Part3 So Many Clubs, So Little Time

Jeff： ①Are you out of your mind？ ②There is no way in hell that the remake of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is better than the original！

Cora： ③No， I think youre the one thats losing it！ Movie remakes are almost always better than the original.④You know， out with the old and in with the new！

Jeff： Thats ridiculous！ I cant even talk to you about this anymore. I feel like my head is going to explode！⑤The only reason I joined the moviegoer club was to take a load off and relax my brain for a while， after doing complicated 1）quadratic equations all day.

Cora： By the way， Im really glad you joined the club. These sorts of debates over which movies are better make the club so much more fun.

Jeff： ⑥I understand， but Im thinking of joining another club， and scaling back on my participation in the movie club.

Cora： You sure thats such a good idea？ ⑦Youre already spreading yourself thin as it is.

Jeff： You really think so？

Cora： Yeah. Like you said， the whole idea of watching and discussing movies with friends is meant to be a relief from the daily pressures of college life. If you start devoting a large 2）chunk of your time to another club， the overall quality of your actual schoolwork is probably gonna suffer.

Jeff： You dont have to worry about that. Im an extremely diligent student. Cora： I dont doubt that. But there are only so many hours in the day. Joining too many clubs is not the brightest idea.

Jeff： Maybe youre right. But the truth is， Im not sure if the movie club is really for me.

Cora： Oh， dont say that！ You are a valuable member of our club.

Jeff： Be that as it may， if I wanted to argue with a room full of people， I would have joined the debate club or 3）mock 4）trial.

Cora： In that case， if youre not really into the whole atmosphere， I suppose it would be in your best interest to find something that suits you perfectly. But your 5）dissenting opinion would certainly be missed.

Jeff： We can always watch movies in our own time. We dont need some club to tell us what to watch and when to watch it.

Cora： Are you asking me out on a date？

Jeff： Am I？ I thought we were just talking about clubs and movies...

Cora： Whatever. Sure， we can catch a film sometime. But what are you gonna do about your club situation？

Jeff： I need something that will not only fit in with my study schedule， but that also creates a balance between 6）leisure and study.

Cora： Thats easier said than done.

Jeff： I was actually 7）perusing the list of clubs last night and I think I found one that fits all my needs.

Cora： What is it？

Jeff： I wanna write for the school magazine！

Smart Sentences

① Are you out of your mind？你瘋了嗎？

out of ones mind： crazy and irrational（瘋了，失去理智）。例如：

You must be out of your mind！ No one sensible would participate in the hot dog eating contest.

你肯定是瘋了！有點頭腦的人都不會參加吃熱狗比賽的。

② There is no way in hell that the remake of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is better than the original！ 重拍的《德州電鋸殺人狂》沒有可能比原版好！

There is no way in hell that…： used to express a strong disbelief of sth.（用以表示對某事的強烈懷疑）。例如：

There is no way in hell that Lin Dan would lose to Lee Chong Wei！

林丹沒有可能輸給李宗偉的！

③ No， I think youre the one thats losing it！ 不，我想你才犯渾呢！

lose it： completely out of control（完全失控）。例如：

I think Charles is losing it due to the divorce and we should take him out of the race.

我想，離婚已經讓查爾斯失控了，我們應該讓他停賽。

④ You know， out with the old and in with the new！你知道的，汰舊換新！

out with the old and in with the new： used to indicate changes（汰舊換新）。例如：

Out with the old and in with the new， the modeling business is constantly bringing in new blood.

汰舊換新，模特這一行不停地補充新鮮血液。

⑤ The only reason I joined the moviegoer club was to take a load off and relax my brain for a while， after doing complicated quadratic equations all day. 我加入電影協會的唯一理由是在做了一整天二次方程后，釋放壓力，緩解大腦的疲勞。

take a load off： relieve ones mind（減輕某人的精神負擔）。例如：

Daily jogging takes a load off from my busy routine.

每天慢跑可以讓我繁忙的日常生活輕松一些。

⑥ I understand， but Im thinking of joining another club， and scaling back on my participation in the movie club. 我明白，但是我正在考慮加入別的協會，減少我參加電影協會的時間。

scale back： reduce the size or amount of sth.（縮減，減少）。例如：

The plan is to scale back funding for the new research project.

該計劃要縮減新研究項目的資金。

⑦ Youre already spreading yourself thin as it is.你已經參加了很多活動，會承受不了的。

spread oneself thin： try to do too many different things at the same time and fail to do them well（同時承擔過多工作致使一樣也沒干好）。例如：

The company has expanded into many different areas and has probably spread itself too thin.

這家公司拓展到眾多領域，估計已經無法承受了。