流行美语 (Popular American) 325（在线收听）

Larry跟李华商量星期六一起吃早饭。今天我们要学两个常用语：crack of dawn和crunch time.

LL: Hey Li Hua, how are you?

LH: 我正忙着把这个星期的工作赶紧处理完，好无忧无虑地过周末。你怎么样，忙不忙？

LL: I'm doing pretty good. I've been busy with work too. Hey, I was wondering...do you want to grab breakfast this Saturday?

LH: 星期六一起吃早饭？好啊。不过，我跟Jamie约好一起去爬山，所以如果要吃饭，一定要早。

LL: Oh okay, how about right at the crack of dawn?

LH: Crack of dawn? 那是几点啊？

LL: I mean right at dawn...right when the sun comes up.

LH: 哦，我明白了。 Crack of dawn就是日出时分。

LL: Bingo. The crack of dawn is that first light in the morning when the sun rises above the horizon. That time of morning is called the crack of dawn.

LH: 可是Larry，好不容易到了周末，我可不想一大早就跑去吃早饭。

LL: You're probably right. I'm just used to getting up at the crack of dawn because of work.

LH: 你平时早起，难道连周末也不睡懒觉吗？

LL: I'd like to... But I'm so used to waking up at the crack of dawn during the week that I end up waking up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and Sunday too.

LH: 可crack of dawn对我来说实在是太早了。日出两个小时以后，大约八点钟前后怎么样？

LL: That's fine. How about we meet at 8:30?

LH: 好，一言为定。我们去哪里吃？

LL: I was thinking the local bakery on 14th and Elm. You can take the number 39 bus and we will meet outside the bakery.

LH: Perfect. 那我们星期六早上八点半不见不散。

LL: Come to think of it. I'm glad we are not meeting at the crack of dawn. Maybe I'll be able to sleep in.

******

星期六早上，Larry和李华一起吃早饭，Larry抱怨说，最近一段时间一直下雪，他简直烦死了。

LL: Lihua, the weather is really getting to me. They are saying we're going to get six more inches on Tuesday.

LH: 是啊，今年的雪实在是太多了。不过，想想看，也许你们公司又会关门呢！

LL: I would like that...Hey Lihua, did you by any chance catch the Wizards game last night?

LH: 我昨天光顾着看首都队的冰球比赛，我就把奇才队的篮球比赛忘得一干二净。

LL: Oh how did they do?

LH: 首都队的Wilson得了一分，可是他们的对手企鹅队在比赛的最后一节居然连进四球，赢了比赛。奇才队的比赛怎么样？

LL: The Wizards won! It was a great game. You should have seen it. Rogers hit seven threes, and the Wizard were down by ten at the half, but then they came back in the third quarter, and the Bulls collapsed during crunch time.

LH: Crunch time? 什么是crunch time?

LL: Crunch time is the critical moment of a game when the game is on the line. It's used all the time in sports. Sometimes some teams play really well in crunch time, and other times they don't.

LH: 你的意思是说，crunch time在这里就是指比赛的紧要关头？那crunch time还能用在其它地方吗？

LL: Yup. I think the term started in sports but now people use it elsewhere too.

LH: 你能给我举个例子吗？

LL: Sure, say for example, a big project at work is due, and everyone has to work like dogs to try to complete the project in time. You could say that time right before the final deadline of the project is crunch time.

LH: 噢，我明白了，上次你说不能陪我去看电影，因为手头的项目马上就要到期了，你就可以说It's crunch time.

LL: Exactly. That's crunch time. Or if your paper is due tomorrow and you are working overnight to finish it, you can say it's crunch time.

LH: 那我也教你个词。 Crunch time在中文里面叫“关键时刻”。

LL: That's exactly what crunch time means. My Chinese isn't as good as it used to be, but I think I remembering hearing that word.

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是crack of dawn, 意思是日出时分。另一个是crunch time意思是关键时刻。