VOA流行美语 Unit 129: play hooky/put one's foot down

今天李华到Larry家来借一本书，碰巧Larry的妈妈打电话来。什么事呢？你听了他们的对话就知道了。今天李华会学到两个常用语：play hooky和put one's foot down。

(Hang up phone)

LH: Larry，怎么啦？你看起来很不高兴。

LL: Oh, it's just that my little sister is giving my mom a lot of trouble. She played hooky from school two days in a row last week.

LH: 你妹妹给你妈惹麻烦了。你说她上星期在学校连续两天played hooky? 那是一种游戏吗？为什么你妈妈会生气啊？

LL: No, it's not a game. To play hooky is to skip school or work when you have no excuse for doing so.

LH: 噢！play hooky就是逃学，旷课的意思。那很严重耶！我要是逃学，我妈妈一定会非常非常生气！

LL: Every kid plays hooky once in a while, but playing hooky as often as my little sister does is a serious problem. It's affecting her grades.

LH: 对，偶尔旷课还可以，如果像你妹妹这样常常逃课，成绩当然会受影响喽！那你妈妈打算怎么做？

LL: She'll forbid my sister from watching TV, talking on the phone, or going out with her friends for at least a month.

LH: 哇！至少一个月不能看电视、不许和朋友通电话，也不可以和朋友出去。这样的处罚是够厉害的。不过也许她能得到教训，以后不再逃学。

LL: I hope so. Hey, you really never played hooky when you were a kid?

LH: 嗯，有那么几次我不想上学，就装病待在家里。这样也算play hooky吗？

LL: Of course, that counts! Actually, I think every kid has used that trick to play hooky at least once.

LH: 对，假装生病是孩子们想逃学时常用的借口。我记得我是因为有的同学老是取笑我，所以我不想上学。

LL: Unfortunately, I think that's probably a very common reason for playing hooky from school.

******

LH: Larry，刚才是谁打电话来？

LL: That was my sister. My mom really put her foot down this time. She's not allowed to watch TV or see her friends for two months. She's really upset.

LH: 你妈妈罚你妹妹两个月不准看电视，也不准和朋友出去玩，那是够厉害的。可是，Larry, 你刚才说"put her foot down"是什么意思？

LL: Oh, to put one's foot down means to take a really firm stance on something and enforce it.

LH: Put one's foot down就是采取坚定立场，严厉执行。你妈妈是不是也曾经对你这么严格啊？

LL: I was generally a good kid, but she did put her foot down once that I can remember. She thought one of my friends was a bad influence, so she didn't allow me to hang out with him

LH: 那是可以理解。中国人常说，“近朱者赤，近墨者黑，”你妈妈是怕你交了坏朋友，所以才不让你跟他交往。

LL: Well, haven't you ever had to put your foot down with anyone?

LH: 你还记得我那讨厌的同屋吗？在她开始偷我的东西之后，我就对她不客气了。

LL: Yeah, I remember that. I think you probably should have put your foot down before then, but you were too nice.

LH: 是，我可能早就不该迁就她了。不过，我总觉得不太好意思，不太敢和别人发生冲突。

LL: You've got to learn to put your foot down when it's necessary, otherwise people will take advantage of you.

LH：没错，必要的时候就得学会对别人硬一些，有的人就是会欺软怕硬。

今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是play hooky, 是逃学，或旷课。另外一个常用语是put one's foot down, 意思是很坚定，采取严厉手段。