Larry 和李华一起去参观艺术博物馆。他们会用到两个常用语：Overkill和
write something off.

    LH： Larry，听我的对了吧。逛艺术博物馆比看电影强多了！

    L ： Well I agree. But the art museum would be even better if it served
popcorn too ！

    LH：这倒也是，要是博物馆里也卖爆米花、热狗、啤酒，边逛边吃，那该有
多舒服啊！

    L ： Hot dogs and beer？ I don't know ， Lihua. I think that might
be overkill.

    LH： Overkill 是什么意思？

    L ： When you think that an idea goes too far ， you can say that
it is overkill.

    LH：哦，overkill就是过份的想法或行为。你是说，在博物馆里卖爆米花似
乎还不错，可如果连热狗和啤酒都一起卖就太夸张了。

    L ： That's right ！ Here is another example. Elliot's boss thought
about firing him for being an hour late to work ， but then decided that
would be overkill.

    LH：哦，Elliot迟到了一个小时，老板本来想因为这个而炒他的鱿鱼，不过
后来觉得，这么做太过份了。对了，Larry ，博物馆这么好，我们天天来这里逛
如何？

    L ： Lihua， I really enjoy the art gallery ， but coming here every
single day would definitely be overkill.

    LH：什么过份，你真没有艺术细胞！我的艺术气质比你浓多了，我看，我干
脆去读个艺术史的博士好了！

    L ： Lihua， it's fine to enjoy art as a hobby， but I think getting
a PhD in art history would really be overkill.

    LH：呵呵，我开玩笑的。对了Larry ，你还记得上次咱们去华盛顿看兵马俑
展览么？

    L ： I sure do！ That was one of my favorites.

    LH：就是，多好看啊。可惜展出的只是一部分，要是所有兵马俑都到美国来
展览就好了！

    L ； I don't know …… I was satisfied seeing just a few. I think
bringing the entire collection here would be overkill.

    LH：才不会呢！要看就得看全的！那个气势，肯定不一样！我给你买张机票，
你去中国看吧！

    L ： Lihua， it's nice that you're encouraging me to see the Teracotta
Warriors， but buying me a plane ticket to China is definitely overkill！

    ******

    LH： Larry，你喜欢什么流派的艺术啊？现实主义还是抽象主义？

    L ： I definitely prefer the realistic kind. Anybody can make abstract
art ！

    LH：人人都能创作抽象派艺术作品？那好，你创作一个给我看看！

    L ： Er …… I guess you're right. I shouldn't write off abstract
artists so quickly.

    LH： Write them off ？这是什么意思？

    L ： When you write something off ， that means you decide that it
isn't important.

    LH：哦，就是小看，不看好的意思。你是说，你不该小瞧抽象派艺术家。

    L ： Right！ Here is another example. In high school most people had
written Jack off as an actor， so they were really surprised when he became
a movie star years later.

    LH：我明白了。高中时大家都觉得Jack肯定当不了演员，可后来他成了电影
明星，所以大家都很吃惊。

    L ： That's right ！

    LH：对了Larry ，你说这些艺术品的创作者一定都很有钱吧？他们的作品都
卖得好贵哦！

    L ： Actually I don't think so. Many great artists were written off
in their own time ， and people only started to appreciate them many years
later.

    LH：也是，好多艺术家在世的时候不被世人重视，总是死了之后才得到人们
的认可，真可惜！哎， Larry，你喜不喜欢画画？

    L ： I thought of being an artist when I was a little kid ， but I
wrote that dream off a long time ago when I realized I was bad at drawing.

    LH：哦，你发现自己画画不行，就放弃了当画家的梦想。

    L ： Yeah ， but I still like to draw as a hobby. Even though I can't
be a professional artist， giving it up even as a hobby would have been
overkill.

    LH：要不这样吧，Larry ，把你最近画的大作拿来，跟我五岁时画的儿童简
笔画比比，看看你有没有达到我五岁时的水平？

    L ： Very funny ， Lihua. I'll write that off as a joke ！

    今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是overkill，表示过份的想法或行为。另一
个是write something off ，意思是“小看，不看好”。