李華和Larry 正在討論是不是要去聽有關中國歷史的演講。今天李華會學到
兩個常用語：big shot和bent out of shape.

    （Ambience sound in the Hallway ）

    LL： Hey Li Hua ！ Are you going to the guest lecture this evening？

    Some big shot Harvard professor is going to speak tonight. LH ：你
說今天晚上來演講的教授是什么？big shot？什么是big shot？

    LL： I said he is a big shot. A big shot is an important or influential
person. LH：噢！Big shot是指一個很重要，很有影響力的人。那不就是我們中
文里說的“大人物”嘛！哎！哈佛大學的教授就是大人物，big shot呀？

    LL： Actually ， this guy is a big shot because he's an American who
lived in China for thirty years after the revolution， and got to know
some of the leaders of China personally. LH ：喲，他在中國住了30年，還
認識一些中國的領導人。聽起來倒挺象大人物的。那他為什么要到我們學校來呢？

    LL： Well ， the president of our university and some other big shots
from the city government are good friends of his. They invited him to
come here and give a lecture. LH：原來他和我們校長還有市政府的官員都是
好朋友。嗯，我很想去聽聽他的演講。對了，Larry ，你聽說Jack找到一份新工
作嗎？

    LL： Oh yeah， I heard that he's working for a big shot lawyer now.
I'm really happy to see him doing so well after graduation. LH：我希望
那家大律師事務所能好好待他。有時候，為這些大人物工作，未必是件好差事。

    LL： Yeah ， I guess so. Still， it's better to work for a big shot
lawyer than to be a waiter at a coffee house. A lot of us history majors
end up doing jobs like that after graduation. LH：話是不錯，給大律師工
作總比在咖啡館當服務員好。可是，歷史專業(yè)的畢業(yè)生也不見得都到餐館去當服
務員。我將來就要爭取成為一個有名的教授， a big shot professor ！

    LL： That's good to hear. Just be sure you don't forget about me after
you become a big shot ！

    ******

    LH：嘿！Larry ，昨晚我去聽演講，怎么沒看見你呢？那位教授講得很有意
思！

    LL： Well ， that's good to hear. I couldn't make it because some
idiot crashed his car into mine last night on the way over here. I'm still
pretty bent out of shape about it.

    LH：什么！你昨晚出車禍啦？Bent out of shape ？你是不是受傷了？

    LL： I'm fine �。╟huckles） I said I am bent out of shape. That means
I am very angry and upset about the accident last night ， even though
it wasn't very serious.

    LH：噢！原來你是為了車子被撞而生氣。Bent out of shape 就是生氣，發(fā)
火的意思。嗨，沒受傷就好，車子壞了有保險公司，別生氣啦？

    LL： But I'm bent out of shape because the other guy was really rude.
I had the right of way at a stop sign ， but he drove through the intersection
first and bumped into my car. Then he started yelling at me for not letting
him go first！

    LH：哼，他不守交通規(guī)則，搶先過了馬路撞上你的車，還對你大聲嚷嚷？怪
不得你要氣壞了呢！

    LL：（Angry ） That guy is an idiot ！ Otherwise， I wouldn't get
so bent out of shape. Let's talk about something else. What about the
lecture ？

    LH：對！別談這事了。昨晚那個演講我覺得很有意思，不過，在那位教授講
完要離開會場的時候，有一群學生對他大吼大叫，好像是不同意他的某個觀點。

    LL： Did the guy get all bent out of shape about it ？

    LH：沒有耶，那位教授沒生氣，也沒有理會那些學生。后來大家都離開會場
了。

    LL： Well ， that's good. If someone gets bent out of shape about
different opinions， it usually means he's narrow-minded.

    LH：所以，Larry ，盡管撞你車的人不講道理，你也不要小心眼，為這事生
氣。