Larry 和李華在談論他們的朋友Dave. Dave的老板剛剛給他加了一大筆工資。
李華今天要學會兩個新的習慣用語，live large和a hoot.

    LL： It is a good thing that Bob got such a big raise. He likes to
live large！

    LH： Live 是生活，你說live large那是什么意思呀？

    LL： By living large， I mean Bob likes to buy expensive things ，
wear the best clothes ， and eat out at fancy restaurants.

    LH：誰不喜歡那樣生活奢侈呀？買貴的東西、穿最好的衣服、下高級飯館？
I like to live large too.

    LL： Right. And Bob does live large. The minute after he heard about
his new raise ， Bob went out and bought a brand new Mercedes.

    LH： Wow，他可真夠大手大腳的，錢還沒拿到手就已經花出去了。一輛Mercedes
至少要幾萬美金吧。不過，喜歡live large的人還挺多。教我英國文學的史密斯
教授最近買了一座豪宅，里面有六個臥室，四個洗澡間，還有一個馬廄。

    LL： Wow， maybe someday， I'll be able to live large ， too.

    LH：我不知道你，反正我是沒有希望了，靠教中文這點收入連做夢也不會live
large.

    LL： I don't earn that much at my job either. I will need more than
one big raise to be able to live large. I'll need several raises！

    LH：要加薪好多次才能過上奢適的生活，那要等到什么時候啊。不過Larry ，
過不上那種日子也沒關系，我并不羨慕那種生活。

    LL： What do you mean ？ You don't want to live large ？

    LH：生活奢適是要付出代價的，比如，保養和維修奔馳車要花很多錢。大房
子也要費時間打掃。

    LL： Those are good points， but it sure is fun to dream about living
large.

    LH：過不了那種生活光是夢想有什么好玩的呀！ Larry，如果你有了錢，可
以揮霍地生活，你想作什么呢？

    LL： Well ， I would first buy my own private jet.

    LH：買一架私人飛機？ That would be living large.

    LL： And then I would fly my jet to my own private island in the Caribbean.

    LH：你還想開著飛機到自己在加勒比海買的一個島上去！你真是在做夢！

    ******

    LL： I loved your reaction when I told you I wanted to buy my own
private island in the Caribbean. It was a hoot！

    LH： "A hoot" 是貓頭鷹的叫聲。你說我剛才的反映是貓頭鷹的叫聲？你這
是什么意思呀？

    LL： No ， that's not what I meant. You looked so amazed I thought
it was really funny. Something that is really funny is a hoot.

    LH：我剛才聽你說要買一個私人島嶼是讓我非常驚訝！想像你在加勒比海的
私人海灘上悠閑地喝著果汁，那情景很可笑的喲。

    LL： Say， you know what else was a real hoot ？ Did you see that
show on the comedy channel last night ？

    LH：你是指昨天晚上那喜劇節目頻道播出的節目嗎？我當然看了。

    LL： Yes！ Wasn't it the funniest thing you have ever seen？ I thought
it was such a hoot.

    LH：我也覺得很有趣。有個人模仿總統，模仿的真好笑。都快把我笑死了。
He was a hoot ！

    LL： Hey， I hadn't really thought about this before， but doesn't
our friend Bob look like the guy who impersonated the president ？

    LH：是啊，模仿總統的人很像我們的朋友Bob . 真有趣 - What a hoot！

    LL： Speaking of Bob， did I tell you that he took me out for a drive
in his new Mercedes ？

    LH： Bob開著嶄新的奔馳車帶你去兜風了？下回我也要讓他帶我去兜風。

    LL： Well ， you wouldn't believe what happened. We were stopped behind
a garbage truck at a stoplight when all of the sudden the truck dumped
trash into the Mercedes all over me and Bob ！

    LH：什么，垃圾車突然把垃圾倒出來，把你和Bob 弄得全身都是垃圾？Larry
，那卡車司機把你們當成了垃圾場了。 這真可笑 - It's really a hoot ！

    今天李華學到了兩個常用語。一個是live large，意思是生活揮霍。還有一
個是hoot，意思是可笑、有趣。