【生词预览】

battle战役，bulge肥胖，gym健身房，assessment评估

【笑话原文】

Loose-fitting Clothing

Clearly I was not going to win the battle of the bulge on my own, so I decided to join a gym. “Before you start working out, we like to do a health assessment,” explained the gym representative. “When you come in, wear loose-fitting clothing.”

“If I had loose-fitting clothing, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” I replied.

【中文译文】

宽松的衣服

很显然，单靠我自己已经无法战胜发胖的趋势，所以我决定参加一个健身房。健身房的代表解释说：“在你开始之前，我们先来做一个健康评估。你进来的时候，穿一件宽松的衣服。”我回答说：“我如果有宽松的衣服，就不会在这里和你说话了。”

【词汇讲解】

1.battle战役，交战／较量，争论／奋斗，斗争。也可以作动词，“争斗”：The two armies battled all night.两军彻夜战斗。

2.bulge肥胖。也有“膨胀”的意思：The apple made a bulge in his pocket.苹果把他口袋塞得鼓了起来。也可以作动词，“凸起”：His stomach bulged.他的肚子凸了出来。

3.gym健身房。We played basketball in the gym.我们在体育馆里打篮球。
“体操／（尤指学校的）体育活动”：Gym is his favourite sport.体操是他最喜爱的运动。

4.work out锻炼。These athletes work out at the gym for two hours every day.这些运动员每天都要在体育馆锻炼两个小时。还有“解答”的意思：She worked out the problem with no difficulty.她毫无困难地解决了这个问题。

5.assemssment评估。也可以指“评价，看法”：This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。

6.fitting合身的。也有“适当的”的意思：He is fitting for the job.他适合干这工作。也能作名词，是“试穿”的意思：I’m going to a fitting tomorrow.明天我要去试穿新衣。