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Michael 和李华都在纽约上大学，最近他们结束了期中考试，今天准 备坐火车去
华盛顿参观访问。现在Michael 正在火车站等李华。今天 他们在谈话中会用到两
个常用语：drained 和wired.
L：嘿，Michael。这火车站好大，总算找到你了。
M：The train is just about to leave. Good thing you got here in time.
L：我当然会准时到，我什么时候迟到过？嗨，火车就要开啦？要多少时间才能
到华盛顿呐？
M：Only about four hours. I'm probably going to sleep the entire way.
L：(train leaving station, announcer in background) 你想在火车上睡觉？不行，你睡
觉我跟谁说话呐？
M：Li Hua, you are full of energy. But I'm drained, I'm going to sleep.
L：我是精力充沛。可你说你是什么？Drained?
M：Yeah. Drained, it means exhausted.
L：Drained 就是累的意思。那drained 这个词还能用在其他什么场合呢？
M：The word can be used two ways. To be physically drained and emotionally drained.
For example, if a couple fight all the time, they would be emotionally tired, which you
can also call drained.
L：噢，drained 可以指体力很累，也可以指一个人在情绪上压力很大。要是一对
夫妇老是吵架，那肯定情绪很不好。你是这个意思吧？
M：Yeah, you understand. You don't even seem drained after the mid-terms.
L：考试倒没让我觉得累，可是，两天前我跟我哥哥为了他的女朋友吵了一架。
他那女朋友很任性，还老想管别人，真讨厌。跟我哥哥吵完后，我真是感到很累。
M：Yeah, you were emotionally drained. Well, if you don't want me to sleep on the train,
we'd better go get more coffee. Let's go to the Cafe Car.
L： 那好呀，走，去食品车厢买咖啡！
M：This coffee is going to keep me awake the entire trip.
L：这杯咖啡就能让你一路上不困啦？我可不行，到华盛顿之前，我至少还要喝
两杯。
M：Geez, Li Hua, I don't think I will be nearly as wired as you are.
L：Wired？我猜这是说我精力旺盛，是不是？
M：You are right. This word has a couple of meanings. One means to be energetic and
the other means to have nervous energy.
L：这么说，wired 可以指对某件事很兴奋，也可以说对某件事感到紧张而努 力
去做。要是我精力充沛，可以说：I am wired; 要是在大考前我感到很紧张而抓紧
时间复习功课，也可以说：I'm wired。是这个意思吗？
M：Yeah, that's right. But it has one other meaning as well. Wired means to be
connected to something, such as being wired into the Internet, or being wired into a
discussion.
L：噢，跟什么东西联系在一起也可以说是wired，例如和因特网连接。你最后说
的 wired into a discussion 我不太懂，那是什么意思啊？
M：You have been participating in the meetings to make decisions about our college,
right?
L：对啊！我是参加一些会议，讨论有关学校的某些决定。
M：Ok, your participation in the college's meetings and being involved in those
decisions means you are wired into the discussion.
L：噢，我参加这些会议，参预决策的讨论，这就可以说：I'm wired into the discussion.
M：Yep. After all this coffee I have had, I don't feel so drained. In fact, after the next
cup, I think I'm going to be pretty wired.
L：喝了咖啡你就不感到那么累了。再喝一杯，你就精神百倍了。那好，我 再去
给你买一杯，要不要？
M：Thanks so much, Li Hua!
今天Michael 和李华在谈话中用了两个意思相对的词，一个是drained，意思是非
常累；另一个是wired，意思是精力充沛. 这次[流行美语]就到此结束，下次节目
再见。 |