Larry去Florida渡假一个星期。李华现在正开车去飞机场接他。今天李华会学到两个常用语：a blast 和lighten up。
LH: 嗨， Larry，我在这里！
LL: Hi, Li Hua, how are you? Thank you for coming to pick me up.
LH: 没事！Florida怎么样？ 玩得好吗？
LL: Oh man, I had a blast! My friends in Miami took a few days off, just to hang out with me. We did nothing but hang out on the beach and go partying every night!
LH: 哟，你那个在Miami的朋友还请了几天假陪你玩呀！那你肯定玩得很痛快。嗨，Larry， 你刚才说 I had a…什么来啦？
LL: I said I had a blast. “To have a blast” means to have a great time. If something was a blast, that means it was a lot of fun.
LH: Blast 不是“爆炸”的意思吗？怎么 “to have a blast” 又成了玩得特别高兴！哎哟，学英文真不容易！ 得了， Larry, 你玩得痛快，我可是花了整整一个星期帮Jones教授来准备下学期的课呢！
LL: Yeah, well, I tried to get you to come along. You would’ve had a blast too.
LH: 对，你是请我一起去了，但是我不能去。我得工作，要不然下学期学费哪儿来呢？不过，昨天Rick过生日，我晚上去他的party 了…
LL: Well, too bad I didn’t come back a day sooner… his parties are always a blast.
LH: 对，每次Rick 开party，大家总是玩得很痛快。昨天晚上我早上三点才回家。我走的时候还有好多人在那儿呢！大家都玩疯了！
LL: Sounds like you had a blast. What about you? Li Hua, your birthday’s today. Are you going to celebrate?
LH: 嗯，生日也不是什么大事嘛。我在中国的时候从来不过生日的。
LL: Aww, whatever. I think everyone should have a blast on their birthday!
LH: 唉，时间过得真快，我都已经25岁了，四分之一个世纪呐！可我还在这儿念书，还没有一个正式的工作…
LL: What? Lighten up, Li Hua! You’re in your mid-twenties! You have plenty of time to decide what you want to do!
LH: 什么？你叫我lighten up? 你是说我要减轻体重？你在胡说什么吗？
LL: Hey! I’m not talking about weight here. To lighten up means to relax, to be less serious.
LH: 噢，lighten up就是要放松，不要太认真的意思！哎哟，不行，我可不能lighten up，我得考虑我的前途呐，我毕业以后干什么 – 是要回国还是呆在这儿…
LL: Like I said, Li Hua, you seriously need to lighten up. Stress makes people gain weight.
LH: 行，行，行，我想办法放松。嗨，Larry，你好象是很轻松，没什么压力，那你肚子怎么会这么大呢？
LL: Watch it, Li Hua! I’m tired of you making fun of me. You know I’ve been working hard to lose weight recently…
LH: “Lighten up, Larry!” 别跟我生气，我只是开玩笑嘛！我只不过是想举个例子。我这么说lighten up，对不对？
LL: Yeah, you’re right. But don’t you mention my belly again!
LH: 好了，好了，你家到了! Larry，我今天不想出去玩了，咱们明天再见吧！
LL: Wait, Li Hua, can you help me with this bag?
LH: 那么两个小包你都拿不动呀？ 得了得了，我帮你拿这个包吧！
(Sound of many people yelling “SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”)
LH: 哎哟，我的天哪！你们给我举行生日party都没让我知道！啊呀，你们真是太好了！怪不得Larry 你非要我帮他拿包进来呢！
LL: Looks like you’ve lightened up already. See? I told you you’d have a blast tonight!
LH: 那么多人给我过生日，我当然很高兴呀！谢谢，谢谢。Thank you so much!
今天李华从Larry那儿学到两个常用语。一个是to have a blast, 意思是“玩得很痛快”。李华学到的另一个常用语是lighten up。这是指“放松，别太认真”。