VOA流行美語 Unit 313:心不在焉&忙得昏天暗地

李華打電話給Larry，提醒他說好了晚上一起看電影。今天我們要學兩個常用語：space cadet和Running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

LL: (Pick up phone) Hello?

LH: Hi, Larry.

LL: How are you, Li Hua?

LH: 我挺好。你別忘了，說好了一起看電影，還有半個小時開演。

LL: Oh shoot. I'm so sorry Li Hua. It completely slipped my mind. I feel like such a space cadet.

LH: Space cadet? 太空學員？太空學員常忘事兒嗎？

LL: Well not real space cadets, but as a saying "space cadet" means someone who is off in space, or often forgets things that they need to do.

LH: 噢，Space Cadet原來是說心不在焉，愛忘事兒的人。那你絕對合格！不然怎麼會忘記約好跟我一起看電影呢。

LL: I guess I just got caught up with this project for work. My space cadet coworker forgot to save it earlier, so we are back to square one.

LH: 啊？你們的項目白做了，要從頭開始？我以前寫論文也出過忘記存盤的事。I've acted like a space cadet before. 那你們要怎麼辦呢？

LL: It hopefully won't be too big of a problem, but because he was a space cadet we will have to work a bit late tonight.

LH: 就算是這樣，你也不能忘了陪我看電影的事兒啊？This is no excuse for you being a space cadet!

LL: I know. I am sorry.

LH: 沒關係，誰都有這種時候，我們教授星期一來上課，居然說把我們的作文落在了地鐵上。Talk about a space cadet!

LL: I'll say! What did he do?

LH: 最後他找到地鐵總站才找到。

LL: Wow, he is lucky that he was able to find them again.

LH: 可他還是很不好意思，所以給我們所有人一律加分。

LL: That sounds like a pretty good trade off to me.

LH: 是不錯。看來有個做"space cadet"的教授，也不一定是壞事。言歸正傳，電影到底還看不看？

LL: Let's shoot for the 8:30 showing. I think I will have the work done by then. Meet you at the theater?

LH: 好，一言爲定。

Larry和李華在電影院大廳裏碰頭。

LH: Larry, 你來得正好，電影馬上就要開演了。

LL: Yes, though I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

LH: What? 你爲什麼要說自己象沒頭公雞一樣跑來呢？

LL: Running around like a chicken with its head cut off means I have been running around frantically all over the place.

LH: 噢，你是說自己忙得跑來跑去，中文裏我們說，象沒頭的蒼蠅一樣，英文裏說象沒頭的雞，真有意思。你忙什麼？

LL: It turned out that there was more to the project than I originally thought, but I really wanted to come see this movie. I had to rush and wound up running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

LH: 那Larry, 你說雞真的會砍掉腦袋還跑來跑去嗎？

LL: I am not sure Li Hua. But the point is that if they do run around, it is chaotic. Similarly I was running all over the place at my office to try and get this project done.

LH: 這倒讓我想起我同學Carrie. 她星期天才知道星期一有項目展示，所以一整天都忙得昏天暗地。She was running around like a chicken with her head cut off!

LL: What do you mean, Li Hua?

LH: 她一直在自習室和圖書館之間跑來跑去，手忙腳亂的。

LL: That certainly does sound right. After running around like a chicken with its head cut off, I feel pretty flustered too! How did Carrie's presentation turn out?

LH: 說實話，我還真不知道，整個過程，我都在開小差兒。

LL: It sounds like you were a total space cadet. What about you, have you ever had to run around like a chicken with its head cut off because you left something to the last minute?

LH: 我？怎麼可能！我做事從來都是井井有條，絕不會臨時抱佛腳。

LL: Sure. Well let's get our tickets and watch this movie.

今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是space cadet, 指心不在焉，愛忘事的人。另一個是running around like a chicken with its head cut off, 意思是忙得象沒頭的蒼蠅一樣。