李華和Larry 開車去機場準備坐飛機去夏威夷渡假。今天我們要學兩個常用
語：a far cry 和 steer clear.

    LH： Boy， Larry，這次假期真是讓我望眼欲穿。前段時間每時每刻都在忙，
你好長時間沒有帶我出去玩了，你簡直是失職……

    LL： What do you mean ？ Last month we went to the movies. That was
fun ， wasn't it？

    LH：拜托，Larry ，帶我去看變形金剛就能過關了嗎？看兩場電影，跟去夏
威夷渡假相比，簡直就是天壤之別。

    LL： I guess you're right. Watching a movie is definitely a far cry
from taking a vacation in Hawaii.

    LH： A far cry？這就要哭啊？我是在跟你開玩笑呢！

    LL： Actually ， Lihua， when you say that something is a far cry
from something else ， it means that those two things are totally different.

    LH：哦，我明白了，說一件事情是a far cry from另外一件事情，就是說二
者大相徑庭。這么說，你也承認，看電影遠遠比不上去夏威夷好玩嘍？

    LL： Exactly. But I have to say ， I'm really excited for this vacation
too. I've heard that Hawaii is really beautiful.

    LH：咱們攢錢去夏威夷是絕對正確的，雖說貴了點，可是物有所值，比隨便
找個小沙灘曬太陽強多了。

    LL： I agree. The small and crowded beaches near my house are definitely
a far cry from the huge ， beautiful beaches in Hawaii.

    LH：那當然了，別忘了，光是從舊金山到夏威夷，就要坐六個小時的飛機呢！
對了，你不會為了給我個驚喜，訂的是頭等艙吧？

    LL： Are you kidding？ I don't even have enough money to buy peanuts.
I'm still a far cry from being able to afford first class tickets.

    LH：哎，經濟艙也湊合了。哈，我知道，那你一定是把錢都花在了五星級的
酒店上……

    LL： Well …… the place we're staying might be a far cry from a luxury，
five-star hotel.

    LH：不是五星的？那也沒關系，四星我也將就了……要不，最少也得是個三
星吧？

    LL： Don't worry， Lihua， we have a really nice tent to camp out
on the beach！

    LH：Larry ，你最好是在開玩笑，要我露宿沙灘，那我現在就買張機票回家
去。

    LL： Don't worry， I'm just kidding. We have a good hotel.

    LH：哈！我說說罷了，你還當真了。You are still a far cry from being
a comedian. 你離喜劇演員的標準還差得遠呢！

    ******

    Larry 和李華坐了一天飛機，總算到了夏威夷。

    LH：夏威夷，我來了！Larry ，我們直奔海灘怎么樣？

    LL： Yeah ， Hawaii is going to be great！ I can't wait to get to
the beach and spend all day sleeping in the sand.

    LH： Larry，我警告你，來夏威夷可不是為了睡覺，我們每天的行程可都是
排得滿滿的。

    LL： Well ， Lihua， I think the main purpose of vacation is to relax.
Let's steer clear of all those tiring activities.

    LH： Steer clear？難道說夏威夷也堵車，所以開車一定要小心嗎？

    LL： Actually ， to steer clear of something means you should avoid
it. For example ， whenever I travel， I steer clear of the food people
sell on the street because I don't want to get sick.

    LH：沒錯，出門在外千萬不能亂吃東西，否則食物中毒，整個假期就全泡湯
了。對了，Larry ，我們的旅館在市中心還是郊區？

    LL： I always steer clear of the crowded and noisy cities when I go
on vacation. Our hotel is in a very secluded and quiet area.

    LH： Sounds great.我們坐出租車去嗎？

    LL： We should probably steer clear of taxis during our vacation because
they are so expensive. Let's take the bus.

    LH：可是Larry ，我帶了四個大皮箱呢……

    LL： Well Lihua ， you know that I always try to steer clear of doing
anything to upset you. We can take a cab this ONE time.

    LH：算你聰明，作為獎勵，在我們的日程正式開始之前，我批準你在沙灘上
睡一小覺，不過記住，只有十分鐘。

    LL： A ten minute nap ？ Well that's a far cry from a fair deal ，
but I guess I'll take it. What is the first activity we're doing？

    LH：沖浪！

    今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是a far cry from something，意思是大相
徑庭。另一個是steer clear ，意思是避免。