Tom和Mindy刚搬进新家，打算养只宠物。可是Tom喜欢狗，Mindy喜欢猫，俩人一时决定不了到底养什么。
Professor: Say Winnie, are you a dog person or a cat person?
老实说，养猫养狗太费事儿，我都不喜欢!
Tom: I love this new house, Mindy! I can’t wait until we get a dog.
Mindy: A dog? I don’t like dogs. We’re going to get a cat, Tom.
Tom: Cats are so boring. You can’t even teach them any tricks.
Mindy: Dogs are worse. They’re barking all the time.
Mindy说，她不喜欢狗是因为狗太吵，总是bark–叫唤。对了，professor Bowman，中国人说狗“汪、汪”地叫，美国人怎么说狗叫呢？
Professors: In America, people say “ruff-ruff”.
哈哈，还真挺像的! Tom说养狗好，因为狗能学tricks – 把戏和本领，能逗主人开心。
Professor: That’s right. Winnie, there is an English expression about dogs and tricks. It is: You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
我知道! You can’t teach an old dog new tricks表面意思是“老狗学不了新把戏”，其实就是指积习难改，固守陈规的人很难接受新鲜事物。
Tom: Mindy, dogs are much more loyal than cats.
Mindy: Maybe, but dogs are a lot more work. You have to take them for a walk every day, and sometimes they bite.
Tom: Don’t worry, we’ll get a nice one. Dogs are man’s best friend.
Mindy: Well if we get a dog you are going to need a friend because I’ll be really mad!
Professor: So Winnie, why does Tom think dogs are better than cats?
他觉得狗比猫更loyal – 忠诚。不过Mindy觉得养狗太麻烦，每天都要出门遛狗，弄不好狗还会bite – 咬人。
Professor: That’s right. Have you ever heard the phrase “His bark is worse than his bite”? It means someone is not as bad as he sounds. For example, “The teacher said he would give the student bad grades for not doing her homework. But his bark was worse than his bite, and he didn’t actually do it.”
哦，老师虽然口头上说要惩罚不完成作业的同学，但却没有真的那么做。 所以His bark is worse than his bite就是指“刀子嘴，豆腐心”，虽然说了狠话，但不会真的去做。
Mindy: Tom, why don’t we get one cat and one dog?
Tom: Oh no, we can’t do that. They won’t get along at all, so we have to choose one or the other.
Mindy: That’s true. Cats and dogs are always fighting.
Tom: Come on ….. Let’s go to the pound right now and adopt a dog.
Professor: Winnie, why does Tom say that they can’t get one dog and one cat?
他说，猫和狗don’t get along–不能和睦相处，到一块儿就打。
Prof: Yes. If two people are always arguing, you can say that they “fight like cats and dogs.”
哦，原来形容两个总是吵架的人时，也可以说他们”fight like cats and dogs”， 真有意思! 不过听起来Tom是铁了心要养狗，他提出马上去”pound”, 动物收养所，adopt a dog – 领养一只狗。
Tom: Mindy, if we get a dog, I promise I will do all the work.
Mindy: Hmmm ….. you promise to walk the dog and feed it every day?
Tom: Yes. And I’ll buy all the things for the dog, like its collar and its leash.
Mindy: Uh ….well alright. We can get a dog. But if it doesn’t behave, I’m going to keep it on a short leash!
Tom保证承包养狗的所有工作，包括喂食和遛狗，还说会买遛狗用的leash–皮绳和collar–项圈儿。但Mindy说 she’s going to keep the dog on a short leash, 这是什么意思呢？
Professor: It means to maintain close control over someone’s activities.
哦，keep someone on a short leash就好比用皮绳紧紧牵着狗，也就是说要密切控制某人的一举一动。我看啊，如果Tom领来的狗狗不听话，Mindy也会keep Tom on a short leash!
Professor: Let’s listen next time to find out.
这次的美语三级跳就播送到这里。