期終考試今天全部結(jié)束，Larry和Li Hua準(zhǔn)備開個(gè)party來慶祝一番。Li Hua會(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語：without a hitch和chow down.

    （household utensil noise）

    Li Hua： Larry， 你看我們準(zhǔn)備的東西夠不夠��？這是我第一次請(qǐng)朋友來開party，要是東西不夠吃，那就糟糕啦！

    Larry： Calm down， Li Hua. I'm sure the party will go off without a hitch.

    Li Hua： 你說我們的party會(huì)怎么樣 - without a hitch - 那是什么意思��？

    Larry： Oh， if something "goes without a hitch"， it means that everything goes smoothly and nothing will go wrong.

    Li Hua： 對(duì)，hitch這個(gè)字也可以解釋為“障礙”，那something goes without a hitch， 就是“進(jìn)展順利”。

    Li Hua： Larry，你的意思就是我們的party will go off without a hitch，肯定能辦好，不會(huì)有問題……那我可不可以說：There won't be any "hitches"？

    Larry： No， No， Li Hua， you can't use it that way. You can only say that something "goes without a hitch." This is an idiomatic expression. You can't generally substitute the word "hitch" for "problem."

    Li Hua： 啊，原來something "goes without a hitch"是一個(gè)習(xí)慣用語，不能把hitch 和problem兩個(gè)交替來使用。那想說什么事一帆風(fēng)順，我們就只能說：什么事情goes without a hitch. Larry： Okay， Li Hua， now that you understand the phrase， can you give me an example？

    Li Hua： 我來想一想。有了。最近這次考試我覺得我考得不錯(cuò) - My exams went without a hitch. Larry： I wish I were as confident as you are. Now， can you give me another example of how to use "without a hitch"？

    Li Hua： 嗯……我最近申請(qǐng)了暑期里到一個(gè)公司去工作。他們約我上星期去面談。我覺得那個(gè)面談進(jìn)行得挺順利的，所以 - It went off without a hitch. Larry： Hey congratulations！

    Li Hua Thank you， Larry. 哎喲，我們趕快準(zhǔn)備吧�？腿笋R上就要到了！

    （party SFX）

    Larry： See， everybody is enjoying the party， I told you it would be fine. Li Hua： 嗯，大家好象都玩得挺開心。我原來還擔(dān)心吃的不夠呢，現(xiàn)在看來說不定還做多了！

    Larry： I don't know about that. Some people are really chowing down. Hey， look at Jim， he's eating one hot dog after another！

    Li Hua： 就是啊，我也注意到Jim挺喜歡吃熱狗的，可是你說什么？ 這兒有的人是在chowing down？ 什么是chow down��？

    Larry： Well， "chow" is slang for "food" and to chow down is to eat a lot and to do it enthusiastically. Li Hua： 噢，chow這個(gè)字在口語里可以表示“食物”。那么chow down就是“吃得很多，而且還興致勃勃的”。那不就有點(diǎn)兒像我們中文里說的“狼吞虎咽”嗎？

    Larry： Yep. Look， Jim has finished his hot dog. He's now moved on to eating a piece of cake. He's definitely chowing down. He acts as though he hasn't eaten in days. Li Hua： 對(duì)，Jim他剛吃完熱狗，現(xiàn)在又在吃蛋糕了 - He is really chowing down. 好象幾天沒吃飯一樣的。哎，對(duì)了，Larry， 這也說明我們準(zhǔn)備的東西受歡迎哪！

    Larry： That's right！ See， Li Hua， I told you that the party will go off without a hitch. Li Hua： 哎，Larry， 說了這么半天了，你都吃什么啦？

    Larry： What have I chowed down？ Well， I have been busy helping you and haven't got time to eat yet. Li Hua： 哎喲，真是抱歉，你光顧著幫我招待客人，自己都還沒顧上吃呢！

    Larry： That's OK. I think we should chow down now before all of the good stuff is gone！

    Li Hua： 好啊，那我們趕緊開吃吧，要不然好東西都沒了！

    今天李華從Larry那兒學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語。一個(gè)是without a hitch， 表示事情“進(jìn)展順利”。另外一個(gè)是chow down， 相當(dāng)于中文里所說的“狼吞虎咽”。