夏天到了，酷暑難當，李華和Larry 一起去游泳。今天我們要學兩個常用語
：few and far between 和take the plunge.

    LH： Larry，這幾天怎么這么熱啊！每天都有快40度！

    L ： I know ！ I have my air conditioner turned all the way to full
power ， and my apartment still feels really hot.

    LH：華盛頓每年夏天都這么熱。

    L ： Even though summers in Washington DC can be hot， summers that
are this hot are few and far between.

    LH：你說這么熱的夏天是few and far between ？這是什么意思？

    L ： Something that is few and far between is very rare.

    LH：哦， few and far between就是很少見的意思。你是說，雖然華盛頓的
夏天比較熱，但像今年這么熱的還是很少見的。

    L ： Right！ Here is another example. Hurricane Katrina caused a lot
of terrible damage in Louisiana. Luckily， hurricanes that big are few
and far between.

    LH：對，像卡特里娜那種威力的颶風也是很少見的。Larry ，你看天氣預報
了么？不知道什么時候會下雨，能涼快涼快？

    L ： Not any time soon…… we can have a nice day having fun swimming.
I've been so busy lately that my chances to relax have been few and far
between.

    LH：是啊，你最近好像特別忙。怎么那么多工作啊？

    L ： Well there is a promotion opportunity for a great job at my company.
Chances like this are few and far between ， so I'm working really hard
to get it.

    LH：現在經濟不好，能有升職的機會的確不容易，你要好好爭取！不過今天
我們還是在游泳池里好好輕松一下吧！咱們去哪個泳池？

    L ： We're not going to the pool. My friend Andy is taking us out
to swim in the ocean on his boat！

    LH：啊？你朋友Andy有船？這么有錢的朋友我怎么一個都沒有！

    L ： Well that's true ， friends with boats are few and far between
，so you have to be careful to maintain the friendship.

    LH： Larry，你不會是因為Andy有錢才跟他當朋友的吧？

    L ： Of course not！ But you know ， Lihua， in heat like this， some
friends might be more important than others.

    ******

    Larry 和李華上了Andy的船，準備在海中暢游一番。

    LH： Larry，在游泳之前，我得問問你，這海里到底有沒有鯊魚啊？

    L ： Hmmm …… probably. But to be honest ， right now I am more afraid
of the sun than I am of any sharks.

    LH：你不在乎，我可在乎！我不想成為鯊魚的下午茶！

    L ： Lihua， I understand that you are a little nervous. But sometimes
you just have to take the plunge.

    LH： Take the plunge？ Plunge ，不是往下跳的意思么？你是說，讓我不
管三七二十一，跳進海里就好了？

    L ： Right！ But you know ， you can also say that you "take the plunge"
any time you do something risky or scary.

    LH：哦，take the plunge 就是冒險一試。你是說，雖然我有些害怕，但還
是應該果斷地下水？

    L ： Right！ For example， Anthony was really nervous about quitting
his job and switching careers ， but eventually he decided to take the
plunge.

    LH：哦，Anthony 在辭職和改行的問題上一直挺猶豫的，但最后他還是決定
冒險一試。這么說起來，我也有類似的經歷，我來美國留學就是這樣的！

    L ： Exactly！ I bet it was a big decision to leave China and come
to America， but you decided to take the plunge. Aren't you happy you
did ？

    LH：哈，那可不好說，如果下面有鯊魚，我被吃了，那我來美國的決定可就
是大錯特錯了！

    L ： Trust me ， Lihua. The sharks out here are few and far between.
And even if there are any around， I don't think sharks like Chinese food.

    LH：哦？你說鯊魚不愛吃中餐？不如這樣吧，Larry ，你先跳下去，咱們看
看鯊魚是不是比較愛吃美國飯！

    L ： Well ， let's find out ！ This sun is so hot that I'm willing
to take the plunge. Are you ready ， Lihua？

    LH：好吧！大海，我來啦！

    今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是few and far between ，表示很少見。另
一是take the plunge ，意思是冒險嘗試。