1. Courtship 恋爱阶段

William:   Well, any news?

Tony:   Yeah, I finally asked Anna out!

W:   Great! She said yes I hope?

T:   Of course! How could she resist my manly charms①!

W:   How did you do it? What did you say?

T:   Well, I did everything you suggested like being friendly to her and talking with her and....

W:   Come on! Cut to the chase②!

T:   OK! OK! I was going to class when I saw her on her own so I went up to her and asked if she wanted to go with me to the cinema sometime. And she said yes!

W:   Congratulations!

T:   Thanks, but we’re not officially boyfriend and girlfriend yet. We’re going tomorrow night.

W:   What kind of film are you going to see?

T:   A horror film.

W:   Why on earth go to see a horror film?

T:   Someone once told me that girls get really scared and don’t mind if you put your arms around them.

W:   You Casanova③ you!

① resist sb’s manly charms: 抵挡某人的男性魅力

② cut to the chase: 切重要点

③ Casanova: 卡萨诺瓦(1725-1798，意大利冒险家，以所写的包括他的许多风流韵事的《自传》而著称)。风流浪子，好色之徒。

W: 最近有什么新进展吗？

T:  是的，我终于约了Anna！

W:  太棒了！她同意了，对吧？

T:  当然了！凭我的男子魅力，她怎么能拒绝呢！

W:  你是怎么做到的？都说了些什么？

T:  就是按照你的建议做的，比如与她友好地接触，主动跟她聊天什么的。

W:  行了，赶紧说重点吧！

T:  好的，好的！就是有一天我去教室上课，在路上正好看到她是一个人，我就走过去问她要是有时间的话，是否愿意与我一起看电影。然后她就同意了！ 

W:  太好了！祝贺啊！

T:  谢啦！但我们还不是真正的男女朋友关系。我们约着明晚一起去看电影。

W:  那你打算带她去看什么类型的电影？

T:  当然是恐怖片啦。

W:  干嘛非要去看恐怖片啊？

T:  我记得有人跟我说过，当女孩害怕的时候，你趁机伸手去搂着她，她是不会介意的。

W:  你这个大色狼！

2． Pure love 纯真的爱情

Wayne: You’ll never guess what my girlfriend gave me on Valentine’s Day!

Paul: Flowers, chocolates, DVD, a scarf?

W: No, nothing so mundane①! It was a memorable token② of her love.

P: Can I see it, then?

W: No, but I can tell you about it. We were walking along Wangfujing when she suddenly said, “Let’s play a game. See who can reach the end of the street first.”

P: What a stupid idea for a game! It’s obvious that you’d win.

W: Of course I was the hare to her tortoise! When I looked back she was far behind. But then she started screaming.

P: Screaming! What had happened?

W: She was shouting, “Stop thief! Catch him!”

P: Oh no! What happened next?

W: Two guys suddenly seized me and shouted, “Give it back to her!” I was so scared I could only say, “I’m not a thief.”

P: You poor guy! What a terrible thing to happen!

W: When my girlfriend came up to me the two guys asked her, “What did he steal from you?” And you know what she said?

P: No, come on tell me!

W: My heart. He’s stolen my heart.

P: She must love you very much.

W: Yeah, I’m very lucky to have a girlfriend like her.

①     nothing so mundane:不寻常的东西  

②     memorable token:难忘的纪念品

W: 你绝对猜不到我女朋友送给我的情人节礼物是什么！

P: 花、巧克力、DVD，还是围巾？

W: 别这么庸俗！是一个代表她爱情的，很有意义的纪念品。

P: 我能看看吗？

W: 不能，不过我可以给你描述一下。当时我们正在王府井逛街，她突然说：“咱们来做个游戏吧，看看谁能先到街的那一头。”

P: 也太傻了吧？显然是你赢啊！

W: 那当然了，跟她这个小乌龟比起来，我就是一只兔子。我回头看的时候，发现她被远远的甩在了后面。然后，她就开始大声尖叫。

P: 尖叫？怎么回事儿？

W: 她喊到：“抓小偷！抓住他！”

P: 天哪！不是吧？那然后呢？

W: 两个男的突然抓住了我，还冲我吼到：“把东西还给她！”我当时吓坏了，只能说:“我不是小偷。”

P: 可怜的家伙！这叫什么事儿啊！

W: 我女朋友追上来以后，那两个家伙问她：“他偷你什么了？”你猜她说什么？

P: 不知道，赶紧说吧！别卖关子了！

W: 我的心。她说我偷了她的心！

P: 看来她一定是非常爱你！

W: 是啊，能有这样一个女孩做女朋友，我真的太幸运了！

3．Campus 大学校园

Sunny: I hate this canteen, I really do.

Juliet: Why?

S: It’s always so crowded and the food’s not very good, either.

J: Yeah, but at least it’s cheap and convenient.

S: Cheap and nasty①, you mean!

J: Hey, it’s not too bad and it means we can enjoy a meal with our friends.

S: Well, that’s one way of looking at it but sometimes it’s difficult to get a table to ourselves.

J: Look upon it as a way of making friends by sitting next to a stranger and having a chat.

S: I know you’re right but if I could afford it I would eat off campus.

J: Me too, but beggars can’t be choosers②.

S: What should I do then? I don’t want to get food poisoning.

J: You could always cook your own or try a takeaway. I really love those omelettes③ with meat and lettuce inside.

S: OK, I’ll buy a lot of instant noodles and go on a tour of the takeaways.

①     cheap and nasty:便宜没好货  

②     beggars can’t be choosers:没有太多选择的余地   

③     omelettes:煎蛋饼，煎蛋卷

S: 我讨厌这个食堂，真的！

J: 为什么？

S: 人特多，饭菜还不怎么样。

J: 但起码还算便宜方便啊。

S: 你的意思是，便宜没好货吧？

J: 还没那么糟。东西便宜，我们就可以和朋友常来吃啊！

S: 这只是一个方面，但有时候都很难找到张桌子。.

J: 那你就把与陌生人坐同桌吃饭、聊天看作是一个交朋友的机会吧。

S: 我知道你说的是对的，但我要是有钱，我肯定不在学校吃。

J: 我也是，可是穷光蛋还有什么可选择的啊。

S: 我该怎么办？我可不想食物中毒。

J: 那你就自己做，或者叫外卖。我特喜欢吃那种夹有肉和蔬菜的鸡蛋饼。

S: 好吧，我马上就买一大堆方便面去，正好可以去看看外卖。

4. Appearance 外貌

Gail: What beautiful blue eyes you have!

Nick: Thank you and you have beautiful brown eyes too.

G: Brown eyes! No they’re black!

N: Have you got a mirror?

G: Yes, I’ve got one in my purse.

N: Look at your eyes in it. You’ll see that the pupil—that’s the centre of your eyes—is black while the iris is brown. My irises are blue so I have blue eyes. Your irises are brown so you have brown eyes.

G: Well, I was always brought up to think I had black eyes!

N: In English, if you say you have a black eye it means that someone’s hit you in the face causing your eye to be swollen and discoloured.

G: I see.

N: Another way you misuse the word black is when someone has been out in the sun for a long time and you say that they are black.

G: What’s wrong with that?

N: In England we would say that they are brown or tanned. You should do the same too.

G: OK in future I’ll try not to use the word black so often!

G: 你的蓝眼睛可真好看！

N: 谢谢，你棕色的眼睛也很迷人。

G: 棕色？不对，是黑色的！

N: 你有镜子没有？

G: 我钱包里有一个。

N: 看你自己的眼睛，中间的瞳孔是黑色的，周围虹膜是棕色的。我的虹膜是蓝色的，所以我有一双蓝眼睛。而你的是棕色的，所以你是棕色的眼睛。

G: 我一直以为我的眼睛是黑色的！

N: 在英国，要是你跟别人说你有一双黑眼睛，人家会以为你被击中了面部，导致你的眼睛肿胀，变色了。

G: 我明白了。.

N: 对“black”这个词，你还有一个误用之处。如果一个人在太阳下面晒了很久，你会说他们很“black”。

G: 这有什么错吗？

N: 在英国，我们用“brown”或者“tanned”来形容皮肤被晒黑了。你也应该这样说。

G: 好的，那我以后还是尽量少用“black”这个词吧。

5. Music and Movies 音乐与电影

Kate:  Which Chinese actress do you like best?

 Tina:   I think I’d have to say Gong Li. Ever since she starred in Red Sorghum and Raise the Red Lantern she’s been China’s number one.

 K:   For over twenty years! I much prefer Zhang Ziyi. I thought she was wonderful in Hero.

 T:   She was I agree but in Memoirs of a Geisha, although her acting was good, I felt she was let down① by her poor English. Who do you think’s going to be the next Gong Li?

 K:   Everyone says it must be Zhang Ziyi.

 T:   Well, I’ve just seen Protégé so I’ve got to say that it’s Zhang Jingchu. And unlike Zhang Ziyi her English is really fluent.

 K:   Yeah English is a must② for Chinese actors now as they all seem to end up in Hollywood.

 T:   That’s where Zhang Jingchu made her latest film Rush Hour 3. It’s due out③ in August.

 K:   I know very little about her. What other films has she been in?

 T:   Her first film was Peacock in 2005 so she’s definitely the rising star of this millennium. All she needs is a male co-star. Wouldn’t it be great to have a Chinese couple rival Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie! Any suggestions?

 K:   I can’t think of anyone Chinese. What about Rain? Now they would make a handsome couple!

 T:   Yeah. A match made in Hollywood heaven!

 K:   Now that would definitely be a blockbuster! And who knows, they may even hit it off④ and then we could see the rise of an Asian film dynasty.

 T:   Yeah. Forget Hollywood. Forget Bollywood. Here comes Chollywood!

① let down:丢脸，失望

② a must:必不可少的东西

③ due out:(电影)按预期上映

④ hit it off:合得来，相处融洽

K:  你最喜欢哪位中国女演员？

T:   巩俐。自从出演《红高粱》和《大红灯笼高高挂》开始，她就奠定了自己中国女一号的地位。

K:   而且一直持续了二十多年！不过，我更喜欢章子怡。我觉得她在《英雄》里的表演简直精彩极了！

T:   没错，我同意。可是在《艺妓回忆录》中，尽管她的表演也十分精彩，但她那糟糕的英语真是令人失望。你觉得谁会成为下一个巩俐？

K:   肯定是章子怡，大家都这么说。

T:   我刚刚看了《门徒》，所以我觉得会是张静初。她的英语相当流利，不像章子怡那样。

K:   没错，对于中国演员来说，他们最终想要闯进好莱坞，英语是必需的。

T:   张静初最近在好莱坞拍摄了《尖峰时刻3》。8月就会公映。

K:   我对张静初了解得很少。她还演过什么别的电影吗？

T:   她的第一部电影是2005年拍摄的《孔雀》，很显然，她是一颗冉冉升起的新星。她需要个男搭档。要是有一对中国搭档可以与布拉德·皮特和安吉丽娜·朱莉相匹敌，那多棒啊！你有什么好的人选吗？

K:   我实在想不出有哪个中国男演员适合。Rain怎么样？绝对是一对帅气的组合！

T:   嗯，这绝对是“好莱坞造好莱坞设”的一对！

K:   那绝对是一鸣惊人啊！也许他们是绝配，从而让我们看到亚洲电影王朝的兴起呢！

T:   是啊！到时候，什么好莱坞，什么宝莱坞，统统滚蛋，“华莱坞”时代即将来临了！