VOA流行美語 Unit 85: LIVE IT UP / YEAH RIGHT

VOA流行美語 Unit 85: LIVE IT UP / YEAH RIGHT

Michael因爲家裏有急事而匆匆走了。今天，Michael的好朋友Larry和Li Hua在一起談到Michael。Li Hua會學到兩個常用語：live it up和Yeah right!

LL: Hey Li Hua. You look unhappy. What's up?

LH: Michael原來計劃下個月去中國學中文，可是他突然家裏有急事要他馬上去，所以他只好直接從家裏去北京了，我都沒有機會跟他說再見。I hope he'll be O.K in China.

LL: Of course he'll be O.K.! I bet right now Michael is living it up in China.

LH: 哎呀，你說什麼呀！Michael現在人已經到中國了，他當然是living in China啦！

LL: No, no, Li Hua. I said that he is "living it up in China". To "live it up" means to live a fun and extravagant lifestyle, like a rich person who is always partying and never has to work.

LH: 噢，live it up意思就是"盡情享受生活"，就好像有錢人可以過奢侈的生活一樣。唉，Michael他是個窮學生，他哪能像有錢人那樣過日子呀。

LL: Well, as a foreign exchange student, he doesn't have to worry about paying for tuition, or rent or food, because he's already paid for it... so in China, for just a few dollars a day, he can live it up!

LH: 真的？參加交換項目去中國留學，學費、食宿都不用自己付啊！Larry, 那你當初在北京留學的時候肯定也lived it up嘍？

LL: Oh, we had fun alright. We usually didn't have a lot of homework, and didn't have to go to work, so on the weekend, we had plenty of time to live it up!

LH: Hmm, 功課不多，又不用打工，這麼說，你們大老遠跑到中國，說是去留學，其實是去過逍遙日子、盡情享受去啦？

LL: Hey, I didn't say we didn't study! We got to live it up while we learned Chinese.

LH: 哎喲，和你相比，我在美國的留學生活可就沒那麼自在了。

******

LH: (sound of cell phone ringing) (speaking into the cell phone) Hello? Michael! 你好嗎？哎呀，中國現在的時間是半夜了吧？還是我明天再給你打吧！Michael, 你學完一年回來的時候，你的中文肯定要比Larry 強。 Sure. Have fun! Bye bye! (cell phone shuts off) Larry, Michael said to tell you "hi".

LL: You think Michael's going to speak Chinese better than I? Yeah Right!

LH: 你說什麼？Yeah Right! 從你說話的口氣看，你是在說反話吧？也就是說，你根本不相信我說的話？

LL: You've got it. I said "yeah right" When someone says "yeah right" like this (uses sarcastic tone of voice) "yeah right" or this "yeah right", it means they don't believe something is true, or don't agree with something.

LH: 你看，我猜對了吧！聽你的口氣就帶着諷刺的意味。怎麼，你覺得一年以後Michael的中文不會超過你啊？可是Larry, Michael比你更用功呦！

LL: Yeah, right! I lived in China for two and a half years. I'm practically fluent in Mandarin. Michael can't catch up with me in just a year.

LH: 什麼？你自以爲你的中文講得流利？Yeah right! 雖說你在中國呆過兩年半，Michael他只有一年的時間，可是隻要他用心聽課，認真完成作業，他的中文肯定能超過你。

LL: You think someone can learn Chinese just by going to class and doing homework? Yeah right! I learned more spoken Chinese by living it up and hanging out with Chinese friends than I did in class.

LH: Hmmph. 我看Michael他也挺喜歡交朋友的，他肯定也能找到好多人練習中文會話。

D: Yeah right! But he'll never catch up with me!

L: Yeah, right!

今天李華從Larry那兒學到兩個常用語。一個是live it up, 表示"盡情享受生活"。另一個是Yeah right, 這是帶有嘲諷口氣的反話，表示不相信對方。