夏天到了，酷暑難當(dāng)，李華和Larry 一起去游泳。今天我們要學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)
：few and far between 和take the plunge.

    LH： Larry，這幾天怎么這么熱��！每天都有快40度！

    L ： I know ！ I have my air conditioner turned all the way to full
power ， and my apartment still feels really hot.

    LH：華盛頓每年夏天都這么熱。

    L ： Even though summers in Washington DC can be hot， summers that
are this hot are few and far between.

    LH：你說(shuō)這么熱的夏天是few and far between ？這是什么意思？

    L ： Something that is few and far between is very rare.

    LH：哦， few and far between就是很少見(jiàn)的意思。你是說(shuō)，雖然華盛頓的
夏天比較熱，但像今年這么熱的還是很少見(jiàn)的。

    L ： Right！ Here is another example. Hurricane Katrina caused a lot
of terrible damage in Louisiana. Luckily， hurricanes that big are few
and far between.

    LH：對(duì)，像卡特里娜那種威力的颶風(fēng)也是很少見(jiàn)的。Larry ，你看天氣預(yù)報(bào)
了么？不知道什么時(shí)候會(huì)下雨，能涼快涼快？

    L ： Not any time soon…… we can have a nice day having fun swimming.
I've been so busy lately that my chances to relax have been few and far
between.

    LH：是啊，你最近好像特別忙。怎么那么多工作�。�

    L ： Well there is a promotion opportunity for a great job at my company.
Chances like this are few and far between ， so I'm working really hard
to get it.

    LH：現(xiàn)在經(jīng)濟(jì)不好，能有升職的機(jī)會(huì)的確不容易，你要好好爭(zhēng)取！不過(guò)今天
我們還是在游泳池里好好輕松一下吧！咱們?nèi)ツ膫�(gè)泳池？

    L ： We're not going to the pool. My friend Andy is taking us out
to swim in the ocean on his boat！

    LH：��？你朋友Andy有船？這么有錢(qián)的朋友我怎么一個(gè)都沒(méi)有！

    L ： Well that's true ， friends with boats are few and far between
，so you have to be careful to maintain the friendship.

    LH： Larry，你不會(huì)是因?yàn)锳ndy有錢(qián)才跟他當(dāng)朋友的吧？

    L ： Of course not！ But you know ， Lihua， in heat like this， some
friends might be more important than others.

    ******

    Larry 和李華上了Andy的船，準(zhǔn)備在海中暢游一番。

    LH： Larry，在游泳之前，我得問(wèn)問(wèn)你，這海里到底有沒(méi)有鯊魚(yú)��？

    L ： Hmmm …… probably. But to be honest ， right now I am more afraid
of the sun than I am of any sharks.

    LH：你不在乎，我可在乎！我不想成為鯊魚(yú)的下午茶！

    L ： Lihua， I understand that you are a little nervous. But sometimes
you just have to take the plunge.

    LH： Take the plunge？ Plunge ，不是往下跳的意思么？你是說(shuō)，讓我不
管三七二十一，跳進(jìn)海里就好了？

    L ： Right！ But you know ， you can also say that you "take the plunge"
any time you do something risky or scary.

    LH：哦，take the plunge 就是冒險(xiǎn)一試。你是說(shuō)，雖然我有些害怕，但還
是應(yīng)該果斷地下水？

    L ： Right！ For example， Anthony was really nervous about quitting
his job and switching careers ， but eventually he decided to take the
plunge.

    LH：哦，Anthony 在辭職和改行的問(wèn)題上一直挺猶豫的，但最后他還是決定
冒險(xiǎn)一試。這么說(shuō)起來(lái)，我也有類似的經(jīng)歷，我來(lái)美國(guó)留學(xué)就是這樣的！

    L ： Exactly！ I bet it was a big decision to leave China and come
to America， but you decided to take the plunge. Aren't you happy you
did ？

    LH：哈，那可不好說(shuō)，如果下面有鯊魚(yú)，我被吃了，那我來(lái)美國(guó)的決定可就
是大錯(cuò)特錯(cuò)了！

    L ： Trust me ， Lihua. The sharks out here are few and far between.
And even if there are any around， I don't think sharks like Chinese food.

    LH：哦？你說(shuō)鯊魚(yú)不愛(ài)吃中餐？不如這樣吧，Larry ，你先跳下去，咱們看
看鯊魚(yú)是不是比較愛(ài)吃美國(guó)飯！

    L ： Well ， let's find out ！ This sun is so hot that I'm willing
to take the plunge. Are you ready ， Lihua？

    LH：好吧！大海，我來(lái)啦！

    今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是few and far between ，表示很少見(jiàn)。另
一是take the plunge ，意思是冒險(xiǎn)嘗試。