7. I Get Cold Feet
畏縮不前
BACKGROUND 背景
One friend is encouraging another to see a dentist.
一個人在鼓勵他的朋友去看牙醫(yī)。
A : Hi, Mike. What’s new?
嗨,邁克。你好嗎?
B: What’s wrong with you? Your face is swollen. You look terrible!
你這是怎么啦?臉都腫了。氣色很不好!
A : My jaw aches. I don’t know why.
我下巴疼,我也不知道是怎么回事。
B: Let me take a look. No wonder it hurts! One of your teeth looks decayed. You’d better see a dentist right away.
讓我看一看。難怪疼呀!你有顆牙齒壞了。最好馬上去看牙醫(yī)。
A: Do you think I have to? I’ve been putting it off for weeks. To tell the honest truth, dentists scare me to death. I get cold feet when I have to go to one. Even thinking of it makes me shake.
一定要去嗎?我都拖了好幾個星期了。說實話,我害怕牙醫(yī)怕得要死。每次去到那里我就緊張得不得了。就連想到牙醫(yī)我都不寒而栗。
B: Don’t be silly. You’d be better off seeing one. I’ll make an appointment for you. Only a fool is afraid of the dentist!
別犯傻了。你還是要看醫(yī)生的。我來幫你預(yù)約。只有傻子才怕見牙醫(yī)呢!
A: Okay. I might as well go. But find me one who doesn’t hurt!
好。還是去吧。不過幫我找一個看牙不疼的牙醫(yī)哦!
B: Come on. I’m your best friend. You can count on me. There’s nothing to be afraid of.
好啦。我是你最好的朋友,你就放心吧。沒有什么可害怕的。
A: Well, if you say so, I’ll take your word for it.
好吧,既然你這么說,我就照你說的做。
額外成就感
no wonder: it isn’t surprising 難怪;不足為奇☆☆☆
* No wonder you’re tired! You stayed up the whole night.
難怪你這么累,你一個晚上沒睡覺。
* No wonder we couldn’t find you. You were in America!
難怪我們找不到你呢。你在美國!
* No wonder your husband is mad. I would be too if I were in his shoes.
你老公生氣這不足為奇。如果我是他的話也會生氣的。
right away: immediately 馬上;即刻☆☆☆
* I’m sorry I forgot to bring the book for you; I’ll take care of it right away.
對不起,我忘了把書給你帶來,我馬上就去給你拿。
* After I took the medicine, I felt better right away.
我吃完藥就馬上感覺好多了。
* We need to leave right away or we’ll be late.
我們得趕緊走,要不就遲到了。
put something off: postpone 推遲做某事☆☆☆☆
* Because of the weather, we have to put the picnic off until next week.
因為天氣的原因,我們不得不把野炊推遲到下個星期。
* Don’t put off studying until the last minute.
不要把學(xué)習(xí)的事推到最后。
* I don’t want to put off our meeting until next week.
我不想把會議推遲到下個星期。
get cold feet: become very cautious; be afraid to do something
膽怯;局促不安☆☆☆☆☆
* Every time I want to ask her out, I get cold feet.
每次我想約她出去,都打退堂鼓。
* I thought you were going to open your own business. What happened, did you get cold feet?
我還以為你要著手開辦自己的公司呢。發(fā)生了什么事,你不敢了嗎?
* She was supposed to get married last month but she got cold feet.
她本應(yīng)該上個月結(jié)婚的,但她又打了退堂鼓。
be better off: be better on a long-term basis
(對于做某事來說)較明智☆☆☆☆☆
* Do you think I’d be better off quitting my job and going abroad?
你覺得我辭去工作出國是不是明智之舉?
* You’d be better off going to the office in person instead of trying to call.
你親自去辦公室比打電話要強得多。
* I think I’d be better off if I were single!
我要是單身的話會更好一些!
might as well: it is a good idea to do something, although not of major importance 倒不如;滿可以☆☆☆☆
* If you’re going to the library, I might as well go with you and return these books.
如果你要去圖書館的話,我倒不如跟你一起去把這些書還了。
* You might as well give me your phone number if you’re going to be here a few days.
你要是來這住幾天的話,倒不如把電話號碼也給我。
* As long as we’re here we might as well try the Beijing duck.
既然我們來了,倒不如吃北京烤鴨。