Larry 跟李华约好，下班后一起在餐馆吃饭，李华先到了一步。今天我们要
学两个常用语：have a full plate 和 to kill time.

    LH：（远远地）Hey ， Larry！我在这儿呢！

    LL： Hi Lihua. Phew ！ It's so good to finally sit down and relax.

    LH：你怎么累成这副样子？没不舒服吧？

    LL： I'm just a bit tired ……I've got quite a full plate at work
right now ； it's been a very stressful couple of weeks.

    LH： A full plate ？什么？你在办公室已经吃了满满一盘子饭菜？不是说
好跟我一起吃饭的吗？

    LL： Oh ， I don't mean a real plate of food， Li Hua ， it's just
a figure of speech. Saying you have a full plate at work means that you
are very busy ， it doesn't actually have anything to do with food.

    LH：哦，我明白了，说自己 have a full plate意思就是在有限的时间里有
许许多多的事情要做。

    LL： That's right. That's exactly how I would describe my situation
at the office right now.

    LH：那我期末考试前没日没夜地复习功课，也可以说 I had a full plate ？

    LL： Yes， that would be a perfect example. Everyone feels like they
have a lot on their plate when finals come around. Or ， last fall when
my friend Steve was working two part-time jobs while going to school -
I could say he really had a full plate back then.

    LH：好，我明白了，说了这么半天 a full plate ，我肚子已经咕咕叫了。

    服务员来了，你想好点什么了吗？

    LL： You bet I am ！ I've had such a full plate at work ， I didn't
even have time to eat lunch today ！

    LH：什么？你居然忙得连午饭都没顾得上吃，早知道这样，我们应该去吃自
助餐才对！

    ******

    Larry 和李华吃完晚饭，Larry 一副酒足饭饱、心满意足的样子。

    LL：（Sounding satisfied） Ah ！ That was a superb bacon-cheeseburger.
Now if only I didn't have to worry about going back to work tomorrow morning.

    LH：不想去上班？你开什么玩笑？我敢担保，象你这种闲不住的人，如果没
工作，整天待在家里，一定会无聊得发疯。

    LL： Lihua， You don't know how lazy I can be. Killing time is one
of the things I do best.

    LH： Killing time ？什么是kill time ？

    LL： Killing time is just another way of saying "wasting time." Of
course I wouldn't actually kill anything！

    LH：哦，killing time就是中文里说的打发时间。

    LL： That's right. And I am an expert at killing time.

    LH：这一点我可以作证。你每天把大把的时间都用来打电子游戏，浪费时间
的能力确实已经达到了“专家”的水平。

    LL： Very funny ……So I like to kill time with my Playstation on
the weekends， there's nothing wrong with that. And besides ， I'm not
the only one who knows how to kill time. I always see you playing those
online games with your friends.

    LH：这倒是真的，上网玩游戏确实是消磨时间的好办法，可以让我放松。Well，
I guess I am good at killing time too.

    LL： Now if I didn't have such a full plate at work ， we could have
more time to kill together.

    LH：（哈哈），要不这样吧，你明天下班来图书馆陪我看书，我准备考试，
你消磨时间。

    LL： Well ……I think I'd rather go shoe shopping before staring at
the walls in some library.

    LH： Shoe shopping？对啊，好主意，我们去逛鞋店。

    LL： Uhh……Let's just say I'd much rather kill some time at home
rather than spending a few hours at the library or the shoe store.

    LH：想反悔，没那么容易，既然你主动提醒我，那就一定要陪我去逛街。

    LL：（Reluctantly ） OK. Can I at least listen to my mp3 player while
you try on the shoes. Listening to music is a very relaxing way to kill
time.

    今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是have a full plate ，意思是在有限的时
间里有好多事情要做。另一个是to kill time，意思是打发时间，消磨时光。