李華和Larry 在一家中餐館吃飯。李華今天會學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語bite the bullet
和benchwarmer.

    LH： Larry，你點(diǎn)的陳皮牛肉真好吃。（Groans in pain） Oww！

    LL： Hey， what's wrong ？ Was there something in the beef？

    LH：不，是我的牙。我的一個(gè)牙齒壞了，早該去看牙醫(yī)，可是一直不敢去。

    LL： Really ？ Well ， if it hurts that much， I guess you have to
bite the bullet and see a dentist ！

    LH： Bite the bullet��？咬子彈？Larry ，我咬肉都痛，還叫我咬子彈！

    LL： No ， no ， I'm not being mean. To bite the bullet means to resign
yourself to doing something that is difficult or unpleasant.

    LH：所以，你的意思是硬著頭皮去難做的事，或不愉快的事。噢，我知道了，
以前打仗的時(shí)候有時(shí)沒有麻藥，傷員動手術(shù)時(shí)只好咬著子彈，忍住疼痛。這個(gè)習(xí)
慣用語就是這么來的吧？

    LL： I guess so. Anyway ， your painful tooth will affect your studying，
and it might get worse if you keep waiting. Just bite the bullet and see
a dentist ！

    LH：牙痛當(dāng)然影響我的學(xué)習(xí)。我一會兒就打電話給牙醫(yī)生約時(shí)間。對了， Larry，
你上星期因?yàn)橥＼嚩�被罰款有沒有去付�。�

    LL：（Sighs ） No ， I haven't paid them off yet. I guess I'd better
bite the bullet and pay them， otherwise the charges will be doubled.

    LH：還沒有付呀！逾期不付會加倍罰款的。 Larry，今年你已經(jīng)吃了好幾張
罰單了，你平時(shí)很少用車，為什么不把它賣掉呢？

    LL： Hmm…… I like the freedom of having a car ， but owning one
is pretty expensive in this city. Maybe I should just bite the bullet
and sell my car.

    LH：有車是方便，可是要交停車費(fèi)、保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)，車壞了還要修理費(fèi)。你知道嗎？
Ben 最近把他的車賣掉了。

    LL： Really ？ You know what else Ben did recently？ He finally bit
the bullet and asked his girlfriend to marry him！ She said yes ！

    LH：真的呀？那就是說Ben 和他的女朋友要結(jié)婚了。這是好事啊，可你為什
么你說He bit the bullet ？為什么要硬著頭皮求婚呢？

    LL： No ！ It's just that a making a marriage proposal takes courage
sometimes. I'm sure Ben was nervous. That's why I say he had to bite the
bullet.

    LH：那倒是。求婚是要有勇氣的，特別是對Ben 這么內(nèi)向的人來說。

    ******

    （Sounds of indoor court basketball ）

    LH： Hey， Larry！沒想到你還會打籃球。

    LL： Hey！ I've been a part of this recreational league here at the
gym for a few months. Years ago I played in high school ， but I was just
a benchwarmer ， really.

    LH：你參加這體育館的球隊(duì)已經(jīng)好幾個(gè)月了？我怎么不知道呀？你說你在中
學(xué)時(shí)只是個(gè)benchwarmer ，那是什么位置呀？我只知道有前鋒，中鋒和后衛(wèi)。

    LL：（Chuckles） It's not really a position ， Li Hua. A benchwarmer
is a reserve player on a team. They aren't as good as the starting players，
so they have to sit on the bench and wait.

    LH：原來benchwarmer 就是我們中國人常說的板凳隊(duì)員。因?yàn)樗麄兊募夹g(shù)比
較差，入場打球的機(jī)會比較少，老坐在板凳上等教練的命令，把板凳都坐暖了。
Benchwarmer ，這很有意思。

    LL： Yeah ， well ， being a benchwarmer on my high school basketball
team was not funny， for me at least. That's why I quit the team after
one season.

    LH：這我完全理解。我以前在大學(xué)也參加過藍(lán)球隊(duì)，也是老坐板凳，所以不
久就退出了。

    LL： That's too bad ！ If I was forced to be a benchwarmer on this
team， I'd probably quit too. It's not worth my time if I can't play.

    LH：光坐在那里看而沒機(jī)會打球的確不值得。 Larry，你現(xiàn)在差不多每場比
賽都參加，球技一定很棒噢。

    LL： Heh， not really ， this team only has seven players ， and everyone
always gets a chance to play. No one has to be a benchwarmer on this team.

    LH：你們只有七名隊(duì)員，那是沒有人坐板凳了。我也想打籃球，不過我誰都
不認(rèn)識，不知道怎么報(bào)名。

    LL： Oh ， what are you worried about ， Li Hua. Just bite the bullet
and ask someone about joining ！

    LH：好吧，我明天就去問問。

    今天李華學(xué)到了兩個(gè)常用語。一個(gè)是bite the bullet ，意思是硬著頭皮、
鼓起勇氣去做不想作或是很難做的事。還有一個(gè)是benchwarmer ，意思是指球隊(duì)
的后備隊(duì)員。他們老是坐在板凳上，打球的機(jī)會不多。