英语听力短剧 21他是个害虫

Episode¹ 21: He's a pest.

Olivia: Joe! Can you stop that please! Can you please come here and sit down!

Magda: Hello there, Olivia. Who’s this?

Olivia: This is Joe – he’s my nephew.

Magda: Nephew?

Olivia: My sister’s son.

Magda: Oh! I see. He’s lovely! I love children...

Olivia: Yeah, they’re great until you have to look after them...

Magda: You’re looking after him?

Olivia: Yeah, just for today, fortunately. My sister can’t get a babysitter. But Joe comes to my shop

quite often. He loves it there...unfortunately!

Magda: Why’s that ‘unfortunate’?

Olivia: Because he’s a pest, that’s why...

Magda: What’s a ‘pest’?

Olivia: Somebody or something which makes you angry...

Magda: No!! I don’t believe it! He’s so sweet! How old is he?

Olivia: Four, nearly five.

Fadi: Whoooaaaa! Slow down there, little man! Who’s this?

Olivia: Fadi, meet Joe.

Magda: He’s Olivia’s nephew. And a sweet little pest!

Fadi: Oh really! I didn’t know you were Aunt Olivia!

Olivia: Thank you very much Fadi. You make me feel old. Listen, have you had a chat with Harry² yet?

Fadi: About work?

Olivia: Yeah.

Fadi: No, not yet, but I’m supposed to talk to him today. He said he’d be in here later.

Olivia: Listen, though, it’s not true what Harry was saying...

Fadi: About what?

Olivia: About me being upset if he can’t do the website for my shop...I don’t mind if he can’t do it! He

wanted far too much money. I could never have afforded it. Now it’s ok, because he thinks he’s turning me

down...I don’t have to offend him by saying ‘no’! A happy result all round!

Fadi: I see...so I don’t have to bail³ you out, after all?

Olivia: No!

Olivia: Joe, can you stop that please? Come over here!

Fadi: ...and here he is!

Harry: Alright mate! Alright Olivia, Magda...who’s this young man?

Olivia: My nephew, Joe.

Harry: Hello Joe!

Harry: He’s very...erm...what’s the word...energetic?

Olivia: I just call him “trouble”!

Harry: So, Fadi, you wanted to talk business?

Fadi: Yeah, finally...well, I’ve got the all clear from my uncle, so we’re on.

Harry: Great.

Fadi: But...

Harry: There’s always a “but”!

Fadi: You’re going to have to do us a favour and come down on the price, mate...

Harry: What price did I quote you?

Fadi: Two thousand five hundred.

Harry: Well, seeing as you’re a friend, I could come down to two thousand four hundred, but not less than

that.

Fadi: We can offer two thousand. That’s our top limit. We don’t have a bigger budget than that.

Harry: Come on! You’re joking!

Fadi: Sorry mate. It’s two thousand, or nothing.

Harry: No way. Can’t be done. I’ve got to go now...got to go and see Johnny – he’s offered me a real

job...bye all!

Fadi: Oh no, do you think he’s really upset now?

Olivia: I don’t think “upset” is the word....

Fadi: We can go a bit higher actually...I was just trying to be a tough negotiator⁴.

Magda: A bit too tough, I think.

Olivia: You should never mix work and friendship, anyway.

Magda: And you probably shouldn’t have a business meeting in a café!

Fadi: Oh no. What a mess. I’d better go. Hang on..where’s my...where are my....I can’t find my mobile!

Or my keys! Has anyone seen them?

Magda: Let’s look under the seats...they must be here somewhere...

Fadi: I can’t see anything.

Magda: No sign.

Olivia: How strange...hang on a minute, my nephew’s been terribly quiet for the last five minutes...what’s

he up to...Joe!!!

 

Glossary⁵

Fortunately (adverb) With luck 幸运地

如：I lost my bag but fortunately my neighbour found it

我把包弄丢了，不过还好，我邻居拾到了。

Upset (adjective) Disturbed emotionally 心烦意乱

如：He was upset when he heard the bad news

那个坏消息让他心烦意乱。

Mate (noun) Friend - colloquial⁶ 朋友

如：He’s my best mate; we do everything together

他是我最好的朋友，我们作什么事都一起。

Energetic (adjective) Full of energy 有活力的

如：Children are usually very energetic.

孩子们总是精力充沛。

Trouble (noun) Disorder⁷ or disturbance⁸ 麻烦

如：There’ll be trouble if Mum finds out you weren’t at home last night

要是妈妈知道我们昨晚不在家就麻烦了。

Quote (verb) To state a price 喊价

如：She quoted five hundred pounds and I accepted

我要价500英镑，我答应了。

Negotiator (noun) A person who arranges a transaction⁹ 协调人

如：We need a good negotiator to make the best business deal

这是一桩大生意，我们需要一个好的中间人。

Mess (noun) A dirty or disordered condition 混乱

如：You’ll have to clean up this mess before Mum comes home!

在你妈妈回来之前，最好把这屋子的狼藉收拾一下。

1 episode   

n.（作品的一段）情节，插曲，系列事件中之一

参考例句：

• The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
• This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。

2 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

3 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

4 negotiator   

n.协商者，谈判者；(票据、支票等)背书人

参考例句：

• They have placed great trust in him as a negotiator. 他们完全信赖他进行谈判。
• The negotiator acted as liaison between labour and management. 谈判者充当劳资双方的联络人。

5 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。

6 colloquial   

adj.口语的，会话的

参考例句：

• It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
• They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。

7 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

8 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

9 transaction   

n.处理，交易，相互作用

参考例句：

• He was twenty dollars in pocket by the transaction.他在这笔生意中赚了20美元。
• He left the transaction of the matter to his secretary.他把这件事交给秘书办理。