“信”與愿違

人生中，每個(gè)人都會(huì)經(jīng)歷很多大事。“金榜提名時(shí)”(上大學(xué))當(dāng)然是其中之一啦，但是并不是人人都能如愿的。假如跌倒了，記得爬起來(lái)，拍拍灰塵卷土重來(lái)，因?yàn)槟隳贻p，你聰明，你輸?shù)闷?

Chuck: Hey， is Dad OK? He looked a bit shaken up.

Sam: Nah， he’s OK. This came in the mail for you.

Chuck: Oh， is it…yup， it is. The letter I’ve been waiting for.

Sam: What is it? Your college acceptance letter?

Chuck: Yeah. This letter is going to 1)determine where I spend the next four years of my life.

Sam: Well， what are you waiting for? Open it up!

Chuck: ①Hold your horses. Just give me a sec to prepare myself. OK， ②here goes. (Opens the letter)

Sam: Oh. The face says it all. Bad news， huh?

Chuck: What am I going to do? I had completely mentally prepared myself to be accepted. And I’d already begun packing my room. I’m supposed to be going to college. What did I do to deserve this? The world friggin’ hates me.

Sam: (To himself) Gee， twice in one day.

Chuck: What?

Sam: Nothing.

Chuck: It’s my own fault. ③I should have put my head down at school. If I got my grades up a bit higher， I would have been in for sure. ④I set myself up for this. Now I’m stuck here. I’m never getting out of this city.

Sam: Hey， first of all， there is nothing wrong with the city. This is where we have grown up. This place has been good to us. And second of all， everything happens for a reason. Maybe you weren’t ready for college. You can get some work experience and life experience and then apply again next year， or whenever you are ready.

Chuck: Gee， you are really good at this “staying positive” thing， aren’t you? ⑤But you do raise a good point. If I could get some experience in online sales and marketing， then I would absolutely 2)annihilate the course work once I get into college.

Sam: ⑥That’s the spirit. See， there is an upside to everything. Turn that frown upside down.

Chuck: I’m gonna call that friend of yours…Harris. He told me to call if I ever need a job. Plus I can work from home. That’ll give me time to do some personal study too and get ready for college next year.

Sam: Harris? Yeah…you should give him a call…

Chuck: Please don’t tell mum and dad about this. I’ll tell them when I’m ready.

查克:嘿，老爸還好吧?他看起來(lái)心煩得很吶。

薩姆:沒(méi)事，他很好。這封信是給你的。

查克:噢，難道是……對(duì)，真的是。我一直在等的信。

薩姆:是什么?你的大學(xué)錄取通知書嗎?

查克:是的。這封信將決定我生命中接下來(lái)的四年要在哪里度過(guò)。

薩姆:那么，還等什么呢?快打開啊!

查克:等一下嘛。給我一點(diǎn)時(shí)間準(zhǔn)備。好了，來(lái)吧。(把信打開)

薩姆:噢，你的樣子已經(jīng)告訴我了。是壞消息，對(duì)吧?

查克:我該怎么辦呢?我已經(jīng)完全作好了被錄取的心理準(zhǔn)備了。而且我已經(jīng)開始在房間打包自己的東西了，我準(zhǔn)備去上大學(xué)了呢。我做錯(cuò)了什么，為什么要這樣對(duì)我?這個(gè)該死的世界討厭我!

薩姆:(自言自語(yǔ))天啊，禍不單行。

查克:什么?

薩姆:沒(méi)事。

查克:都是我的錯(cuò)。在學(xué)校的時(shí)候，我就應(yīng)該埋頭苦學(xué)的。要是我的分?jǐn)?shù)再高一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)，我就肯定被錄取了。今天的一切都是我自找的。現(xiàn)在開始我得呆在這兒，甭想離開這座城市了。

薩姆:嘿，首先，這座城市并沒(méi)有錯(cuò)。這兒是我們成長(zhǎng)的地方，對(duì)我們而言這是塊福地。其次，事情的發(fā)生往往都是有因果聯(lián)系的。也許是你還沒(méi)準(zhǔn)備好上大學(xué)。你可以先獲取一些工作和生活上經(jīng)驗(yàn)，下一年或者你準(zhǔn)備好了的時(shí)候再申

請(qǐng)吧。

查克:哇，你對(duì)“保持積極心態(tài)”這種事情很在行呢，不是么?但你確實(shí)說(shuō)到點(diǎn)子上了。如果我能在網(wǎng)絡(luò)市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷方面得到些經(jīng)驗(yàn)，那么一旦我進(jìn)大學(xué)了，拿下這門功課絕對(duì)是不費(fèi)吹灰之力。

薩姆:這就對(duì)啦!看到了吧，任何事情都有好的方面的。別皺眉頭了。

查克:我打算給你朋友……哈里斯打電話。他說(shuō)過(guò)如果我想找工作的話就找他。而且，我可以在家里工作。這樣我就有時(shí)間自學(xué)和為下一年考大學(xué)作準(zhǔn)備了。

薩姆:哈里斯?對(duì)……你應(yīng)該給他打電話……

查克:請(qǐng)不要把這件事告訴媽媽和爸爸。我準(zhǔn)備好的時(shí)候，會(huì)跟他們說(shuō)的。

Smart Sentences

① Hold your horses.等一下嘛。

hold your horses: wait and don’t start what you want to do yet(等一下，慢)。例如:

No， hold your horses. Some people are not here yet.

別，先等一下，有些人還沒(méi)來(lái)呢。

② Here goes. 來(lái)吧。

here goes: used when you are about to do or say sth. difficult or unpleasant(多在要做讓人不快的事或說(shuō)難以出口的話時(shí)用)。例如:

Ken muttered “here goes” and gave me the stack of reports that I had to finish by the end of the day.

肯喃喃地說(shuō)“給”，然后把一大堆要在當(dāng)天內(nèi)完成的報(bào)告遞給我。

③ I should have put my head down at school. 在學(xué)校的時(shí)候，我就應(yīng)該埋頭苦學(xué)的。

put sb.’s head down: work really hard on sth.(埋頭做某事)。例如:

Since Kyle failed math last semester， he’s been putting his head down on the subject.

凱爾上學(xué)期數(shù)學(xué)不合格后，他一直埋頭惡補(bǔ)這門功課。

④ I set myself up for this. 今天的一切都是我自找的。

set sb. up for sth.: bring sth. upon oneself， often disaster， embarrassment or failure(自作自受)。例如:

I knew Koven’s speech wouldn’t go well. After all， he set himself up for failure as he hardly spent anytime on it.

我就知道科文的演講不怎么樣。畢竟，這是他自找的，因?yàn)樗旧蠜](méi)怎么準(zhǔn)備。

⑤ But you do raise a good point. 但你確實(shí)說(shuō)到點(diǎn)子上了。

raise a point: to mention an opinion for others’ attention(提出看法)。例如:

Kathleen raised a few points on the matter of fairness.

凱瑟琳就公平問(wèn)題提出了幾點(diǎn)看法。

⑥ That’s the spirit. 這就對(duì)啦!

that’s the spirit: used to show approval of other’s idea(用以肯定他人的想法)。例如:

—I am not going to worry about what my opponent will do. I’ll do my best!

我不會(huì)去想對(duì)手會(huì)怎么做，我只管盡情發(fā)揮。

—That’s the spirit!

這就對(duì)了!