李华和Larry在学生中心的咖啡馆里休息。今天李华会学到两个常用语：cop out和to get worked up.
LL: Hey Li Hua. Some friends and I are planning to go camping and hiking next month. Do you want to come along?
LH: 嗯…去露营啊？嗯，下个月我可能会很忙耶！噢！对！那个周末我已经答应帮我邻居照顾他的狗。
LL: What? I didn’t even tell you when we’re going! Sounds like a cop-out to me!
LH: 对，你还没有告诉我是哪个周末。不过，A cop? cop不是警察吗？我不去露营和警察有什么关系？
LL: No, no, I don’t mean “cop” as in “police officer”. A cop out, is a weak excuse for not doing something.
LH: 噢，原来cop out是想推脱做某件事，但是理由又很牵强。哎呀，好啦！我招了，我是不喜欢露营！要走那么多路，又会被虫咬，还得睡睡袋，而且我还听说美国有很多熊呢！
LL: Bears? Don’t tell me you won’t go just because you’re afraid of bears. That’s an even stupider cop out.
LH: 好啦好啦！跟熊没有关系，我就是懒惰！不喜欢露营嘛！
LL: That’s what I thought. Well, it’s better to be honest than to cop out. So do you understand what “cop out” means now?
LH: 嗯，我想我大概懂cop out的意思了！给你举个例子吧！我的朋友Jeanna老是说她想学中文，可是当我主动提出要教她时，她又总是说没时间。这就是cop out喽！
LL: Yeah, that sounds like a cop out to me. Most people just aren’t willing to put the time and effort into really learning another language.
LH: 说到学外语，Larry，我记得不久前，你也叫我教你读中文报纸，怎么样？你明天有时间吗？
LL: I, um… I think I’m busy tomorrow. The plumber is coming to my house sometime in the afternoon, so I have to wait for him, and…
LH: 得了吧！ 什么等工人来修水管？谁会相信这种借口。你这才是真正的cop out！
LH: (Growls) 嗨！这些学中文的学生，我真不想教了！怎么考试考得这么糟！我看啊，这学期他们一个也别想拿A！
LL: Calm down, Li Hua. Don’t get so worked up over it.
LH: 你要我别work up？你是说我不必那么努力，那什么意思呀？
LL: No, I don’t mean you have to work harder. I mean, you shouldn’t get worked up. To get worked up means to get angry or excited.
LH: 噢，don’t get worked up是别生气的意思！不生气？你看看他们写的中文有难看，而且还老是写错别字。
LL: Let me see those. Hmm… Wow, this isn’t bad at all. I can tell they’re a lot better than they were a few weeks ago. Don’t get so worked up over a few small mistakes!
LH: 你觉得他们比几个星期前进步多了？我看看…嗯，也许你说的对，也许我对他们要求太高了。
LL: That’s right. I can tell most of these students want to learn Chinese. If you always get worked up when they make mistakes, you won’t notice when they improve.
LH: Larry，你说的对，大多数学生都是真的想学，我不应该看到他们的错误就生气，应该多多鼓励他们。
(Sound of distant argument)
LH: 嘿！Jack和Ben两个人在那儿那么生气吵什么啊？
LL: Oh, nothing. It’s election year, and those two are always getting worked up over politics.
LH: 噢，我知道美国人在竞选总统方面意见不一致，但是没有想到有些人会争的面红耳赤。
LL: Yeah, sometimes when you get worked up about something, it shows that you really care about it. Just like you with your students!
LH: 那倒是，关心某件事才会激动，就象我很在乎我学生的成绩。说到学习，Larry你准备好上中文课了吗？
LL: Um… well… OK. No more cop outs. Let’s get started.
今天李华学到两个常用语。一个是cop out，意思是用牵强的借口来逃避做某件事。另一个常用语是to get worked up，就是为某件事生气。