流行美语 (Popular American) 343

李华和Larry到夏威夷渡假，假期结束后，坐飞机回家。今天我们要学两个常用语：

right up one's alley¹和out of the question。

LH: Larry, 我这次玩儿的真高兴! 躺在沙滩上，懒洋洋地晒太阳，这种日子我永远

也过不厌。

L: Yeah, I had a great time too. I love relaxing vacations on the beach,

and eating fresh seafood² every night for dinner makes it even better.

LH: 不过Larry, 虽然夏威夷的风光很美，但我也喜欢去一些有人文特色的地方，比

如逛逛博物馆，看看历史风情。

L: Well then, for our next vacation we can go to Paris! It sounds right up

your alley.

LH: Paris sounds right up my alley? 你这话是什么意思啊？

L: You can say that something is right up your alley if it is perfectly³

suited to you.

LH: 哦，right up one's alley, 就是指正合某人的口味。 你是说，巴黎是艺术、

文化、还有历史之都，所以去巴黎旅行一定特别符合我的兴趣。

L: Right! Here is another example. Roger loves to argue all the time, so I

think a career as a lawyer would be right up his alley.

LH: 可不，对于那些喜欢争辩的人来说，当律师最适合，如果做顾客服务，得天天跟

人吵架。对了，Larry, 咱们这趟班机上会播什么电影啊？我爱看喜剧。

L: They're going to play the new Jim Carrey movie, so I think that should

be right up your alley.

LH: 要播Jim Carey的喜剧，太好了，正合我意!

L: I'm not really interested in watching a movie right now. I think

reading a book might be more up my alley.

LH: 你想看书？那我就自己看电影吧！对了，待会儿空姐过来你帮我拿副耳机。

L: Sure, but you know you have to pay for them.

LH: 耳机还要钱？ 下次旅游，我不坐飞机了!

L: Well then, it sounds like the train might be right up your alley.

******

LH: Larry, 我觉得好难受啊，飞机的座椅怎么这么窄，坐得真不舒服! 唉，航空公

司的服务越来越差了!

L: You're right, the airlines have really been reducing the quality of

service to save money.

LH: 是啊。现在飞机上的吃的和饮料都要钱，托运行李也要钱，不知道以后会不会连

随身行李都要交钱。

L: That would have sounded crazy a few years ago, but today it's not out

of the question.

LH: Out of the question? 这是什么意思？

L: When you think that something is totally impossible, you can say that

it is out of the question.

LH: 哦，out of the question, 就是绝不可能。 你是说，放在几年前，没人会想到

随身行李也可能收钱，可是现在，这已经不是不可能的事儿了。

L: That's exactly right, how about the time my friend Amy asked to borrow

my new car. But since she got in three accidents in the past month, I told

her it was out of the question.

LH: 哦，因为Amy开车老出事，所以你绝不会把自己的车借给她开。

L: Exactly.

LH: 这倒让我想起来，你什么时候把你那辆破车扔了，换辆新车开开啊？你那旧车说

不定那天在路上开着一半就散架了。

L: Well, I just spent all my money on this Hawaii vacation, so buying a

new car is out of the question for right now.

LH: 这样的话，你不如骑车上班。省钱，还能锻练身体。

L: I don't think so. My office is really far away, so biking there every

day is out of the question.

LH: 哦，对啊，你公司离家太远了，骑车要累死了。你想过换工作么？找个离家近的

。

L: I have, but the company I work at now is pretty good.

LH: 可是，如果能找一个又好又离家近的工作，不是更好么？

L: Well I guess you're right. It's not totally out of the question.

LH: 啊，不知不觉，已经飞过一大半的旅程了。你说这趟飞机能准点抵达，而且不弄

丢乘客的行李么？

L: Now that, Lihua, is totally out of the question!

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是 right up one's alley, 表示正合某人的口味。

另一个是out of the question, 意思是绝不可能。
 

1 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

2 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

3 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。