今天Larry要开车去接李华一起去上课。李华会学到两个常用语：get it together和tough。
LL: Hey, Li Hua!? You’re not ready for school! We need to go now! It’s already 8:30.
LH: (Yawns) Larry? 你怎么这么早就来啦！现在几点了？
LL: Get it together, Li Hua! It’s already 8:30! We need to leave in fifteen minutes, or we’ll be late to class!
LH: Get it together? (Groans and yawns) 把什么放一起啊？你在说什么嘛？
LL: I said “get it together”! That means, get organized, focus on what you need to do.
LH: 噢，你是要我赶快准备好上学。Get it together就是要人打起精神做该做的事。那除此之外，Larry，get it together还能用在什么场合呢？
LL: “To get it together” , or “get one’s act together” can also mean something very general, such as arranging one’s life for the better.
LH: 哎哟！get it together既可以指准备去上学，又可以指把一个人的生活安排得更好。Larry，这听起来很复杂，我都有点糊涂了。
LL: Here’s an example: After finishing college, I didn’t work hard to plan for the future for several years. But finally I got my act together, and got accepted into graduate school.
LH: 大学毕业后悠闲几年，没有长远打算这在年轻人里也是常事。不过，你们这些生在美国的孩子真幸福。要是在中国，错过一次机会以后恐怕就难了。
LL: That’s right… here in the U.S. people usually have several chances to get it together. One of my friends almost failed his first semester of college. But he got his act together, and now he’s a Ph. D. candidate at Yale.
LH: 哇！你这个朋友还真是好样儿的。大学第一学期差点儿不及格，现在居然是耶鲁大学的博士生了。可有的人犯了错，一开始失败了就很难再振作起来，做好事情了！
LL: Right, right… enough talking! Get it together, Li Hua. If you’re not ready in ten minutes, I’m leaving!
LH: 好啦！好啦！别催我嘛！再给我5分钟！
LL: All right, let’s go. Now.
LH: 等一等！还不能走啦！我还没吃早餐呢！
LL: Well, that’s tough. You’ll just have to wait until after your first class to eat something. Now let’s go!
LH: Tough? 你是要我坚强一点，就这么饿着啊？
LL: No, that’s not what I mean. When I say “that’s tough” that means “too bad”. Sometimes, you can just say “tough” by itself. Anyway, It’s too bad that you can’t eat breakfast, but we have to go now.
LH: 噢！tough就是指：没办法了，你就忍着点吧。哎，Larry，你真不讲道理！
LL: That’s right, its not very polite to say “that’s tough!” when someone complains or has a problem. Usually when you say “that’s tough” it means you don’t care about their problem.
LH: 原来你真的一点都不同情我啊！That’s tough, 是不太礼貌的用法，表示你根本不在乎别人的问题。哎呀，Larry我们可不可以至少去一下麦当劳买点吃的！我这样肚子空空的上课也不能专心。
LL: That’s just tough, Li Hua. We don’t have time to get you breakfast. You should have gotten up earlier.
LH: 可是… 起的晚又不是我的错，是我的闹钟坏了嘛！
LL: Tough! I don’t care why you’re late this morning, I just want to get to class on time. Let’s go.
LH: 你真是毫无同情心。我既没有吃早餐，我连今天上课要用的材料都还没看呢！
LL: Tough. You can look at you notes in the car. I’m leaving right now… you’d better come with me if you want a ride to school.
LH: 好啦！好啦！我来了啦！噢！我真的好饿噢！
LL: Tough, Li Hua. If you’d just get yourself together, this kind of thing wouldn’t happen. Let’s go!
今天李华学到两个常用语，一个是get it together, 也可以说get one’s act together, 意思是打起精神，做好该做的事。另一个常用语是tough, 意思是：情况就是这样，没办法了。这是不太礼貌的说法，表示你对别人的困难不在乎。