流行美语 第150课:on the spot; schmooze

这是星期天的早晨。李华和Larry正在星巴克咖啡馆里喝咖啡。今天李华会学到两个常用语：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？老师给每个学生一个题目，让你们当场就这个题目讲两分钟。这是好难。不过Larry，别担心，你可以先跟我练习啊！对了，你刚才说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，当场的意思。所以你刚才的意思就是教授在考试的时候当场给题目，你就得立即上台讲两分钟。

LL: Exactly. It's always nice to have time to prepare, but sometimes doing something on the spot can be fun.

LH: 有充份时间做准备那当然好呀。但是，我可想不出有什么事情马上要做而能让我感到有意思的。你给我举个例子好不好。

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

LH: 嗯，我们现在就决定去看电影，那当然好玩呀。可是我们不知道看哪部电影，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，我们既不能上网，也没有报纸可以查电影时间表。而且你明天不是有中文考试吗？你现在应该在家里背单字嘛！

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: 对，要当场发表两分钟讲话，不熟悉有用的词汇是不行的。

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

LH: 一点没错，要是你不多记住一些单词，那你肯定会考砸的。你要我就在这里帮你复习功课:？On the spot？

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

******

LH: 我真不敢相信，咖啡馆的那个女服务员居然会送你一杯免费的咖啡！

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

LH: Larry，你对那个女服务员怎么啦？Schmooze是什么意思啊?

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就是对某人特别好，希望能得到一些回报。那不是“讨好、献殷勤”吗？你想让服务员对你客气一点，所以你就对她特别好啊？

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: 原来你是想约那个女孩出去，现在喝了一杯免费咖啡就满足了。哎呀，你呀，你还不如去schmooze你的中文老师，让她明天评分的时候对你客气点。这不是更实际吗！

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

LH: 不讨好老师也能得好分数，你怎么一下子变得那么信心十足了呢。不过，你要我帮你复习功课:，那至少也该schmooze我这个义务家教吧！

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。我是跟你开玩笑的！不过，你要是想对我好一点，schmooze我一下，我也不会反对的！

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

LH: 那倒是，你一向对我不错，算得上是我最好的朋友喽！

今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是on the spot，就是即刻，当场，马上的意思。另一个常用语是schmooze，这是指讨好某人，对某人献殷勤，通常是想得到回报。