Larry的父母最近来大学看望他。Larry一直忙着招待他们，今天好不容易抽空在李华的住处休息一下。李华会学到两个常用语：drive someone bonkers和tightwad。
LL: I can’t believe my family has been here only three days. They are really making me bonkers!
LH: Making you bonkers？Larry，这个听起来可不像是什么好话。
LL: No, it isn’t. Bonkers means crazy. Even though I love my family, they have all these annoying habits that drive me bonkers.
LH: 噢， make you bonkers就是你都快疯了。这我就不懂了，你很爱你的父母，这是毫无疑问的。可是他们有哪些习惯会让你受不了呢？
LL: Well, there is my mom. She is a great housekeeper, but when she comes to my apartment, she rearranges everything. It drives me bonkers, because I can’t find anything!
LH: 这我完全理解。你妈是好意，看你屋里太乱，帮你整理整理。可是东西找不到的时候可真着急， 火气就上来了。我妈来看我的时候总是看电视，吵得我都没法看书。That drove me bonkers。
LL: And I bet your mom is the kind of person that would go bonkers if it was always quiet. She probably likes the noise and activity.
LH: 你说得一点都没错。我妈是个很活跃的人，一静下来她就受不了。
LL: Then there’s my little sister. She drives me bonkers because she is always complaining that there is nothing to do. She says she is bored.
LH: 你也别怪你小妹妹，没事干也是很难受的。我回中国探亲的时候，每天不是吃饭就是聊天，真是很枯燥，有时真受不了。 Sometimes, it drove me bonkers, too.
LL: Speaking of talking and eating, my brother is making me bonkers because he talks endlessly and has eaten up everything in my house! I’ve got to go to the grocery store again.
LH: 噢，你弟弟也一起来啦？他那么爱说话，跟我妈在一起倒不错！(哈，哈…)不过，年轻人能吃，你当然得去超市给他去买吃的了！
LL: It is okay, Li Hua. Even though I complain about my family, I really do love them. For everything they do that drives me bonkers, there is something wonderful they do, too.
LH: 我知道，抱怨归抱怨，但是家人总是亲人。尽管他们有让我们受不了的地方，但是他们对我们总是出于爱心，为我们作了许多事。
LL：Li Hua, do I drive you bonkers sometimes?
LH: 没有啦！你是个好朋友. You never drive me bonkers.
LH: Larry, 你好像没有抱怨过你的父亲，看来你们家里至少有一个人没有drive you bonkers.
LL: Oh, no, my dad is driving me bonkers, too. He is such a tightwad!
LH: 什么？你父亲是什么？
LL: He is a tightwad because he doesn’t like to spend money on anything. He is very stingy with his money.
LH: 噢，tightwad就是小气，不肯花钱。其实节省也不是坏事。
LL: Yes, but let me give you an example. My dad knows my apartment is very small, but he is such a tightwad that he didn’t want to spend money on a hotel.
LH: 这个例子倒挺能说明问题。你这么一小间屋子，你爸爸妈妈带着弟弟一起来挤在你这儿是不太方便。
LL: That is right. It would have been much more comfortable for them to have a hotel room, but my dad is too much of a tightwad for that!
LH: 对，他们住在旅馆里，大家都舒服多了。这么看，你爸爸是很小气。不过，我父母也一样，他们来美国探亲时总舍不得到餐馆去吃饭， 说在外面吃太贵。
LL: My dad is the same way about eating out, too. I hope that when I have kids I won’t be such a tightwad.
LH: 你爸爸也不肯出去吃饭哪！我看你呀，Larry，有了孩子后绝不会像你爸爸那样。 其实，作父母的也不容易，要养家，要供孩子读书，花销很大啊。
LL: That’s true. If my dad wasn’t such a tightwad about the little things, maybe he wouldn’t have been able to send me to college.
LH: 那到是，要是你爸爸不这么精打细算，你现在可能还上不了大学呢。你的弟弟妹妹也要上大学的，所以你父亲节约是有道理的。
LL: You are right, Li Hua. I’ll forgive my dad for being a tightwad。But the rest of my family is still driving me bonkers!
今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是drive someone bonkers, 意思是令人生气，受不了。另一个常用语是tightwad，意思是小气鬼、吝啬鬼。