LH: Larry, 好無聊啊! 你說干點什么好啊?
Larry: (Distracted) Huh? Uh, yea... that’s nice, Lihua.
LH: 什么好好好? Larry! 你又在打電腦游戲啦?哎呀，不要玩兒了!(pulls the plug)
Larry: Hey! I was about to clear that level!
LH: 你每天晚上除了玩線上游戲就什么都不干了!我們就不能出去轉轉，找點好玩的事情做嗎?
Larry: (Sigh) You’re right, Lihua. We haven’t really done anything new recently. I guess we’ve been stuck in a rut.
LH: In a rut?什么意思?
Larry: Being stuck in a rut means to be stuck in a boring routine.
LH: To be stuck in a rut就是生活一成不變。那么，這個rut是什么意思呢?
Larry: A rut is what happens when a wheel rolls over the same place over and over again. Eventually, the wheel will dig a line, or a rut, in the ground.
LH: 我明白了，rut是車輪不斷壓過同一個地方后留下的印跡。我想，這就比喻一成不變的常規吧。Larry, 我們最近的確有些stuck in a rut，感覺有點平淡無味，你說這是怎么回事呢?
Larry: I’m not sure, Lihua, but we have been together for over a year now. It’s relatively normal for couples to find themselves stuck in a rut after being together for a while.
LH: 啊?你覺得是因為咱們在一起時間不算短了，所以生活就變得平平淡淡了?我覺得根本不是這樣，We’re stuck in a rot because of that stupid computer game! 都怪你天天打線上游戲，不陪我!
Larry: I’ll admit I like to play my games, but you remember what happened last weekend, right?
LH: 上個周末?怎么啦?
Larry: I wanted to take you out for a nice dinner, but you said you were too tired. We ended up staying home and watching TV all night!
LH: 還說請我吃頓好的?Larry, 你每次請我吃飯都是漢堡和薯條，連吃飯內容都一成不變，難怪我們會stuck in a rut!
Larry: Hmm... we need to find some new things to do that we both like. Otherwise, we might be stuck in this rut forever!
LH: 可不是嘛!咱們好久沒有去打網球啦!不如去打兩場吧!
Larry: Aw, you know tennis isn’t my cup of tea, Lihua. And besides, it’s been so hot out lately...
LH: Your cup of tea? 打網球還要喝茶?你不怕熱嗎?
Larry: I would drink water, of course! I said "playing tennis is not my cup of tea"...in other words, I don’t really enjoy tennis.
LH: 哦，你說playing tennis is not your cup of tea, 意思就是說你不喜歡打網球。那你的cup of tea到底是什么呀?
Larry: I like swimming! How about we start going to the pool? It’s always refreshing to take a dip in the pool on a hot day!
LH: 去游泳?可是，游泳不是我的cup of tea。我怕曬黑!Oh, I know! Why don’t you take me to the ballet? 我們去看芭蕾舞表演吧!
Larry: The ballet? Uh, that’s not my cup of tea, either. I never understood what’s going on! It just looks like a bunch of people jumping around on stage, if you ask me.
LH: 你這人一點都不浪漫!
Larry: Being romantic was never my cup of tea, Lihua. Remember when I sent you flowers for your birthday?
LH: 記得!我生日你送玫瑰花給我，結果我花粉過敏，打了一天噴嚏!
Larry: Heheh. See? No wonder we’re in a rut. I’m horrible at being romantic, and we can never agree on anything new to do. Tell you what - let me think about it some more while I finish this last boss in my video game...
LH: 不行!你別想溜!Get us out of this rut, Larry!要不你就別想玩兒電腦了!
Larry: Hmmm....
LH: 什么呀?你在想什么壞主意?
Larry: You want us to do something together, right? Our group could use another warrior...
LH: 你想讓我和你一起打線上游戲?我可不會!You know video games are not my cup of tea!
Larry: (Sigh). Well, I guess I’ll go make myself a real cup of tea and go stare out the window for fun...
今天李華從Larry那兒學到兩個常用語，一個是to be stuck in a rut, 表示枯燥，一成不變。另一個是someone’s cup of tea, 意思是某人有興趣干的事。
