Larry 和李华刚刚忙完手头的工作。他们一起去吃冰激凌。李华今天要学两
个常用语：my treat和ginormous. LL ： Well ， Li Hua ， you just finished
a big paper ， and I just finished an important projectat work. Let's
go for ice cream and celebrate. It'll be my treat.

    LH：冰激凌是your treat？可我也要吃啊，应该是our treat 才对吧。

    LL： Well ， the ice cream will certainly be for both of us - and
it will be a treat for both of us ， but when I said it was "my treat"
I meant that I would pay for the ice cream.

    LH：哦，原来是你要请客啊！

    LL： That's right ， to TREAT someone means to pay for someone's food
or entertainmentas a form of a gift.

    LH：那太好了。谢谢你请我去吃冰激凌。

    LL： It is my pleasure， Li Hua.

    LH：为了表示感谢，这个周末我请你去中国餐馆吃饭。My treat. LL： That's
very considerate， Li Hua. But you don't really have to treat me to dinner
just because I treated you to ice cream.

    LH：我可不是因为你请我吃冰激凌才请你去吃饭的，我请你吃饭是因为咱俩
是好朋友嘛！

    LL： In that case ， I'll be happy to go for Chinese food this weekend
- especially if it is your treat.

    LH：我有个问题，Larry ，在美国，如果有人提出请你吃饭，你还用争着付
钱吗？

    LL： Generally， you can try to protest a little， but the most polite
thing to do is to let the other person treat you and allow his or her
to feel generous.

    LH：在中国的时候，我有个叔叔，人特别大方，经常请朋友和家里人出去吃
饭。

    LL： It is wonderful to have generous relatives. When I was growing
up， my grandmother would always treat us to the circus - or sometimes
a movie.

    LH：看马戏？哎（叹气）——小时候真好！我爸爸也经常带我去看木偶剧。

    LL： Yeah. My Dad would always treat us to ice cream at a shop just
like this one. Say， why don't you go ahead and order your ice cream，
Li Hua.

    LH：我要一个巧克力、香草和草莓的冰激凌蛋筒。

    ******

    LL： That is the most ginormousice cream cone I have ever seen， Li
Hua. LH ： Ginormous？你是想说enormous吧？

    LL： Well ， actually ， Li Hua. You are right. I do mean that your
ice cream cone is enormous. But ginormous is a slang word formed from
two other words ： gigantic and enormous. LH：哦，gigantic前面的音和enormous
后面的音连在一起，就变成了ginormous ，也就是特别、特别、特别大的意思喽？

    LL： Yes. Something that is ginormous is both gigantic and enormous.
It is something that is really， really ， really big. LH ：我饿极了，
现在正需要一个ginormous 的冰激凌，因为我有一个ginormous 的胃口。

    LL： You just want to be careful that you don't eat too many sweets
，Li Hua. You don't want to end up with a ginormous cavity ！

    LH：吃甜的长个大虫牙我倒不担心，我担心的是我的腰围。

    LL： Hey， here comes my hot fudgesundae. Wow ！ It is ginormous，
too. Maybe we should have split one ice cream between the two of us. LH
：吃完这两个特大号的冰激凌，恐怕我们就得赶紧节食了。

    LL： You aren't kidding. I think this ice cream must contain a ginormous
amount of fat and calories. LH：嗨，管它呢，先吃了再说。

    LL： That sound's good……Oh， watch out， Li Hua ！ Your ice cream
cone is melting and starting to tip ！ If it falls on the floor ， it'll
make a ginormous mess. LH ：还好你提醒我，总算没掉下来。不过我还是得赶
快去拿一大叠餐巾纸来，先准备着。

    LL： That's a good idea. I could use a napkin ， too. I think I have
a ginormous chocolate moustache from my sundae. LH：巧克力胡子？Ha， ha
……你的巧克力冰激凌确实沾了一嘴。快给你，餐巾纸。

    今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是 my treat ，是我请客的意思。另一个
是ginormous ，是巨大无比的意思。