Larry 下班后跟李華一起吃晚飯。今天我們要學兩個常用語：hothead 和 even
keel.

    LH： Larry，今天上班忙嗎？

    LL： Well ， to be honest Li Hua， it was a bit stressful. One of
our ad campaigns was not successful and my boss had a total meltdown.
He is such a hothead.

    LH： A hothead？你是說老板性情急躁，動不動就發脾氣嗎？

    LL： Yes， exactly， a hothead means someone who gets very angry very
quickly. When something makes a hothead mad ， you absolutely do not want
to be around him.

    LH：沒錯，急脾氣的人要是生氣了，最好是離他們遠點，否則一不小心就成
了出氣筒。

    LL： That is exactly right， a hothead can really be dangerous sometimes，
though often they'll just throw a tantrum and be done with it.

    LH：他們倒是出氣了，可旁邊的人卻要跟著倒霉。快說說，你們老板當時什
么反應？

    LL： Well ， when he heard that the campaign was not successful ，
he blamed ME. He was such a hothead ， he slammed down his coffee mug
and broke it.

    LH：那咖啡還不灑得到處都是？

    LL： It got all over his shirt. This got him even angrier.

    LH：太可怕了。我有個同學，就是典型的hothead.

    LL： In what way， Li Hua ？

    LH：比方說吧，前不久他的一篇作文，教授只給了C ，他氣得臉紅脖子粗，
竟然把課本一下子扔到地上。He is such a hothead.

    LL： Wow， what did your professor do ？

    LH：教授當時已經走了，可教室里還有很多人，大家都沒想到他的脾氣如此
暴躁。對了，剛才說到一半，那你們老板是什么時候消的氣呢？

    LL： He didn't talk to anyone for the rest of the day. He just stormed
off to his office. Because he was such a hothead， no one dared to knock
on his door.

    LH：可想而知，辦公室里的氣氛肯定一天都好不了。

    LL： Well ， the afternoon actually turned out alright.

    LH： Oh ？ And why was that ？

    LL： Once he stormed off， the boss was out of everyone's hair for
the rest of the day. It was pretty relaxing from there on out.

    ******

    LH： Larry，廣告沒做好，你那些同事是不是也特別氣餒？

    LL： No one was happy ， of course， but I would say that everybody
managed to keep an even keel.

    LH： An even what ？

    LL： Even keel. It means to stay calm or keep your cool ， like a
boat on calm water.

    LH：我明白了，even keel 就是情緒穩定。老板發那么大的火，換成我，肯
定沒法保持even keel.

    LL： I'll admit I was pretty nervous when my boss became such a hothead，
but I was able to maintain an even keel.

    LH：還好你沒有過于激動，在這種情況下，是很容易說錯話的。

    LL： Exactly， I find that when I'm at work ， the best policy is
to always try to keep an even keel. That way I can speak clearly and be
focused on what I have to do.

    LH：我覺得，你們老板真應該去上Anger Management控制情緒的課。

    LL： That's right. He was such a hothead.

    LH：你發現沒有，身邊有個脾氣急躁的人，自己也容易受影響。

    LL： That's true， Li Hua ， sometimes being around someone who is
worked up can get you feeling pretty tense as well.

    LH：反過來說，周圍人都保持鎮靜，發脾氣的人也容易冷靜下來。

    LL： Yes. It was good that only my boss lost his cool and everyone
else kept an even keel. It would have been a very stressful afternoon
otherwise.

    LH：一點沒錯。

    LL： What about you ， Li Hua ？ When your classmate became such a
hothead ， were you able to keep an even keel ？

    LH：我跟本沒想到that guy was such a hot head. 嚇得我趕快收拾東西開
遛。不過說實話，作文得低分，是挺讓人沮喪的。

    LL： I thought you always did well on papers.

    LH：我上個月宏觀經濟學的作文就得了C+.

    LL： You seem to have recovered from the shock though.

    LH： Yes， now I am keeping a pretty even keel.

    LL： That's good. I don't want to have to deal with a hothead.

    今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是 hothead，意思是脾氣急躁的人。另一個
是even keel ，意思是情緒平靜。