李华告诉Larry说，她跟一个学生约好，十点在她的办公室见面，谈谈这个学生的成绩，可以这个学生没有赴约。李华今天要学两个常用语no show和lala land。 LL: So, you made an appointment with this student to talk about his grades, and he was a no show? LH: A no show? 对呀，他没来，没有出现，所以叫no show。这种说法简洁明了。 LL: Right, a no show is some one who doesn't show up when they have agreed to. But, it is really rude to be a no show. LH: 确实不礼貌。我专门跑到办公室来，等了他好长时间，谁知道他却是个no show。 LL: So, he didn't even call you to tell you that he wasn't going to come? It is even ruder to be a no show and not have called to let the person know you can't come. LH: 对呀，不来就已经很不礼貌了，连个电话都不打，就更不礼貌了。说实话，我挺意外的，因为这个学生看起来不象是那么不懂事的人。 LL: Well, maybe something unexpected happened to him. There might be a good reason why he was a no show. LH: 失约还有什么好理由吗？ LL: Well, maybe he was a no show because his car broke down, or he got lost, or even worse maybe he had an accident. LH: 是呀，我怎么就没想到呢。他的车可能会在半路抛锚。还有他可能会迷路。更可怕的是，还可能会出车祸。我本来挺生气的，让你这么一说，我反而开始替他担心了。 LL: I remember one time when I was in college I made an appointment with a professor and ended up being a no show because my car ran out of gas. LH: 什么，车跑到半路没油了？你那个教授肯定火冒三丈。那后来呢？ LL: I felt so bad about being a no show, the first thing I did when I got to a phone was call the professor and apologize. LH: 打电话道歉？那我们再等等吧，也许过一会儿我的学生就会打电话来了。 LL: Have you ever been a no show for anything, Li Hua? LH: 倒是有一次，我的闹钟没响，所以睡过了头，结果没去上课。 LL: That's not so bad. Lots of students are no shows for classes. LH: 不好意思的是，那是我教的一门课。(Phone rings) 等等，我接一下电话。 ****** LL: Hey, was that your student? Did he have a good reason for being a no show or was he just in lala land? LH: 打电话的就是那个学生。你为什么会觉得他在lala land呢？Lala land在哪呀？ LL: Lala land isn't a real place. It is a state of mind. It is where you go when you are day dreaming and not paying attention to the things going on in the real world. LH: 我明白了，lala land不是一个地方，而是仙境、幻境的意思，做白日梦就是去了 "lala land"。这样说来，那个学生确实是去了lala land。 LL: Really?! He was off in lala land when he forgot his appointment with you? LH: 没错，他当时正在跟朋友吃饭，完全忘记了跟我约好要见面。 LL: Yes, it sounds like he was in lala land. So what did you say when he told you this? LH: 虽然我知道“忘了”不能算是失约的理由，但我还是很高兴他能打电话来道歉，谁都有忘事的时候。换句话说，大家可能都到过lala land。 LL: That's right. Just last week I was a no show for a haircut appointment because I was off in Lala land. LH: 还有更好笑的。昨天我监考，有个学生走过来问我问题。 LL: Let me guess, you were so far off in lala land, you didn't even know the student was there! LH: 你怎么知道的！我当时确实有点儿心不在焉，那个学生碰了一下我的肩膀才让我醒过神来。 今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是no show，意思是失约。另外一个是lala land，意思是身处幻境，心不在焉。