李華和Larry 在夏威夷渡假。倆人今天去沖浪。今天我們要學兩個常用語：
make light of something 和in over one's head.

    LH： Larry，我早就想學沖浪了，聽說夏威夷是世界上最適合沖浪的地方。

    LL： Really ？ I've also heard that the waters have big sharks. Are
you sure you wouldn't rather build sand castles ？

    LH：在海邊用沙子堆城堡？哈，Larry ，你是不是害怕了？放心，鯊魚看見
咱倆，一定會選擇我。

    LL： I wouldn't make light of the situation ， Lihua. There really
are sharks！

    LH： Make light of the situation？那是什么意思�。�

    LL： You can say that you make light of a situation when you joke
about something that is actually very serious.

    LH：哦， to make light of 一件事情就是拿正經事當兒戲。那你是說海水
里真的有鯊魚，我不應該拿咱倆誰的肉更香開玩笑嘍？

    LL： Right！ Now， Lihua， you're a good swimmer， right？ The ocean
is pretty strong here.

    LH：我以前上中學的時候還是游泳校隊的呢。這點海浪難不倒我，Larry ，
你怎么今天好象特別的婆婆媽媽。

    LL： Well ， I just wouldn't make light of the fact that the currents
can be very dangerous.

    LH：看，這么多孩子在水里玩，如果你有什么事，他們一定會去救你的。

    LL： Haha ， very funny. You know ， you can also say that you take
something lightly when you don't treat it as seriously as you should.

    LH：哦，就是不把正經事當回事兒的意思。Larry ，我是來渡假的，不是來
學英語的，咱們還是趕快下水吧！

    LL： Wait ！ First we should put on some sunscreen. Getting a sun
burn is really unhealthy， so we don't want to take that lightly.

    LH：對對對，被太陽曬脫皮可非同小可。

    LL： Yeah ， we shouldn't take skin cancer lightly， so I always try
not to get a tan.

    LH：怎么樣，現在可以讓教練帶我們下水了吧？

    LL： Sure. You go in first and make sure the sharks aren't hungry.
I'll follow once I know it's safe.

    LH：真夠紳士的。

    ******

    李華和Larry 結束了沖浪課程，回到岸上。

    LH： Wow， Larry，太過癮了。我準備辭掉工作，留下來做職業沖浪運動員。

    LL： Not me. I think half the water in the ocean went up my nose.

    LH：別灰心，只要堅持練習，一定會熟能生巧，到時候，別人看到你沖浪就
會驚呼，WOW ……

    LL： I don't know ， Lihua. I think I might be in over my head.

    LH：你說什么？In over your head ？你意思是站在深水里，水快要沒過頭
了嗎？

    LL： Right！ You can say that you are in over your head when you are
facing a challenge that you aren't able to handle.

    LH：哦，我明白了，in over one's head意思是太難了，難以駕馭。你是說
自己學不會沖浪嗎？

    LL： Right. For another example ， in college ， I once tried to take
a physics class ， but I soon realized I was in over my head because I'm
really bad at math.

    LH：這我太能理解了，我數學也不好，所以物理課一直是我的弱項。你說Larry，
咱們明天到底干嘛？去爬山如何？

    LL： You want to hike on one of the volcanoes ？

    LH：當然了，如果能在上面宿營就更棒了。

    LL： Well Lihua ， neither of us is an experienced hiker. I don't
want to go far out in the forest and realize we are in over our heads.

    LH：要不找個導游？對了，Larry ，我有個更好的主意。我們可以騎車環島
游！

    LL： I don't know ……I'm not in good shape ， and that is a really
long bike ride. I think I would be in over my head.

    LH：那你說，咱們干點什么才能不讓你in over your head 呢？

    LL： Well you know， our hotel offers an all-day massage and spa treatment.
I think I could handle that.

    LH：什么，你想一整天都待在旅館里，休息按摩？那我們來夏威夷干嘛？我
公寓旁邊就有按摩院啊。

    LL： Well ， it's important to rest on vacation. I don't take relaxation
lightly.

    LH：我有個折中方案，既好玩，又不會太累。

    LL： Really ？ What's that？

    LH： Sailing！坐船出海去。

    今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是make light of ，意思是不認真，當兒戲。
另一個是in over one's head，意思是太難。