李华跟Larry 一起去看美式足球赛。今天我们要学两个常用语：get with the
program 和cost an arm and a leg.

    LH： Larry，你干嘛不穿衬衣，光着膀子，还把身上涂成这样？吓我一跳。

    LL： Do you like it ？ I spent all morning painting myself the colors
of my favorite football team， the Washington Redskins.

    LH：支持红人队也不用把自己糟蹋成这样啊，戴顶帽子，穿件球衣不就得了。

    LL： Oh come on ， Lihua. Get with the program. Anybody can wear a
hat. Only REAL fans paint their entire bodies.

    LH：等会儿，你说get with the what ？

    LL： Get with the program. If somebody doesn't understand something
that you think should be obvious， you can tell that person to "get with
the program."

    LH：我明白了，如果你觉得是明摆着的事，而别人却不明白，你就可以告诉
对方，get with the program. 那你是说，你光着膀子，把自己画成这样，我不
该大惊小怪了？

    LL： Exactly. Don't spectators at ping pong tournaments in China paint
their chests and drink beer and scream at the players from the stands ？

    LH： Larry， I think YOU need to get with the program.看乒乓球的人
是绝对不会光着膀子，一边喝啤酒一边呐喊助威的，能让中国球迷如此疯狂的可
能只有姚明了。

    LL： Ok ， ok. Well are you ready to go to the parking lot. I'm starving！

    LH：我们难道就在停车场里吃东西吗？还是进到球场里面去买点吃吧。

    LL： C'mon Lihua， get with the program. Everybody knows that the
food in the stadium is too expensive. So before the game everyone brings
a BBQ grill and cooks food out in the parking lot. We call it "tailgating"
because you sit on the tail gate of your truck while you eat.

    LH：真的吗？大家就坐在皮卡后面，一边烧烤一边聊天？太好玩了。不过，
这好象跟你答应我的浪漫约会差得远点儿。

    LL： You don't find eating hot dogs in a parking lot romantic ？

    LH： Larry， I think you need to get with the program.大多数女孩子
都不会觉得在停车场里坐在车尾巴上啃热狗有多浪漫的。

    LL： Lihua， I think you need to get with the program too. By now
you should know that dates with me may not be romantic， but at least
they aren't boring.

    ******

    李华和Larry 进场看比赛。

    LL： Oh Lihua …… I think I may have eaten too many hot dogs in the
parking lot. I'm not feeling so well.

    LH：谁让你不听我劝，非要跟那个人比赛吃热狗，现在肚子痛了吧！

    LL： I know …… but he was rooting for the other team， so I had
to accept his challenge. I had to do it for my team's pride.

    LH：唯一值得庆幸的是，你最后赢了，还免费吃了那么多热狗。

    LL： That's true. If I had tried to buy all those hot dogs in the
stadium it would have cost me an arm and a leg.

    LH：要花一条胳膊一条腿？真形象。这是一种很常用的说法吗？

    LL： Whenever you buy something that is unreasonably expensive， you
can say that it cost you an arm and a leg.

    LH：在中文里，这叫吐血。那我问你，我们坐在最后一排，什么都看不见，
这个位子的票价一定没有让你损失一条胳膊一条腿吧？

    LL： Hey， they were the best I could get. But you're right ， I can
barely see the players. I would give my right arm for some binoculars.

    LH：你要用右胳膊换望远镜？要这么个换法，我看，用不了多久，你身上的
零部件就要用光了。不过说真的，你刚才说的give my right arm 跟cost an arm
and a leg 是一个意思吗？

    LL： Kind of. When you say that you would give your right arm for
something ， that means that you really want it.

    LH：我明白了，说愿意用右胳膊换，意思就是特别想要。Larry ，这比赛看
得我真是一头雾水。I would give my right arm to know what the rules of
football are.

    LL： And I would give my right arm for a jacket. It's freezing out，
and it turns out that this paint doesn't provide any warmth at all！

    LH：我可以把外衣借给你穿，而且it won't even cost you an arm and a
leg.

    今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是get with the program，意思是这是明摆
着的。另一个是cost an arm and a leg ，意思是价钱贵得离谱。