李華正在家里批改中文班學(xué)生的考卷。Larry 來找他。今天李華會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)
常用語：flunk 和lose sleep over.

    （Paper rustling sounds ）

    LH：（sighs ）唉，這兩個(gè)學(xué)生又不及格了。這學(xué)期他們已經(jīng)是第三次考試
不及格了！

    LL： What ？ You're flunking them ？ I thought I told you to go easy
on your poor students.

    LH：你在說什么�。縡lunk them？什么是flunk ？

    LL： I said you are going to flunk the students. That means you're
going to give them a failing grade.

    LH：噢！flunk 就是給他們不及格分?jǐn)?shù)啊，那你還真說對(duì)了。你看看他們的
考卷！這能及格嗎？

    LL： Heh， let me see …… whoa ， that guy even wrote his own Chinese
name wrong！ If he can't even get that right， he's almost definitely
going to flunk！

    LH：就是嘛！連自己的中文名都寫錯(cuò)。我只能給他不及格了。等等，Larry ，
你先是說我flunk 這些學(xué)生，給他們不及格，現(xiàn)在又說他們自己要flunk.這到底
是誰要flunk 誰��？

    LL： The word flunk can mean both "to give a failing grade to" as
well as "to fail a course". So if you flunk that student， he will flunk
the class. Got it ？

    LH：噢，我懂了，flunk 既可以指給學(xué)生不及格的分?jǐn)?shù)，也可以指學(xué)生自己
考不及格。那Larry ，你是不是也有過不及格的時(shí)候��？

    LL： What ？ No way ！……well， almost. Actually ， I almost flunked
my first beginner's Chinese class. But I managed to pass with a C.

    LH：我的天�。≈荒玫紺 ？你��！八成和我這些學(xué)生一樣懶散，不認(rèn)真。我
要是你的中文老師，絕對(duì)讓你不及格的！

    LL： Hey， I did my best！ My first Chinese teacher even tutored me
on her own free time. If it weren't for her ， I would have flunked ！

    LH：嗯，那是你運(yùn)氣，老師愿意幫你補(bǔ)課。我也愿意幫這些學(xué)生補(bǔ)習(xí)，可是
他們經(jīng)常連課都不來上，我能怎么辦？

    LL： They don't come to class ？ What a couple of idiots. Well， go
ahead and flunk them， then.

    ******

    LH：（Sighs ）唉！我真不知道該怎么處理那兩個(gè)學(xué)生的成績(jī)。

    LL： Yeah ， I'd go ahead and just flunk them. Don't lose any sleep
over it ， they deserve it.

    LH：你要我別怎么樣？睡不著覺？你在說些什么啊？

    LL： When I say lose sleep over something ， I mean not to worry about
it a lot.

    LH：噢，你這么說我就懂了。Lose sleep over something 就是說你非常擔(dān)
心某件事情，而到了睡不著覺的地步。Larry ，你真以為我會(huì)為這兩個(gè)學(xué)生擔(dān)心
到失眠吶？

    LL： Of course not. When we use this phrase ， we are just exaggerating.
I know you won't really lose sleep over something like this.

    LH：原來lose sleep over 是有點(diǎn)夸張的說法。我雖然還不到失眠的程度。
可是有時(shí)候我真覺得當(dāng)一個(gè)老師壓力好大，有好多責(zé)任呢！

    LL： Most of your students seem to be doing pretty well ， right？
You aren't losing any sleep over the other students ， are you？

    LH：沒有！我有一些學(xué)生非常聰明，也很用功。

    LL： That's good. That means the other two students are just irresponsible.
There's no need to lose sleep over them failing your class.

    LH：對(duì)了，就這兩個(gè)學(xué)生有問題。他們不及格也是他們自己的責(zé)任。Larry ，
我聽說你前幾天回絕了一個(gè)工作機(jī)會(huì)。怎么回事呀？

    LL： That ？ Oh ， I'm not losing any sleep over that decision. I
just don't have time for that job ， I had no other choice.

    LH：沒事就好。時(shí)間太緊張就別再給自己增加負(fù)擔(dān)，讀書還是比較重要的。

    LL： That's right. I'd rather have a low income than flunk a class.
That's the kind of thing I could really lose sleep over ！

    LH：我真希望我所有的學(xué)生都像你一樣，寧可錢少，也不能不及格。

    今天李華學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語。第一個(gè)是flunk ，意思是老師給學(xué)生不及格分?jǐn)?shù)，
或是學(xué)生考不及格。另外一個(gè)常用語是lose sleep over something ，是為某件
事?lián)�心而到了失眠的地步�?/p>