今天李華忙著批改中文班學生的作業。李華會從Larry那兒學到兩個常用語：go easy on和go cold turkey。

LH: 哎！這些學生！看看他們的考卷兒，簡直糟透了！也不知道他們是不是真想學中文。

LL: Hey, go easy on your students, Li Hua. They've only been studying Chinese for a few weeks. It's a difficult language!

LH: 你說什么？你要我把中文課改得再容易一點兒？

LL: That's not what I said, Li Hua. I said you should go easy on them. That means you should show some restraint - don't be too angry with them.

LH: Go easy on them，就是對他們寬容一點，別那么惱火。可是Larry, 他們每天才學五個單詞，要是你問我啊，I am going easy on them。連這點最基本的中文都考不好，那還有什么希望吶！

LL: I just mean you shouldn't yell or get angry at them. Why are you always in such a bad mood these days?

LH: 我這幾天是情緒不好，沒耐心，也不知道是什么原因，可能是因為咖啡喝得太多，晚上睡不好覺的緣故吧。

LL: A lot of coffee - huh? No wonder you can't sleep well. I think you should go easy on the coffee.

LH: Go easy on the coffee? 等等，Larry, 剛才你讓我對學生要客氣點兒 - go easy on my students，現在又說我應該go easy on the coffee，這又怎么解釋呢？

LL: When I say "go easy on the coffee", I mean you should show some restraint and drink less coffee.

LH: Go easy on the coffee, 就是讓我少喝點兒咖啡。可是，go easy on the students就是要對學生客氣點。我不是太清楚，Larry, 你能不能再給我舉個例子？

LL: Sure. Whenever you see me drinking at a party, you always tell me to go easy on the beer.

LH: 對呀，每次參加party 的時候我都勸你別喝那么多啤酒，喝醉了會出洋相的！哎喲，Look at this! 這個學生，五道題里只回答了一道，我只能給她不及格了。

LL: Hey, hey, don't give her an 'F'! Go easy on her. And go easy on the coffee,

******

LH: 啊，我累死了！

LL: How are you feeling now that you're drinking less coffee?

LH: 嗯，我已經三天沒喝咖啡了，晚上睡覺是好多了，可是白天我怎么老是覺得精力不夠、昏昏沉沉的呢？

LL: No coffee for three days? I told you to go easy on the coffee, not go cold turkey!

LH: Go cold turkey? 你在說什么呀？你讓我少喝咖啡，多吃冷火雞呀？

LL: No, I said you went "cold turkey". That means to suddenly quit doing or consuming something that is addictive.

LH: 噢，原來go cold turkey不是 “吃冷火雞”呀！Go cold turkey是“突然停止做那些習慣做的事，一下子戒掉原來上癮的習慣”。哎，Larry, 你覺得我過去喝咖啡到上癮的程度了嗎？

LL: Ok, you're not really addicted to coffee. But quitting coffee isn't easy, right? When I said you went cold turkey, It implied that quitting is not easy.

LH: 是啊，突然一下子一點兒咖啡都不喝了，是夠難的，怪不得我老沒精神呢！不過Larry, 要把戒咖啡和戒煙相比，我看，戒煙恐怕更難吧？

LL: That's true. One day, my friend Rick went cold turkey on cigarettes. It almost drove him crazy, but he never smoked a cigarette again.

LH: Wow, 你的朋友Rick可真了不起，說戒煙一下子就戒掉了。我記得我叔叔也試過一下子戒掉 - go cold turkey on cigarettes，可是他試了三次都沒成功，不過他現在抽得比以前少多了。

LL: I'm glad your uncle is going easy on cigarettes.

今天李華從Larry那兒學到了兩個常用語。一個是go easy on someone 就是“對某人客氣些”，要是說go easy on something，那就是“有節制地使用某件東西”。李華學到的另一個常用語是go cold turkey on something, 意思是“突然停止做某件事”。

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（來源：流行美語 編輯：旭燕）

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