流行美语 第170课:high maintenance; dating 101

Larry在告诉李华关于他们的一个同学最近和女朋友闹别扭的事。今天李华会学到两个常用语：high maintenance和dating 101。

LL: You know, Li Hua, I feel bad for Tom. His girlfriend is so high maintenance.

LH: 什么？High maintenance不就是指一些需要精心维护的机器吗？

LL: Exactly. And in this case, Rachel is very complicated, and Tom needs to put a lot of efforts into maintaining his relationship with her.

LH: 嗨，把high maintenance这个说法用在人的身上！不过也有道理，要是一个人需要high maintenance，那不就是很难伺候嘛！我和Rachel不熟，但是她看起来好象是个很好的人啊！为什么你认为她很难伺候呢？

LL: Well, she gets upset if Tom doesn't call her every day. If he takes her out to eat, it has to be to a very expensive restaurant or she'll complain. It is hard for Tom to keep her happy.

LH: 真没想到她那么难伺候。不每天给她打电话，不去高级餐馆就要生气。听起来倒是和我的朋友美玲很像。美玲也是个需要high maintenance的人。

LL: Yeah, Meiling is a high maintenance friend. I know she doesn't like it when you spend time with me and not her.

LH: 就是。她经常抱怨我花太多时间和你一起。我得经常向她解释我是在跟你学英语，还得跟她道歉。对了，Larry，你觉得我会不会像他们一样很难伺候？

LL: Of course not, Li Hua, you are a very relaxed and easy-going person. In fact, as friends go, you are pretty low maintenance.

LH: Low maintenance，你是说，和我交朋友，你不需要为了避免我生气而费尽心思。那就好。我可不想变成朋友心目中很难搞的人呢。

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LL: Well, Li Hua, I just talked to Tom. Rachel just broke up with him. It is back to Dating 101 for Tom.

LH: Tom和Rachel分手啦？！你说Tom需要上约会101的课？我怎么没听说学校有开这门课呢？

LL: Of course the university doesn't offer such a class! But it does offer History 101, English 101, and Chinese 101. These are all basic classes.

LH: 噢，像历史101，英语101都是指一些基本课程，所以dating 101就是指学习有关约会的一切，就好像他到学校里修一门基础课学习怎样约会。

LL: Right. And Tom isn't the only one who needs to take Dating 101. I haven't had a date in a long time.

LH: 嘿！Larry，说到约会，你还记得我很喜欢的那个男孩，上星期我和他出去一次。我们去一家气氛不错的餐厅，可是他的话实在不多。

LL: Sounds like he needs to enroll in Conversation 101. He should at least be able to keep a conversation going through dinner.

LH: 没错，看来他的确需要修一门对话101的课程。不过他人是真的很好，就是非常害羞。

LL: Then maybe what he needs is Confidence-Building 101, instead.

LH: Larry，你真有意思，居然说他该上一门建立自信的基础课，Confidence-Building101！

LL: And as for you Li Hua, you could use a little Relaxation 101. You are always so worried about your grades.

LH: 没错，我是很担心学习成绩，所以你建议我修一门学会放松的基础课，Relaxation 101。你呀！我看你应该修一门有关整理家务的101课，看你的房间乱得那样。

LL: Well, as you probably guessed, I failed Housekeeping 101. Dating 101 is a lot more fun.

今天李华学到两个常用语。一个是high maintenance。这是形容一个人需要别人小心谨慎来对待，否则就会不高兴，也就是很难伺候的意思。另一个常用语是dating101。这是指有关约会的最基本知识。