李华在Larry 办公大楼门口遇到他。Larry 看上去十分疲倦。今天我们要学
两个常用语：back to square one和hankering.

    LH： Larry，你昨天晚上是不是又熬夜加班了？看上去一脸疲惫。

    LL： Did I ever ！ I was here all night doing work on this new marketing
project ， but ultimately I did not get anywhere. I may have to change
the ad's concept completely ， even though that would mean going back
to square one.

    LH：你要去square one出差？远吗？

    LL： Square one is not an actual place. It means going back to the
beginning.

    LH：我明白了，square one就是从头开始的意思。那上星期我写论文忘了存
盘，结果电脑死机全丢了，只好从头再来，这种情况就可以说I was back at square
one.对不对？

    LL： Yes， that's right ， Li Hua. Because you had to go back to the
beginning and all of the earlier work was deleted ， you had to go back
to square one.

    LH：我手里还有一篇论文要写，但是还没有下笔，能不能说I am only at square
one ？

    LL： You can use "square one" that way， but usually people say ，
"back to square one." This means that they did a lot of work， but it
did not help them get any closer to their goal.

    LH：这么说，我可不愿意go back to square one.

    LL： Exactly， I'm very frustrated that all of my work last night
did not get me anywhere. Even though I was here all night ， I'm back
to square one.

    LH：这么说，你的新市场营销计划如今又回到了起点，要从头开始，你下一
步打算怎样办？

    LL： You know ， to be honest ， I am really not sure. I think maybe
I need some sleep to help clear up my head.

    LH：我对你深表同情。不过我比你还惨。上星期论文都快打完了，结果没存，
I got sent back to square one.更糟糕的是，第二天就要交。

    LL： That does sound stressful， luckily I have still got a few weeks
before this project is due， so I think that I am going to go home and
get some sleep before starting again at square one.

    LH：你重新开始之前要不要一起吃点东西？

    LL： That sounds great Li Hua ， but first I need to get some rest.
How about we meet here at noon， grab something to eat and then I get
back to work？

    LH： Sounds great ！

    ******

    LH： Larry，你一觉醒来，一定是精神饱满，干劲十足。

    LL： Yes， I had a very good nap， and now I have a hankering for
some Italian food.

    LH： A hankering？你是说你想吃意大利饭吗？

    LL： Exactly， Li Hua ！ To have a hankering， for something means
that you want that thing. Usually someone would say they have a hankering
for a type of food or drink.

    LH：意大利饭也有很多种啊，你想吃意大利面，比萨饼，还是肉酱千层面？

    LL： You know ， lasagna sounds really good to me ， but what do you
have a hankering for Li Hua ？ What are you in the mood to have for lunch？

    LH：我也说不清楚想吃什么。要不吃个三明治，还是去吃中国饭？

    LL： It doesn't really sound like you have a hankering for anything
in particular at all.

    LH：肚子饿的时候，当然是吃什么都香。

    LL： Maybe you should compare the types of food that you have a hankering
for to decide what you want to eat.

    LH：一方面，我特别想吃辣的，可另一方面，我又怕麻烦。

    LL： Either food that you choose is fine by me. Italian ， Chinese，
sandwiches……

    LH：现在听起来，我好象又都不那么想吃了。

    LL： No ？ Then it looks like we are back at square one then.

    LH： Yes， we are back at square one. 不过，我已经知道要吃什么了。

    LL： Well what do you want to have for lunch？

    LH： Sushi！快走吧，我已经在流口水了。

    今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是back to square one意思是回到起点。另
一个是hankering ，意思是特别想要。