【英语趣味课堂】其他的一些糟糕的工作-Other Bad Jobs

Todd: So, have you had any other jobs you didn't like?

 

Monica: Well, I trained to be a chef when I left school, and I've had a lot of jobs actually over the years in different restaurants, and some of them I didn't like at all.

 

Todd: What was it about the job you didn't like?

 

Monica: I didn't like the people I was working with a lot of the time, so I worked with some very aggressive chefs, and some people who weren't very good at communicating their ideas to me, I felt, and so I found some jobs difficult.

 

Todd: Right, yeah.

 

Monica: not a lot of fun.

 

Todd: Yeah, that would be no fun at all. I think on of the worst jobs I ever had was a part-time job, and it was only one night only, and it was on Valentines Day, and I had to walk around and try to sell roses to people on Valentine's Day, and I was like sixteen years old, and I couldn't get anybody to buy the roses, and I would go up and every one thought I was really cheesy for approaching them to try and buy a rose, but the person who hired me said I had to get rid of all the roses by the end of the night, so it was just a miserable¹, miserable night, and I think I got most of them sold, and at the end of the night, I just paid the eight bucks³ or whatever out of my own pocket and just paid for it myself

 

Monica: So tell me, did you have more luck selling the flowers to guys or two women?

 

Todd: Well, definitely only the guys bought the roses. The women didn't, but was really awkward⁴ is you would go up and try to sell the rose, and the guy didn't want to buy the rose, and then the woman doesn't want you there because it makes the guy look awkward, so it was a bad day.

 

Monica: So was it easier approaching guys by themselves?

 

Todd: A little bit. Sometimes guys walking down the street would see up and they would be thankful, cause they would think, " Oh, I get a rose" you know, like "I almost forgot". Actually it was really hard to sell them and it was just a very long night.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

cheesy

 

Everyone thought I was really cheesy.

 

When something is cheesy, it is really silly and not genuine. When someone acts cheesy, they appear silly and people often tell them so. Here are a few examples using cheesy:

 

He is so cheesy. No one takes him seriously.

He gave us a cheesy smile.

bucks

 

I paid the eight bucks.

 

A "buck²" is a dollar in American slang⁵. So three bucks is three dollars. You only use the term "buck" in casual conversation. You would use the term "dollar" in business settings. Notice the following:

 

I need five bucks to buy lunch.

Do you have two bucks I can borrow?

out of my own pocket

 

I just paid for it out of my own pocket.

 

When you pay for something "out of pocket" that means you use your own money for something you should not have to pay for. Often when people pay out of pocket, they get the money back in a reimbursement⁷. Here are few more example sentences:

 

His boss paid for his hospital bills out of his own pocket.

On business trips, pay for expenses out of your own pocket.The company will reimburse⁶ you later.

go up

 

I had to go up to people and try to sell roses.

 

The verb phrase "to go up" to someone, means to approach a person or people. You can use the phrase also for approaching things, like "go up to the white board". Notice the following:

 

I hate going up to people I do not know.

I went up to the man and told him to be quiet.

look awkward

 

It makes the guy look awkward.

 

When you "look awkward" you look different and out of place. One can look awkward or feel awkward. Here are a few examples:

 

He looked awkward standing⁸ on the street in his pajamas⁹.

I looked awkward being the only single person at the party

1 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

2 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

3 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 awkward   

adj.笨拙的，尴尬的，使用不便的，难处理的

参考例句：

• John is so shy and awkward that everyone notices him.约翰如此害羞狼狈，以至于大家都注意到了他。
• I was the only man among the guests and felt rather awkward.作为客人中的唯一男性，我有些窘迫。

5 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。

6 reimburse   

v.补偿，付还

参考例句：

• We'll reimburse you for your travelling expenses.我们将付还你旅费。
• The funds are supposed to reimburse policyholders in the event of insurer failure.这项基金将在保险公司不能偿付的情况下对投保人进行赔付。

7 reimbursement   

n.偿还，退还

参考例句：

• He received reimbursement for his travel expenses.由于出差的花费他可以得到公司的补偿。
• Which forms do I need to complete for my travel reimbursement?我需要填什么表来报我的旅费？

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 pajamas   

n.睡衣裤

参考例句：

• At bedtime,I take off my clothes and put on my pajamas.睡觉时，我脱去衣服，换上睡衣。
• He was wearing striped pajamas.他穿着带条纹的睡衣裤。