流行美语 (Popular American) 313

李华打电话给Larry，提醒他说好了晚上一起看电影。 今天我们要学两个常用语： space cadet和running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

LL: (Pick up phone) Hello?

LH: Hi, Larry.

LL: How are you, Lihua?

LH: 我挺好。你别忘了，说好了一起看电影，还有半个小时开演。

LL: Oh shoot. I'm so sorry Li Hua. It completely slipped my mind. I feel like such a space cadet.

LH: Space cadet? 太空学员？太空学员常忘事儿吗？

LL: Well not real space cadets, but as a saying "space cadet" means someone who is off in space, or often forgets things that they need to do.

LH: 噢，Space Cadet原来是说心不在焉，爱忘事儿的人。那你绝对合格！不然怎么会忘记约好跟我一起看电影呢。

LL: I guess I just got caught up with this project for work. My space cadet coworker forgot to save it earlier, so we are back to square one.

LH: 啊？你们的项目白做了，要从头开始？我以前写论文也出过忘记存盘的事。I've acted like a space cadet before. 那你们要怎么办呢？

LL: It hopefully won't be too big of a problem, but because he was a space cadet we will have to work a bit late tonight.

LH: 就算是这样，你也不能忘了陪我看电影的事儿啊？This is no excuse for you being a space cadet!

LL: I know. I am sorry.

LH: 没关系，谁都有这种时候，我们教授星期一来上课，居然说把我们的作文落在了地铁上。Talk about a space cadet!

LL: I'll say! What did he do?

LH: 最后他找到地铁总站才找到。

LL: Wow, he is lucky that he was able to find them again.

LH: 可他还是很不好意思，所以给我们所有人一律加分。

LL: That sounds like a pretty good trade off to me.

LH: 是不错。看来有个做"space cadet"的教授，也不一定是坏事。言归正传，电影到底还看不看？

LL: Let's shoot for the 8:30 showing. I think I will have the work done by then. Meet you at the theater?

LH: 好，一言为定。

******

Larry和李华在电影院大厅里碰头。

LH: Larry, 你来得正好，电影马上就要开演了。

LL: Yes, though I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

LH: What? 你为什么要说自己象没头公鸡一样跑来呢？

LL: Running around like a chicken with its head cut off means I have been running around frantically¹ all over the place.

LH: 噢，你是说自己忙得跑来跑去，中文里我们说，象没头的苍蝇一样，英文里说象没头的鸡，真有意思。你忙什么？

LL: It turned out that there was more to the project than I originally thought, but I really wanted to come see this movie. I had to rush and wound up running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

LH: 那Larry, 你说鸡真的会砍掉脑袋还跑来跑去吗？

LL: I am not sure Li Hua. But the point is that if they do run around, it is chaotic². Similarly³ I was running all over the place at my office to try and get this project done.

LH: 这倒让我想起我同学Carrie. 她星期天才知道星期一有项目展示，所以一整天都忙得昏天暗地。She was running around like a chicken with her head cut off!

LL: What do you mean, Lihua?

LH: 她一直在自习室和图书馆之间跑来跑去，手忙脚乱的。

LL: That certainly does sound right. After running around like a chicken with its head cut off, I feel pretty flustered⁴ too! How did Carrie's presentation turn out?

LH: 说实话，我还真不知道，整个过程，我都在开小差儿。

LL: It sounds like you were a total space cadet. What about you, have you ever had to run around like a chicken with its head cut off because you left something to the last minute?

LH: 我？怎么可能！我做事从来都是井井有条，绝不会临时抱佛脚。

LL: Sure. Well let's get our tickets and watch this movie.

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是space cadet, 指心不在焉，爱忘事的人。另一个是running around like a chicken with its head cut off, 意思是忙得象没头的苍蝇一样。
 

1 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

2 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

3 similarly   

adv.类似地，相似地

参考例句：

• He was late and I similarly was delayed.他迟到了，我也晚了。
• These two pages are similarly glued together.这两页好像粘在一起了。

4 flustered   

adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The honking of horns flustered the boy. 汽车喇叭的叫声使男孩感到慌乱。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was so flustered that she forgot her reply. 她太紧张了，都忘记了该如何作答。 来自辞典例句