【大紀元2012年04月05日訊】Larry和李華星期六晚上待在家裏，覺得有些無聊，他們會用到兩個常用語：stuck in a rut和someone’s cup of tea.
LH: Larry, 好無聊啊! 你說幹點甚麼好啊？
Larry: (Distracted) Huh? Uh, yea… that’s nice, Lihua.
LH: 甚麼好好好? Larry! 你又在打電腦遊戲啦？哎呀，不要玩兒了! (pulls the plug)
Larry: Hey! I was about to clear that level!
LH: 你每天晚上除了玩線上遊戲就甚麼都不幹了! 我們就不能出去轉轉，找點好玩的事情做嗎？
Larry: (Sigh) You’re right, Lihua. We haven’t really done anything new recently. I guess we’ve been stuck in a rut.
LH: In a rut? 甚麼意思？
Larry: Being stuck in a rut means to be stuck in a boring routine.
LH: To be stuck in a rut就是生活一成不變。那麼，這個rut是甚麼意思呢？
Larry: A rut is what happens when a wheel rolls over the same place over and over again. Eventually, the wheel will dig a line, or a rut, in the ground.
LH: 我明白了，rut是車輪不斷壓過同一個地方後留下的印跡。我想，這就比喻一成不變的常規吧。Larry, 我們最近的確有些stuck in a rut，感覺有點平淡無味，你說這是怎麼回事呢？
Larry: I’m not sure, Lihua, but we have been together for over a year now. It’s relatively normal for couples to find themselves stuck in a rut after being together for awhile.
LH: 啊？你覺得是因為咱們在一起時間不算短了，所以生活就變得平平淡淡了？我覺得根本不是這樣，We’re stuck in a rot because of that stupid computer game! 都怪你天天打線上遊戲，不陪我!
Larry: I’ll admit I like to play my games, but you remember what happened last weekend, right?
LH: 上個週末？怎麼啦？
Larry: I wanted to take you out for a nice dinner, but you said you were too tired. We ended up staying home and watching TV all night!
LH: 還說請我吃頓好的？Larry, 你每次請我吃飯都是漢堡和薯條，連吃飯內容都一成不變，難怪我們會stuck in a rut!
Larry: Hmm… we need to find some new things to do that we both like. Otherwise, we might be stuck in this rut forever!
LH: 可不是嘛! 咱們好久沒有去打網球啦! 不如去打兩場吧!
Larry: Aw, you know tennis isn’t my cup of tea, Lihua. And besides, it’s been so hot out lately…
LH: Your cup of tea? 打網球還要喝茶？你不怕熱嗎？
Larry: I would drink water, of course! I said “playing tennis is not my cup of tea”…in other words, I don’t really enjoy tennis.
LH: 哦，你說playing tennis is not your cup of tea, 意思就是說你不喜歡打網球。那你的cup of tea到底是甚麼呀？
Larry: I like swimming! How about we start going to the pool? It’s always refreshing to take a dip in the pool on a hot day!
LH: 去游泳？可是，游泳不是我的cup of tea。我怕曬黑! Oh, I know! Why don’t you take me to the ballet? 我們去看芭蕾舞表演吧!
Larry: The ballet? Uh, that’s not my cup of tea, either. I never understood what’s going on! It just looks like a bunch of people jumping around on stage, if you ask me.
LH: 你這人一點都不浪漫!
Larry: Being romantic was never my cup of tea, Lihua. Remember when I sent you flowers for your birthday?
LH: 記得！我生日你送玫瑰花給我，結果我花粉過敏，打了一天噴嚏!
Larry: Heheh. See? No wonder we’re in a rut. I’m horrible at being romantic, and we can never agree on anything new to do. Tell you what – let me think about it some more while I finish this last boss in my video game…
LH: 不行! 你別想溜! Get us out of this rut, Larry! 要不你就別想玩兒電腦了!
Larry: Hmmm….
LH: 甚麼呀？你在想甚麼壞主意？
Larry: You want us to do something together, right? Our group could use another warrior…
LH: 你想讓我和你一起打線上遊戲？我可不會! You know video games are not my cup of tea!
Larry: (Sigh). Well, I guess I’ll go make myself a real cup of tea and go stare out the window for fun…
今天李華從Larry那兒學到兩個常用語，一個是to be stuck in a rut, 表示枯燥，一成不變。另一個是someone’s cup of tea, 意思是某人有興趣幹的事。
