Larry 到李華住的地方，去看她新領(lǐng)養(yǎng)的貓咪小雪球。今天李華會學(xué)到兩個
常用語：mental和pro.

    LL： Snowball is adorable ！ She's so little and fluffy ！

    LH：就是啊，我的貓咪小雪球是很可愛，可它也夠瘋的。你看看它把我的家
具抓成什么樣了！

    LL： Oh ， don't worry. Your cat isn't mental. All cats love to scratch
furniture. You just need to give her a scratching post to scratchinstead.
LH：你是說有辦法讓小雪球不再抓我的家具？噢！謝天謝地。我明天馬上去買你
說的那種專門讓貓抓的柱子。不然，我的家具都要完蛋了。對了，你剛才說小雪
球不是mental，那是什么意思��？

    LL： To be "mental" means to be crazy. LH ： Mental 就是發(fā)瘋，瘋狂
的意思。所以你覺得小雪球很正常，一點(diǎn)也不瘋��？

    LL： She's just being a kitten. You need to get her a scratching post.
She also might be doing this because she's lonely when you're gone. LH
： Larry，看不出來你對貓還有一套呢！你說小雪球太孤單了，才會到處抓，你
該不是要我再領(lǐng)養(yǎng)一只貓和它做伴吧？你要真是那么想，那你可真的是mental，
瘋了！

    LL： Well ， maybe you could adopt an older cat that's a little calmer.
LH：再領(lǐng)養(yǎng)一只大貓？你出什么餿主意呀！我絕對應(yīng)付不了兩只貓。那樣，我會
被逼瘋的，成了mental.

    LL： Okay ， well then try getting her something to scratch. You should
cut her claws ， too. LH：對呀！我前天是要給小雪球剪指甲，可它像瘋子一
樣，一直叫，一直抓我，最后還躲到床底下。

    LL： Hmmm ……maybe you need some professional help. When you take
her to the vet to get her shots ， then the vet can help you cut her claws.
LH：我也希望獸醫(yī)能幫忙。我真不知道怎么幫貓剪指甲。不過我怕小雪球到時候
發(fā)瘋抓人，連獸醫(yī)都會受不了。

    LL： Don't worry， I'm sure the vet sees mental cats all day long.

    ******

    LH：小雪球現(xiàn)在好多了。我?guī)�它看過獸醫(yī)，也找了幾本有關(guān)養(yǎng)貓的書。我現(xiàn)
在比較懂得怎么照顧它了。

    LL： See， you're already becoming a pro. Pretty soon ， you'll be
able to handle a whole house full of cats.

    LH：哎喲！一只貓已經(jīng)夠我頭疼的了，一屋子的貓？甭提了！你剛才說我可
以變成pro ，那又是什么意思？

    LL： Pro is short for "professional." If you say someone is a pro ，
it means that she is really good at something.

    LH：原來，pro 就是專業(yè)的意思。嗯，我還不敢說自己在這方面很專業(yè)啦！

    LL： That's understandable. You can't become a pro overnight. It takes
time and practice.

    LH：當(dāng)然嘍！要當(dāng)專業(yè)人員可不是一天一夜的事，需要花很多時間來實(shí)踐，
積累經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

    LL： Hey， I'm sure that Yao Ming got frustrated once in a while when
he was training to become a pro basketball player.

    LH：姚明在訓(xùn)練過程中還會煩惱？他根本不用練球，他是一個“天生的”籃
球好手！

    LL： Hey， even naturally talented people have to work hard to become
a pro.

    LH：嗯，我從小就夢想成為職業(yè)排球運(yùn)動員。能夠在沙灘上打排球一定是件
很過癮的事！

    LL： I'm sure it's not as much fun as it seems. Pro sports players
have to work hard and they travel a lot. There's a lot of pressure on
them to perform well.

    LH：是沒有象我們想像的那樣好玩。訓(xùn)練是很辛苦的，還要到處旅行，壓力
好大。可是，這些職業(yè)選手能賺大錢。那些美式足球和籃球明星，年薪都上百萬
呢！

    LL： Don't you wish you'd get that much money for being a pro at caring
for Snowball？

    LH：唉！專業(yè)管理寵物有什么好處？唯一的報酬就是有一只快樂健康的貓