每日一句

Everybody had fun at Sally's party. But when it came time to clean up the mess, all the guests left in a hurry and Sally was left high and dry, to do all the work by herself.

这句话的意思是：每个去参加萨利举办的聚会的人都玩得很高兴。但是，等到要收拾残局的时候，所有的客人都匆忙地走了，就剩下萨利一个人来干这些活。

一般来说，美国人的时间概念是比较强的。跟朋友约会，到约定的时间就应该到指定的地点。要是去参加一个聚会，晚到五分钟，十分钟那倒还可以，因为有时候车辆拥挤，难以控制。这是可以理解的。但是，要是太晚了就不好了。另外要注意的一点是，参加一个聚会最好不要早到，因为举办一个聚会有许多准备工作要做，最后一分钟往往是最紧张的时刻，所以你要是早到，对主人来说是很不方便的。下面再来举一个high and dry的例子。这是一个人在埋怨他的朋友。

John, Jack and Mary all urged me to give a big party to celebrate my promotion. They promised to help out with the preparation. But so far they've done nothing saying they are too busy. It seems that I've been left high and dry and have to do all the work by myself.

这人说：约翰，杰克和玛丽都动员我举办一个大规模的聚会来庆祝我被提升的事。他们都保证帮我做准备工作。但是，到目前为止，他们什么也没做，说是太忙。看来，我是没办法了，只好自己来做一切了。

2. In the doghouse

In the doghouse作为俗语，它的意思就是你使某人很生气，以致你不得不在屋子外面跟自己家里的狗睡在一起，意思就是倒了霉。

I've been in the doghouse with my mom and dad ever since they saw my grades from last semester. I admit that I failed math and barely passed English, but these are tough courses!

这个学生说：自从我妈妈和爸爸看到我上学期的成绩单以后，他们一直对我很生气。我承认，我数学不及格，英语也勉强及格。可是这些都是很难的课程！

在美国人当中，离了婚再结婚的人也不少。有的时候，双方跟前夫或前妻都有孩子，结了婚两家合在一起孩子就更多了。这就会产生很多问题，不仅孩子之间会发生矛盾，而且还会影响夫妇之间的感情。下面就是一个丈夫在说他生活中的麻烦。

My wife and I each has a son from our first marriages. Somehow, her son always likes to disturb my son when he's doing his homework. The other day I tried to discipline him and that got me in the doghouse with my wife.

这个丈夫说：我跟我太太以前第一次结婚的时候都有一个儿子。不知怎么回事，每当我儿子做功课的时候，她的儿子总是喜欢捣乱。那天，我想给他做点规矩，这可使我太太对我好生气呐。

3. between a rock and a hard place

We've lost so much that we're between a rock and a hard place. I can't decide whether to try to borrow money and pay higher interest than we can afford or else sell out and probably lose half of our investment.

这个老板说：“我们亏损了这么多，现在真是左右为难。要是去借钱就得支付难以承担的

高利贷。要是出售整个企业就很可能会损失我们投资总额的一半。在这两者之间，我真感到左右为难。”

Lisa finds herself between a rock and a hard place. If she decides to stay with her husband, she'll be beaten from time to time or even killed one day. If she is determined to divorce him, he probably will kill her before she hires a lawyer. 这个警察说：利萨发现自己真是进退两难。要是她决定和她丈夫继续过下去，她会不断地挨打，或者甚至哪天被打死。要是她决心跟他离婚，她可能还没有找到律师，就被她丈夫杀了。

4. cut and dried

It was a waste of time to go to my party's state convention this year. It was all cut and dried - the same old speakers saying the same things they said last year.

他说：今年去参加我所属的党的州党员大会真是浪费时间。一切都是老一套。讲话的人就是去年讲话的人。他们讲的话也跟去年一样。

Dad, I've no doubt that you'll make a fine speech tomorrow. What really concerns me is my father-in-law. He tends to repeat what he said in the past. That'll sound all cut and dried and possibly spoil the atmosphere of the wedding.这个儿子对他爸爸说：爸爸，你明天讲话一定会讲得很好的，这我是毫无疑问。我真正担心的是我的岳父。他总是重复他以前讲过的话。那会听起来老生常谈，还可能会影响婚礼的气氛。

5. dry run

dry run 就是在做一件事或执行一项计划前进行的演习。

We're certainly glad we did a dry run on our new marketing plan for California before we sent our salesmen out. We found so many things wrong that we're designing the whole thing over.

他说：我们在派出推销员之前，把我们为加利福尼亚州制定的新的推销计划进行了一次演习。我们真是很高兴做了这次演习，因为我们发现了许多问题，现在我们正在重新设计。

6．be stood up: 白等了。 例：She agreed to go to see the movie with me, but then she

turned me down. I was stood up.她说好和我一起去看电影的，可她又改变主意了。让我白等了一场。The manager agreed to have dinner with me, but he didn't show up. I was stood up. 经理答应和我一块吃饭的，但他没有来，让我白等了。