這是星期天的早晨。李華和Larry 正在星巴克咖啡館里喝咖啡。今天李華會(huì)
學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語：on the spot 和schmooze.

    LL： I'm dreading my Chinese exam tomorrow. The teacher will give
us a topic and she expects us to talk about the topic for two minutes
on the spot. LH ：你明天要考中文呀？老師給每個(gè)學(xué)生一個(gè)題目，讓你們當(dāng)場(chǎng)
就這個(gè)題目講兩分鐘。這是好難。不過Larry ，別擔(dān)心，你可以先跟我練習(xí)�。�

    對(duì)了，你剛才說on the spot ，那是什么意思？

    LL： Oh ， to do something "on the spot" is to do it immediately -
right then and there. LH： On the spot就是立刻，當(dāng)場(chǎng)的意思。所以你剛才
的意思就是教授在考試的時(shí)候當(dāng)場(chǎng)給題目，你就得立即上臺(tái)講兩分鐘。

    LL： Exactly. It's always nice to have time to prepare， but sometimes
doing something on the spot can be fun. LH：有充份時(shí)間做準(zhǔn)備那當(dāng)然好呀。

    但是，我可想不出有什么事情馬上要做而能讓我感到有意思的。你給我舉個(gè)
例子好不好。

    LL： Well ， we can decide right here - on the spot - to go to the
movies. That would be fun ， right？

    LH：嗯，我們現(xiàn)在就決定去看電影，那當(dāng)然好玩呀�？墒俏覀儾恢�道看哪部
電影，到哪里去看哪。

    LL： That's a problem. Where can we find the newspaper or a computer
on the spot ！。

    LH：就是嘛，我們既不能上網(wǎng)，也沒有報(bào)紙可以查電影時(shí)間表。而且你明天
不是有中文考試嗎？你現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該在家里背單字嘛！

    LL： I should. If I don't study the vocabulary， then I won't be able
to come up with a speech on the spot. LH：對(duì)，要當(dāng)場(chǎng)發(fā)表兩分鐘講話，不
熟悉有用的詞匯是不行的。

    LL： No ， it's more like a good strategy for failing my test. Hey，
why don't you help me study ？

    LH：一點(diǎn)沒錯(cuò)，要是你不多記住一些單詞，那你肯定會(huì)考砸的。你要我就在
這里幫你復(fù)習(xí)功課？On the spot ？

    LL： Why not？ I brought my Chinese book with me.

    ******

    LH：我真不敢相信，咖啡館的那個(gè)女服務(wù)員居然會(huì)送你一杯免費(fèi)的咖啡！

    LL： Well ， it helps that I schmoozed her a little bit.

    LH： Larry，你對(duì)那個(gè)女服務(wù)員怎么啦？Schmooze是什么意思�。�

    LL： To schmooze means that someone is extra nice to him or her ，
usually in the hope that you'll get something in return.

    LH：噢，schmooze就是對(duì)某人特別好，希望能得到一些回報(bào)。那不是“討好、
獻(xiàn)殷勤”嗎？你想讓服務(wù)員對(duì)你客氣一點(diǎn)，所以你就對(duì)她特別好�。�

    LL： Well ， no. I was actually hoping to get her to go out on a date
with me ， but I'll settle for free coffee.

    LH：原來你是想約那個(gè)女孩出去，現(xiàn)在喝了一杯免費(fèi)咖啡就滿足了。哎呀，
你呀，你還不如去schmooze你的中文老師，讓她明天評(píng)分的時(shí)候?qū)δ憧蜌恻c(diǎn)。這
不是更實(shí)際嗎！

    LL： Hopefully， I won't need to schmooze my teacher in order to get
a good grade.

    LH：不討好老師也能得好分?jǐn)?shù)，你怎么一下子變得那么信心十足了呢。不過，
你要我?guī)湍銖?fù)習(xí)功課，那至少也該schmooze我這個(gè)義務(wù)家教吧！

    LL： Hey， you're my friend ， you're supposed to do things out of
friendship， not because you want something.

    LH：我知道啦。我是跟你開玩笑的！不過，你要是想對(duì)我好一點(diǎn)，schmooze
我一下，我也不會(huì)反對(duì)的！

    LL： I'm always nice to you - and it's not because I'm trying to schmooze
you.

    LH：那倒是，你一向?qū)ξ也诲e(cuò)，算得上是我最好的朋友嘍！