Larry 準備在公司匯報工作。事先想請李華幫他聽聽，看報告內容能不能吸
引人。李華今天要學兩個常用語。一個是dud ，另一個是oomph .

    LL： Thanks for agreeing to listen to my presentation ， Li Hua. I
really don't want it to be a dud.

    LH： Larry，什么是 "dud"呀？

    LL： Oh ， A dud D-U-D is something or someone that doesn't live up
to expectations and is a disappointment.

    LH： Dud就是讓人失望的意思。你是不是想讓我幫你聽聽，你的報告能不能
吸引人啊？

    LL： Right！ I want my presentation to be lively and interesting.
If it is boring and difficult to understand ， it will be a dud.

    LH：愿意為您效勞！不過Larry ，你這人這么幽默，不用聽我就知道，你的
報告肯定不會枯燥無味的。

    LL： You never know. I once worked with a woman who I thought was
really funny， and at work we really got along. But then we went on a
date， and it was a real dud.

    LH：你們約會的問題出在哪里呢？

    LL： It turns out that we didn't have much in common except work.

    LH：噢，我知道了，你們倆這叫缺少共同語言。That date really does sound
like a dud.

    LL： What about you Li Hua？ Have you every gone out with a guy who
was a real dud？

    LH： Dud也能指人啊。那要這么說，我可是遇到過真正的dud.

    LL： How was this guy a dud ， Li Hua ？

    LH：他長得特別帥，可是我們倆出去吃飯，他從頭到尾都在沒完沒了地講他
自己，根本不問問我喜歡些什么。That date was a real dud.

    LL： Kind of like a firecracker that doesn't go off ！ We also call
fireworks that don't go off "duds."

    LH：沒錯，我們管不響的爆竹叫" 啞炮".我最喜歡放炮了，特別是春節的時
候……

    Larry ，你干嘛呢？

    LL： I am trying to get the slide projector to work. It looks like
the light bulb is a dud ！

    LH：那就別擺弄幻燈了。我光聽就行了。

    LL： Okay ， let's get started. Please be honest， Li Hua ， and don't
be afraid to tell me if you think my presentation is a dud.

    LH：你放心，我一定怎么想就怎么說。

    ******

    LL： So ， what do you think， Li Hua ？ Does my presentation need
more oomph？

    LH： Oomph？這又是什么詞啊！怎么這么難說。

    LL： It is like "oom" from the word room， followed by an "F" sound.
Say it after me ， Li Hua. Oomph！

    LH：（Imitating ）"oom" ， "oom-f". Oomph ， oomph是什么意思啊？

    LL： When I asked if my presentation needed more oomph， I was asking
if it needed something extra to make it more lively or interesting.

    LH：噢，你是說可以加點兒什么，讓你的報告更精彩是吧。老實說，Larry ，
我覺得有的地方確實有點兒枯燥，需要加點兒oomph.

    LL： How do you think I could give my presentation more oomph ， Li
Hua ？

    LH：比方說，你一上來可以先講個笑話，吸引聽眾的注意。然后講到一半兒
有人開始走神的時候，你可以再講個你自己工作中的真實經歷，最好是干過的什
么傻事。這樣你的報告就能更生動了。

    LL： That's very good advice， Li Hua. I think doing those things
will give my presentation the extra oomph it needs.

    LH：好，那現在換我了。我最近給中文課設計了一個網頁。你也幫我看看，
要不要也加點兒oomph.

    LL： Sure. I'm happy to look at it and tell you if it needs more oomph.

    （Typing on keyboard……）

    LH： Okay ， here it is. Larry，你覺得怎么樣？

    LL： Wow， Li Hua ！ Maybe your website has a little too much oomph！

    LH： Oomph還會太多嗎？

    LL： Well ， you used orange and pink together on the same page. Those
colors make it hard to read.

    LH：粉紅色和桔黃色放在一起是太亮了，看上去眼睛有點兒不舒服，那我換
換其它顏色吧。

    今天李華學到了兩個常用語。一個是dud ，意思是令人失望的。另一個是oomph，
是吸引力的意思。