流行美语 (Popular American) 315

李华跟Larry一起去吃晚饭。今天我们要学两个常用语： squared away和temporary fix.

LH: Larry, 怎么样，今天上班忙不忙？

LL: Oh it was a bit stressful. I had a relatively¹ large report due that I was too busy to start until the last minute, but it looks like I got it all squared away.

LH: Squared away? 你是说虽然等到最后一分钟，但还是赶出来了？

LL: Yes, Li Hua, squared away means I took care of it, or finished the job.

LH: 太好了，那你现在可以好好放松一下了？

LL: Yeah. Now I just feel relieved² to have gotten the report squared away.

LH: 那份报告是关于什么的？

LL: It was just about the logistics of a new advertising³ campaign that ships out next week. It wasn't too hard, just tedious⁴, but now it is all squared away.

LH: 我明白你的感受，处理掉手头的一件大事，肯定是如释重负。

LL: Exactly. It's hard to relax with a report hanging over your head.

LH: 没错。我经济选修课的期中论文上星期交，老师规定要写二十页，而且还要进行很多复杂的数据分析。

LL: How did it turn out?

LH: 我在学校电脑房里整整泡了两天，I finally got it all squared away. 总算是搞定了，竟然还提前了一天。

LL: That's excellent.

LH: 可我一点也不敢放松，这篇论文写完了，可还有另外三篇等着我呢！

LL: Well, at least you got one squared away.

LH: 那倒也是。你完成了这份报告，是不是可以喘口气了？

LL: Well now that I've got that report all squared away, I'm pretty much in the clear. I guess I will wait until they give me a new assignment.

LH: 真羡慕你，可惜我还有三篇论文要写，不然我们周末可以去秋游。

LL: I wouldn't worry too much Li Hua, I'm sure you'll get all of your papers squared away in no time.

LH: I know, I just wish that they were already squared away and I didn't have to deal with them. 好，酒足饭饱，我又得去泡图书馆了。

******

李华 Larry第二天下午一起去喝咖啡。

LL: How'd the paper writing go?

LH: 别提了，论文倒是写完了一篇，可是电脑房里的打印机坏了，我又没带USB, 所以只好把文章寄到我自己的电子信箱里。

LL: That's a good temporary fix.

LH: A temporary what?

LL: Temporary Fix it means a good short term solution for a problem. In this case, emailing the paper to yourself is a good fix until you can print the paper.

LH: 噢，temporary fix就是临时解决办法。我一看打印机坏了，差点儿没得心脏病，还好灵机一动，把论文寄给了自己。

LL: It's good that you found that temporary fix then!

LH: 可不是吗，要不然，我还真是不知道要怎么办了。

LL: The other day at work we had to come up with a temporary fix because our usual print-shop was closed for vacation, and the one we hired instead completely botched the job.

LH: 怎么回事？不会是把你们的广告印刷品都印坏了吧？

LL: Well the whole thing came out backwards⁵ and none of the words went with the pictures, plus we had a client⁶ coming in only an hour afterwards.

LH: 那你们最后是怎么办的？

LL: Ultimately⁷ we just cut the words out of each picture and switched them with scissors and glue. It held together through the meeting. It didn't look perfect but at least it was a temporary fix.

LH: 客户有没有看出什么破绽？

LL: I think we made an alright impression on the client. I'm not sure that they noticed that anything was wrong.

LH: That's great.

LL: Yeah, what about you, how did your paper turn out?

LH: 最后我还是在导师的办公室里把论文印出来的。

LL: So your temporary fix was successful.

LH: 没错，我现在只剩一篇论文就万事大吉了！

LL: Well, you're almost there.

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是squared away 意思是处理完了。另一个是temporary fix意思是临时的解决办法。
 

1 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

2 relieved   

a.如释重负的

参考例句：

• You'll be relieved to know your jobs are safe. 现在知道你们的工作保住了，可以放心了。
• Your coming relieved me of the bother of writing a long letter. 你来了，省去我写长信的麻烦了。

3 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

4 tedious   

adj.冗长的，沉闷的，乏味的

参考例句：

• The tedious job simply ate me up.那单调乏味的工作简直把我烦死了。
• He was not used to the tedious of life in a small country town.他不适应这种乡村小镇的单调生活。

5 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

6 client   

n.委托人，当事人，顾客

参考例句：

• She can't come to the telephone;she's serving a client.她不能来接电话，她正在接待一位顾客。
• The lawyer produced a clever defence of his client.律师机智地为委托人辩护。

7 ultimately   

adv.最后地，最终地，首要地，基本地

参考例句：

• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience.那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。
• Vitamin C deficiency can ultimately lead to scurvy.缺乏维生素C最终能道致坏血病。