李华正在家里批改中文班学生的考卷。Larry来找他。今天李华会学到两个常用语：flunk和lose sleep over.
LH: (sighs) 唉，这两个学生又不及格了。这学期他们已经是第三次考试不及格了！
LL: What? You’re flunking them? I thought I told you to go easy on your poor students.
LH: 你在说什么啊？flunk them? 什么是flunk?
LL: I said you are going to flunk the students. That means you’re going to give them a failing grade.
LH: 噢！flunk就是给他们不及格分数啊，那你还真说对了。你看看他们的考卷！这能及格吗？
LL: Heh, let me see… whoa, that guy even wrote his own Chinese name wrong! If he can’t even get that right, he’s almost definitely going to flunk!
LH: 就是嘛！连自己的中文名都写错。我只能给他不及格了。等等，Larry，你先是说我flunk这些学生，给他们不及格，现在又说他们自己要flunk。这到底是谁要flunk谁啊？
LL: The word flunk can mean both “to give a failing grade to” as well as “to fail a course”. So if you flunk that student, he will flunk the class. Got it?
LH: 噢，我懂了，flunk既可以指给学生不及格的分数，也可以指学生自己考不及格。那Larry, 你是不是也有过不及格的时候啊？
LL: What? No way! …well, almost. Actually, I almost flunked my first beginner’s Chinese class. But I managed to pass with a C.
LH: 我的天啊！只拿到C？你啊！八成和我这些学生一样懒散，不认真。我要是你的中文老师，绝对让你不及格的！
LL: Hey, I did my best! My first Chinese teacher even tutored me on her own free time. If it weren’t for her, I would have flunked!
LH: 嗯，那是你运气，老师愿意帮你补课。我也愿意帮这些学生补习，可是他们经常连课都不来上，我能怎么办？
LL: They don’t come to class? What a couple of idiots. Well, go ahead and flunk them, then.
LH: (Sighs) 唉！我真不知道该怎么处理那两个学生的成绩。
LL: Yeah, I’d go ahead and just flunk them. Don’t lose any sleep over it, they deserve it.
LH: 你要我别怎么样？睡不着觉？你在说些什么啊？
LL: When I say lose sleep over something, I mean not to worry about it a lot.
LH: 噢，你这么说我就懂了。Lose sleep over something就是说你非常担心某件事情，而到了睡不着觉的地步。Larry，你真以为我会为这两个学生担心到失眠呐？
LL: Of course not. When we use this phrase, we are just exaggerating. I know you won’t really lose sleep over something like this.
LH: 原来lose sleep over是有点夸张的说法。我虽然还不到失眠的程度。可是有时候我真觉得当一个老师压力好大，有好多责任呢！
LL: Most of your students seem to be doing pretty well, right? You aren’t losing any sleep over the other students, are you?
LH: 没有！我有一些学生非常聪明，也很用功。
LL: That’s good. That means the other two students are just irresponsible. There’s no need to lose sleep over them failing your class.
LH: 对了，就这两个学生有问题。他们不及格也是他们自己的责任。Larry, 我听说你前几天回绝了一个工作机会。怎么回事呀？
LL: That? Oh, I’m not losing any sleep over that decision. I just don’t have time for that job, I had no other choice.
LH: 没事就好。时间太紧张就别再给自己增加负担，读书还是比较重要的。
LL: That’s right. I’d rather have a low income than flunk a class. That’s the kind of thing I could really lose sleep over!
LH: 我真希望我所有的学生都像你一样，宁可钱少，也不能不及格。
今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是flunk，意思是老师给学生不及格分数，或是学生考不及格。另外一个常用语是lose sleep over something, 是为某件事担心而到了失眠的地步。