傷心欲絕時

Jane聽到男友取消婚禮的消息，真是傷心欲絕（試想，誰在這時能保持平靜），好友Alex盡力地安慰她。這時的安慰可是有不少的技巧哦，不然反會讓Jane更傷心。

Alex: Hey Jane…I thought I heard you crying. Are you in there? Are you OK?

Jane: Yeah， I’m here. You can come in.

Alex: Oh no. What’s up?

Jane: Nothing. I’m fine.

Alex: Are you sure? Something must have happened. You look pretty sad.

Jane: It’s Brad.

Alex: Is everything alright?

Jane: We…we broke up.

Alex: What?! I can’t believe it.

Jane: Yeah， me either. We were supposed to get married in a month. Now ①he’s called off the wedding. He says he never wants to see me again.

Alex: I’m so sorry. ②Do you need some space right now?

Jane: No， it’s OK. I’ve locked myself in my room all day. I’m glad you are here. I was starting to go a bit crazy actually.

Alex: Do you want to talk about it?

Jane: Well， I’m not sure how it happened. ③I’m still processing it all myself.

Alex: Maybe talking about it will help?

Jane: You are probably right.

Alex: So， when did this all begin?

Jane: ④Things have been going downhill ever since he got promoted. He spends more time away on business trips than he does at home with me.

Alex: Hmmm…

Jane: And while he was away I became good friends with our new neighbors， Ronald and Tina. We hang out together a lot， you know， watch movies， go to the park， play tennis. And when Brad called to see how I was， I would tell him about what I was doing with Ron and Tina. He got really jealous， and he told me not to go out with other people. He started calling me less and less.

Alex: ⑤So things just went from bad to worse?

Jane: Yeah. Eventually he stopped calling altogether. And he just got back from a business trip yesterday and ⑥dropped this bombshell on me.

Alex: Do you think it’s just a phase? ⑦Something he will get over?

Jane: I honestly don’t know. And to tell you the truth， maybe this is for the best. I’m so exhausted. I just want to sleep for a whole week.

Alex: Is there someone I should call? Maybe I should call your work and tell them you aren’t coming in tomorrow?

Jane: Ah， thanks for your help， but ⑧I’m not going to let this get to me. I have to stay positive and remember everything happens for a reason.

Alex: ⑨Life can really knock us around， huh?

Jane: That’s right. There are so many possibilities and paths to follow in life. That hard part is knowing which path to follow.

Alex: There is only one thing you can do…Hold your head up high and enjoy every day. You have to remind yourself of all the good things in your life and think of how many people have it so much worse than you.

Jane: That’s so true， very inspirational words indeed. You know， there is one thing you can give me.

Alex: Yeah? ⑩You name it.

Jane: A hug.

亞歷克斯：嗨，簡……我想我聽到你在哭。你在里面嗎？你還好嗎？

簡：是的，我在里面。你進來吧。

亞歷克斯：噢，不。怎么了？

簡：沒什么。我很好。

亞歷克斯：是嗎？一定是出了什么事，你看上去很傷心。

簡：是因為布拉德。

亞歷克斯：一切都還好嗎？

簡：我們……我們分手了。

亞歷克斯：什么？！我不敢相信。

簡：是啊，我也是。本來我們在一個月內就要結婚了，現在他取消了婚禮。他說他不想再見到我了。

亞歷克斯：對不起。你想單獨呆會兒嗎？

簡：不，沒事。我已經把自己關在房間里一整天了。很高興你來了。我真的要瘋了。

亞歷克斯：你想談談這件事嗎？

簡：嗯，我都不知道這是怎么回事。我還在盡力弄明白（事情的

原委）。

亞歷克斯：也許講出來就好點了？

簡：你說的也許對。

亞歷克斯：那么，這一切是什么時候開始的？

簡：自從他升職后事情就開始變糟了。他出差的時間遠遠超過了和我呆在家里的時間。

亞歷克斯：呃……

簡：他不在的時候，我和我們的新鄰居羅納德和蒂娜成了好朋友。你知道我們經常在一起看電影，逛公園，打網球什么的。當布拉德打電話問我在干什么時，我就告訴了他我和羅納德、蒂娜之間的事。他非常嫉妒。還告訴我不要和其他人出去。然后他打電話給我的次數就越來越少了。

亞歷克斯：那么事情就越來越糟？

簡：是啊。最后他就完全不給我打電話了。昨天他剛剛出差回來就告訴了我這個驚人的消息。

亞歷克斯：你認為這會不會只是階段性的？他最終會挺過來的？

簡：其實我并不知道。老實說，也許這樣最好了。我已經精疲力竭了。我只想蒙頭睡上一個星期。

亞歷克斯：需要我通知誰嗎？也許我應該給你的公司打個電話，告訴他們你明天不去上班了？

簡：嗯，謝謝你的（好心）幫忙，但我不會讓這件事影響我的。我必須積極地去面對，并且緊記，任何事情發生都是有原因的。

亞歷克斯：生活真是讓我們吃盡了苦頭，哈？

簡：不錯。生活中有那么多的可能，有那么多條道路要我們去選擇。最難的是我們要知道該走哪一條。

亞歷克斯：你能做就只有……抬起你的頭享受每一天。必須提醒自己看到生活中那些美好的東西，想想還有多少人比你更慘啊。

簡：那倒是真的。非常鼓舞人心的一番話。你知道嗎，你還可以為我做一

件事。

亞歷克斯：哦？你說吧。

簡：一個擁抱。

Smart Sentences

① He’s called off the wedding. 他取消了婚禮。

call off: cancel an event that has been planned（取消已經計劃的事）。例如：

He called off the trip twice last year.

去年他曾兩次取消此次旅行。

② Do you need some space right now? 你想單獨呆會兒嗎？

need space: need time alone to be oneself（獨處）。例如：

You need space to think things over before making a decision.

你在做決定前需要自己把事情想清楚。

③ I’m still processing it all myself. 我還在盡力弄明白（事情的原委）。

process sth.: try to understand sth.（消化某事，搞清楚某事的原委）。例如：

The whole thing happened so fast. I need time to process it.

事情發生得太快了，我需要時間消化。

④ Things have been going downhill ever since he got promoted. 自從他升職后事情就開始變

糟了。

go downhill: sth. becoming worse or less successful（走下坡路）。例如：

John’s grades went downhill fast after the breakup with his girlfriend.

自從與女朋友分手后，約翰的成績急劇下降。

⑤ So things just went from bad to worse? 那么事情就越來越糟（每況愈下）？

from bad to worse: things continue to get worse（每況愈下）。例如：

For the last two months， my grandmother’s health has gone from bad to worse.

過去兩個月，我奶奶的身體每況愈下。

⑥ dropped this bombshell on me 告訴我這個驚人的消息

drop a bombshell (on sb.): give/announce unexpected news， usually bad news（宣布爆炸性事件，通常指壞消息）。例如：

My mom dropped the bombshell that dad had cancer.

我媽宣布了爸爸患了癌癥的驚人消息。

⑦ Something he will get over? 他最終會挺過來的？

get over: recover from an unpleasant or unhappy experience （復原，從不愉快經歷恢復過來）。

例如：

It took me a long time to get over the loss of

my grandma.

過了好長時間我才從奶奶去世的悲痛中恢復過來。

⑧ I’m not going to let this get to me. 我不會讓這件事影響我的。

get (to) sb.: sth./sb. annoys or irritates sb.（某事或某人影響他人的情緒，打擊某人）。例如：

Don’t worry， I won’t let the exam result get to me.

別擔心，我不會受考試結果影響的。

⑨ Life can really knock us around. 生活真是讓我們吃盡了苦頭。

knock (sb.) around: to be rough or brutal with (sb.)（粗暴對待某人，讓某人吃苦頭）。例如：

I’ve been knocked around in the last company I worked for.

我之前打工的公司讓我吃盡了苦頭。

⑩ You name it. 你說吧。

You name it: used to indicate that you are talking about a wide range of things， usually used before or after a list（用以表示你所談及的事情范圍之廣，通常用于羅列之前或之后）。例如：

He loves every sport， you know. Swimming， tennis， track and field， you name it.

他喜愛所有的體育運動，游泳、網球、田徑，樣樣都喜歡。