上來(lái)可以先講個(gè)笑話，吸引聽(tīng)眾的注意。然后講到一半兒
有人開(kāi)始走神的時(shí)候，你可以再講個(gè)你自己工作中的真實(shí)經(jīng)歷，最好是干過(guò)的什
么傻事。這樣你的報(bào)告就能更生動(dòng)了。

    LL： That's very good advice， Li Hua. I think doing those things
will give my presentation the extra oomph it needs.

    LH：好，那現(xiàn)在換我了。我最近給中文課設(shè)計(jì)了一個(gè)網(wǎng)頁(yè)。你也幫我看看，
要不要也加點(diǎn)兒oomph.

    LL： Sure. I'm happy to look at it and tell you if it needs more oomph.

    （Typing on keyboard……）

    LH： Okay ， here it is. Larry，你覺(jué)得怎么樣？

    LL： Wow， Li Hua ！ Maybe your website has a little too much oomph！

    LH： Oomph還會(huì)太多嗎？

    LL： Well ， you used orange and pink together on the same page. Those
colors make it hard to read.

    LH：粉紅色和桔黃色放在一起是太亮了，看上去眼睛有點(diǎn)兒不舒服，那我換
換其它顏色吧。

    今天李華學(xué)到了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是dud ，意思是令人失望的。另一個(gè)是oomph，
是吸引力的意思。