流行美語 第343課
【大紀元8月12日訊】李華和Larry到夏威夷渡假，假期結束後，坐飛機回家。今天我們要學兩個常用語： right up one’s alley和out of the question。
LH: Larry, 我這次玩兒的真高興! 躺在沙灘上，懶洋洋地曬太陽，這種日子我永遠也過不厭。
L: Yeah, I had a great time too. I love relaxing vacations on the beach, and eating fresh seafood every night for dinner makes it even better.
LH: 不過Larry, 雖然夏威夷的風光很美，但我也喜歡去一些有人文特色的地方，比如逛逛博物館，看看歷史風情。
L: Well then, for our next vacation we can go to Paris! It sounds right up your alley.
LH: Paris sounds right up my alley? 你這話是什麼意思啊？
L: You can say that something is right up your alley if it is perfectly suited to you.
LH: 哦，right up one’s alley, 就是指正合某人的口味。 你是說，巴黎是藝術、文化、還有歷史之都，所以去巴黎旅行一定特別符合我的興趣。
L: Right! Here is another example. Roger loves to argue all the time, so I think a career as a lawyer would be right up his alley.
LH: 可不，對於那些喜歡爭辯的人來說，當律師最適合，如果做顧客服務，得天天跟人吵架。對了，Larry, 咱們這趟班機上會播什麼電影啊？我愛看喜劇。
L: They’re going to play the new Jim Carrey movie, so I think that should be right up your alley.
LH: 要播Jim Carey的喜劇，太好了，正合我意!
L: I’m not really interested in watching a movie right now. I think reading a book might be more up my alley.
LH: 你想看書？那我就自己看電影吧！對了，待會兒空姐過來你幫我拿副耳機。
L: Sure, but you know you have to pay for them.
LH: 耳機還要錢？ 下次旅遊，我不坐飛機了!
L: Well then, it sounds like the train might be right up your alley.
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LH: Larry, 我覺得好難受啊，飛機的座椅怎麼這麼窄，坐得真不舒服! 唉，航空公司的服務越來越差了!
L: You’re right, the airlines have really been reducing the quality of service to save money.
LH: 是啊。現在飛機上的吃的和飲料都要錢，託運行李也要錢，不知道以後會不會連隨身行李都要交錢。
L: That would have sounded crazy a few years ago, but today it’s not out of the question.
LH: Out of the question? 這是什麼意思？
L: When you think that something is totally impossible, you can say that it is out of the question.
LH: 哦，out of the question, 就是絕不可能。 你是說，放在幾年前，沒人會想到隨身行李也可能收錢，可是現在，這已經不是不可能的事兒了。
L: That’s exactly right, how about the time my friend Amy asked to borrow my new car. But since she got in three accidents in the past month, I told her it was out of the question.
LH: 哦，因為Amy開車老出事，所以你絕不會把自己的車借給她開。
L: Exactly.
LH: 這倒讓我想起來，你什麼時候把你那輛破車扔了，換輛新車開開啊？你那舊車說不定那天在路上開著一半就散架了。
L: Well, I just spent all my money on this Hawaii vacation, so buying a new car is out of the question for right now.
LH: 這樣的話，你不如騎車上班。省錢，還能鍛練身體。
L: I don’t think so. My office is really far away, so biking there every day is out of the question.
LH: 哦，對啊，你公司離家太遠了，騎車要累死了。你想過換工作麼？找個離家近的。
L: I have, but the company I work at now is pretty good.
LH: 可是，如果能找一個又好又離家近的工作，不是更好麼？
L: Well I guess you’re right. It’s not totally out of the question.
LH: 啊，不知不覺，已經飛過一大半的旅程了。你說這趟飛機能准點抵達，而且不弄丟乘客的行李麼？
L: Now that, Lihua, is totally out of the question!
今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是 right up one’s alley, 表示正合某人的口味。另一個是out of the question, 意思是絕不可能。 (http://www.dajiyuan.com)