Larry 和李華一起坐地鐵回家。今天我們要學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語：take the bull
by the horns和knock your socks off.

    LL： You look really tired， Lihua. What have you been up to？

    LH：別提了，我最近兩天一直睡不好覺。比如說昨天晚上，凌晨兩點(diǎn)醒來后，
就再也睡不著了，翻來覆去一直到早上起床。

    LL： I am sorry to hear that， Lihua. Sleep is really important. It
can affect your mood and feelings for an entire day ， and it can really
wear you down after awhile. So why did you wake up in the middle of the
night ？

    LH：還不是因?yàn)槲夷莻�(gè)室友Tammy.她男朋友去西岸上學(xué)，跟我們有三個(gè)小時(shí)
的時(shí)差，所有她經(jīng)常半夜三更給男朋友打電話。我們公寓的墻壁又很薄，她一打
電話，我就醒過來了。

    LL： If that's the case ， I think you should take the bull by the
horns and talk to Tammy because her late night phone calls are interfering
with your sleep.

    LH：你說take the bull by the horns是什么意思，抓住牛角？這跟睡覺有
關(guān)系嗎？

    LL： Haha. Lihua， to take the bull by the horns means to confront
a problem head-on and to deal with it openly. That's what I think you
should do with Tammy.

    LH：哦，我明白了， taking a bull by the horns 意思是采取直接的、果
斷的行動(dòng)，你是讓我別不好意思，開誠布公地告訴Tammy ，她打電話影響我睡眠。

    LL： Exactly. You can tell her that her phone calls are keeping you
up at night and that you would appreciate it if she made the calls earlier
in the evening or made the calls outside.

    LH：好，聽你的。I will take the bull by the horns and talk to Tammy.
我今天回去就跟Tammy 談�？此�能不能十點(diǎn)以前給男朋友打電話或是到外面去打
電話。

    ******

    雖然缺覺，但是李華的工作好象十分順利。我們一起聽。

    LH： Larry，雖然沒睡好覺，我還是想出去慶祝一下，因?yàn)槲腋�你說過的那
個(gè)項(xiàng)目，我今天終于完工了。

    LL： Really ？ That's nice！ I know you have been working really hard
on it. I just finished something at work for a client too. We should definitely
go out and celebrate.

    LH：太好了。那我們?nèi)ツ膬海?/p>

    LL： Well the weather's so nice out. How about we go on a walk？

    LH：去散步？好主意！我正好也可以活動(dòng)活動(dòng)。今天我一整天幾乎沒有離開
座位。不過，去哪里走好呢？到處都是車，一點(diǎn)也不浪漫。

    LL： I know a place right off 5th Street which is perfect for romantic
walks. There aren't too many cars ， and they close one lane of the street
during the evenings ， so pedestrians can walk on the street.

    LH：我怎么從來不知道有這么個(gè)地方。

    LL： Trust me ， Lihua. It will be so romantic and beautiful in the
evening. It will knock your socks off.

    LH：好，我們就去哪兒。不過，Larry ，散步可以，我可不要脫襪子。I will
NOT take my socks off.

    LL： Haha ， Lihua. I didn't ask you to take your socks off. I said
the walk is gonna be so romantic that it will KNOCK your socks off.

    LH：我還是不明白，你為什么要knock my socks off.

    LL： To knock somebody's socks off means to completely surprise someone
or please someone very much. Like I could say that the movie was so beautiful
that it really knocked my socks off ， or I could say the young pianist
knocked the socks off of the judges.

    LH：哦，這下我明白了， to knock somebody's socks off意思就是把某人
給震了，給人留下深刻的印象。

    LL： You got it. How about after we go on this walk ， we go out to
eat ？ I know an Italian restaurant that will really knock your socks
off ！

    LH：你今天怎么興致這么高？又是散步、又是意大利大餐，太浪漫了。You're
really knocking my socks off！

    LL： WOW， Lihua. You're such a quick learner. Someday you'll be teaching
me about American idioms.

    今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語。一個(gè)是take the bull by the horns，意思是不
回避問題，采取果斷行動(dòng)，勇敢地去面對(duì)問題。另一個(gè)是knock somebody's socks
off 意思是給人留下深刻印象。