Larry在告诉李华这个星期他办公室发生的一场争论。今天李华会学到两个常用语：to have a beef with someone和hit pay dirt。
LL: The boss still wants to fire Jim because they had a beef over the last sales report.
LH: 老板要开除Jim，因为他们有什么？A beef？你是说他们为了一些牛肉在吵架？
LL: No (laughing), not beef as in the beef that you eat. To have a beef with someone means to have a disagreement. The boss and Jim had a disagreement over the sales report.
LH: 噢，哈哈，原来have a beef with someone就是和某人有争执。这和我们吃的牛肉一点关系也没有。你老板为什么会和Jim吵架呢？
LL: Well, the boss felt that Jim had done a really bad job of preparing the report and Jim felt that the boss did not give him enough time to do the report properly.
LH: 噢，老板觉得Jim写的报告太差，而Jim觉得老板没给他足够的时间，所以两人就这么吵起来啦？Jim had a beef with the boss。我说得对吗？
LL: Yep. Now, the boss is making everyone else miserable because of his beef with Jim.
LH: 他是和Jim闹不开心，这跟其他人有什么关系呢？
LL: He’s just been in a really bad mood and he’s being tough on everyone. It’s not fair. His beef is with Jim, not the rest of the people in the office.
LH: 他不高兴就对办公室里每个人都特别厉害。这是很不公平。他是跟Jim吵架，又不是和全办公室吵架。
LL: Exactly. I’m worried that the situation will go too far and there will be major problems in our office.
LH: 你怕情况发展下去办公室会出大问题呀？你们为什么不让Jim向老板道个歉。这不就完了吗？
LL: I don’t think he’ll do that.
LH: 他不会道歉？啊呀，你劝劝他嘛。关键在他身上， 道了欠紧张气氛就化解了，对大家都有好处。
LL: It’s worth a try. Maybe Jim will be willing to sacrifice his own interests and resolve his beef with the boss.
LL: Hey, Li Hua, you really hit pay dirt with that suggestion you made. Jim apologized to the boss and everybody is happy now.
LH: Jim和你们老板道歉啦？那太好了！不过，Larry，你说hit pay dirt是什么意思，我听不懂耶！
LL: To hit pay dirt means that you found something that turned out to be profitable or beneficial.
LH: To hit pay dirt就是发现了很有好处的东西。所以你刚才的意思是我的建议非常有用。不过，这三个词hit, pay, dirt合在一起挺怪的。这说法是从哪里来的？
LL: When miners would dig for gold, they would say that they had hit pay dirt when they found dirt that contained gold.
LH: 噢，原来是采金矿的工人在挖到含黄金的矿石时，他们就会说hit pay dirt，这样一解释，我就懂了。
LL: They sometimes say “strike pay dirt”. Anyway, LI Hua, I also hit pay dirt today.
LH: 你今天也挖到宝啦？怎么说？
LL: I got a job offer for after I graduate.
LH: 你已经找到毕业后的工作啦！那太好了！是哪家公司要雇你呢？
LL: Actually, the office I’m working in offered me the job.
LH: 真的？就是你现在打工的这家公司？不过你真的想在那儿工作吗？
LL: At first, I wasn’t that interested, but when they told me what my salary would be, I realized that I’d really hit pay dirt.
LH: 哇，太棒了，你很快就能把你的破车卖了，买一辆高级车，a nice set of wheels。我们一块儿出去庆祝庆祝吧！
今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是have a beef with someone，就是和某人争吵，关系紧张的意思。另一个常用语hit pay dirt，也可以说strike pay dirt，就是指发现了有价值的东西。