Larry 下班后跟李华一起吃晚饭。今天我们要学两个常用语：hothead 和 even
keel.

    LH： Larry，今天上班忙吗？

    LL： Well ， to be honest Li Hua， it was a bit stressful. One of
our ad campaigns was not successful and my boss had a total meltdown.
He is such a hothead.

    LH： A hothead？你是说老板性情急躁，动不动就发脾气吗？

    LL： Yes， exactly， a hothead means someone who gets very angry very
quickly. When something makes a hothead mad ， you absolutely do not want
to be around him.

    LH：没错，急脾气的人要是生气了，最好是离他们远点，否则一不小心就成
了出气筒。

    LL： That is exactly right， a hothead can really be dangerous sometimes，
though often they'll just throw a tantrum and be done with it.

    LH：他们倒是出气了，可旁边的人却要跟着倒霉。快说说，你们老板当时什
么反应？

    LL： Well ， when he heard that the campaign was not successful ，
he blamed ME. He was such a hothead ， he slammed down his coffee mug
and broke it.

    LH：那咖啡还不洒得到处都是？

    LL： It got all over his shirt. This got him even angrier.

    LH：太可怕了。我有个同学，就是典型的hothead.

    LL： In what way， Li Hua ？

    LH：比方说吧，前不久他的一篇作文，教授只给了C ，他气得脸红脖子粗，
竟然把课本一下子扔到地上。He is such a hothead.

    LL： Wow， what did your professor do ？

    LH：教授当时已经走了，可教室里还有很多人，大家都没想到他的脾气如此
暴躁。对了，刚才说到一半，那你们老板是什么时候消的气呢？

    LL： He didn't talk to anyone for the rest of the day. He just stormed
off to his office. Because he was such a hothead， no one dared to knock
on his door.

    LH：可想而知，办公室里的气氛肯定一天都好不了。

    LL： Well ， the afternoon actually turned out alright.

    LH： Oh ？ And why was that ？

    LL： Once he stormed off， the boss was out of everyone's hair for
the rest of the day. It was pretty relaxing from there on out.

    ******

    LH： Larry，广告没做好，你那些同事是不是也特别气馁？

    LL： No one was happy ， of course， but I would say that everybody
managed to keep an even keel.

    LH： An even what ？

    LL： Even keel. It means to stay calm or keep your cool ， like a
boat on calm water.

    LH：我明白了，even keel 就是情绪稳定。老板发那么大的火，换成我，肯
定没法保持even keel.

    LL： I'll admit I was pretty nervous when my boss became such a hothead，
but I was able to maintain an even keel.

    LH：还好你没有过于激动，在这种情况下，是很容易说错话的。

    LL： Exactly， I find that when I'm at work ， the best policy is
to always try to keep an even keel. That way I can speak clearly and be
focused on what I have to do.

    LH：我觉得，你们老板真应该去上Anger Management控制情绪的课。

    LL： That's right. He was such a hothead.

    LH：你发现没有，身边有个脾气急躁的人，自己也容易受影响。

    LL： That's true， Li Hua ， sometimes being around someone who is
worked up can get you feeling pretty tense as well.

    LH：反过来说，周围人都保持镇静，发脾气的人也容易冷静下来。

    LL： Yes. It was good that only my boss lost his cool and everyone
else kept an even keel. It would have been a very stressful afternoon
otherwise.

    LH：一点没错。

    LL： What about you ， Li Hua ？ When your classmate became such a
hothead ， were you able to keep an even keel ？

    LH：我跟本没想到that guy was such a hot head. 吓得我赶快收拾东西开
遛。不过说实话，作文得低分，是挺让人沮丧的。

    LL： I thought you always did well on papers.

    LH：我上个月宏观经济学的作文就得了C+.

    LL： You seem to have recovered from the shock though.

    LH： Yes， now I am keeping a pretty even keel.

    LL： That's good. I don't want to have to deal with a hothead.

    今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是 hothead，意思是脾气急躁的人。另一个
是even keel ，意思是情绪平静。