李华和Larry 开车去机场准备坐飞机去夏威夷渡假。今天我们要学两个常用
语：a far cry 和 steer clear.

    LH： Boy， Larry，这次假期真是让我望眼欲穿。前段时间每时每刻都在忙，
你好长时间没有带我出去玩了，你简直是失职……

    LL： What do you mean ？ Last month we went to the movies. That was
fun ， wasn't it？

    LH：拜托，Larry ，带我去看变形金刚就能过关了吗？看两场电影，跟去夏
威夷渡假相比，简直就是天壤之别。

    LL： I guess you're right. Watching a movie is definitely a far cry
from taking a vacation in Hawaii.

    LH： A far cry？这就要哭啊？我是在跟你开玩笑呢！

    LL： Actually ， Lihua， when you say that something is a far cry
from something else ， it means that those two things are totally different.

    LH：哦，我明白了，说一件事情是a far cry from另外一件事情，就是说二
者大相径庭。这么说，你也承认，看电影远远比不上去夏威夷好玩喽？

    LL： Exactly. But I have to say ， I'm really excited for this vacation
too. I've heard that Hawaii is really beautiful.

    LH：咱们攒钱去夏威夷是绝对正确的，虽说贵了点，可是物有所值，比随便
找个小沙滩晒太阳强多了。

    LL： I agree. The small and crowded beaches near my house are definitely
a far cry from the huge ， beautiful beaches in Hawaii.

    LH：那当然了，别忘了，光是从旧金山到夏威夷，就要坐六个小时的飞机呢！
对了，你不会为了给我个惊喜，订的是头等舱吧？

    LL： Are you kidding？ I don't even have enough money to buy peanuts.
I'm still a far cry from being able to afford first class tickets.

    LH：哎，经济舱也凑合了。哈，我知道，那你一定是把钱都花在了五星级的
酒店上……

    LL： Well …… the place we're staying might be a far cry from a luxury，
five-star hotel.

    LH：不是五星的？那也没关系，四星我也将就了……要不，最少也得是个三
星吧？

    LL： Don't worry， Lihua， we have a really nice tent to camp out
on the beach！

    LH：Larry ，你最好是在开玩笑，要我露宿沙滩，那我现在就买张机票回家
去。

    LL： Don't worry， I'm just kidding. We have a good hotel.

    LH：哈！我说说罢了，你还当真了。You are still a far cry from being
a comedian. 你离喜剧演员的标准还差得远呢！

    ******

    Larry 和李华坐了一天飞机，总算到了夏威夷。

    LH：夏威夷，我来了！Larry ，我们直奔海滩怎么样？

    LL： Yeah ， Hawaii is going to be great！ I can't wait to get to
the beach and spend all day sleeping in the sand.

    LH： Larry，我警告你，来夏威夷可不是为了睡觉，我们每天的行程可都是
排得满满的。

    LL： Well ， Lihua， I think the main purpose of vacation is to relax.
Let's steer clear of all those tiring activities.

    LH： Steer clear？难道说夏威夷也堵车，所以开车一定要小心吗？

    LL： Actually ， to steer clear of something means you should avoid
it. For example ， whenever I travel， I steer clear of the food people
sell on the street because I don't want to get sick.

    LH：没错，出门在外千万不能乱吃东西，否则食物中毒，整个假期就全泡汤
了。对了，Larry ，我们的旅馆在市中心还是郊区？

    LL： I always steer clear of the crowded and noisy cities when I go
on vacation. Our hotel is in a very secluded and quiet area.

    LH： Sounds great.我们坐出租车去吗？

    LL： We should probably steer clear of taxis during our vacation because
they are so expensive. Let's take the bus.

    LH：可是Larry ，我带了四个大皮箱呢……

    LL： Well Lihua ， you know that I always try to steer clear of doing
anything to upset you. We can take a cab this ONE time.

    LH：算你聪明，作为奖励，在我们的日程正式开始之前，我批准你在沙滩上
睡一小觉，不过记住，只有十分钟。

    LL： A ten minute nap ？ Well that's a far cry from a fair deal ，
but I guess I'll take it. What is the first activity we're doing？

    LH：冲浪！

    今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是a far cry from something，意思是大相
径庭。另一个是steer clear ，意思是避免。