Larry 在学校的电脑室里见到了李华。李华今天要学会两个常用语ASAP和crank
out.

    LL： Hey Li Hua ！ What are you working on？ A paper？

    LH：不是，我在写申请威廉森中国历史奖学金的申请书。

    LL： What ？ But that's due tomorrow！ You'd better finish that ASAP.
LH：我知道明天是申请的最后期限，所以我在赶呐。ASAP，那是什么意思啊？

    LL： ASAP means "as soon as possible". You need to finish that application
as soon as possible ！

    LH：噢，原来ASAP就是尽快 - as soon as possible的缩写。 Larry，那你
为什么不说as soon as possible 而是说ASAP呢？

    LL： Well ， people say "as soon as possible" ， but if you are in
a hurry ， it's easier to just say ASAP. LH ：匆忙的时候说ASAP，这能节
省多少时间呢，顶多半秒钟吧。

    LL： Well ， it also sounds more forceful. For instance ， if your
boss tells you， "Li Hua， I need you to get this done ASAP ！" you know
that he is in a hurry ！

    LH：那倒是。ASAP听起来比较干脆，比较有力。

    LL： Or if your mechanic tells you that you car is leaking oil， and
that you need to have it fixed ASAP ， you'd better take his word for
it. LH：你别举这种让我倒霉的例子。不过，要是我的车漏油了，我当然得尽快
修理。I need to have it fixed ASAP.

    LL： Wait ， Li Hua ， you promised me yesterday that you would proofread
my Chinese composition. Have you done that yet？ I need to hand it in
ASAP！

    LH：天啊，昨天我答应帮你修改中文作文，我怎么把这件事给忘了呢？真的
好对不起。那你今天下午交还来得及吗？

    LL： I need to go to work ASAP， so I need to hand this in before
I go. LH：（Sighs ）如果你一定要在上班之前把作业交上去，那我现在就帮你
看吧。

    LL： Thank you so much， Li Hua. You're such a good friend.

    ******

    （Larry returns to the computer lab later in the day. ）

    LL： Hey Li Hua ！ I am back from work. Are you still working on that
statement ？

    LH：是啊，我还在写申请。哎，Larry ，写申请有什么窍门吗？你怎么每次
都写得那么快呢？

    LL： Oh ， I don't know. I guess because I have written so many of
them， now it's easy for me to crank them out. LH ： Crank them out ？
这是什么意思呀？

    LL： To crank something out means to produce something quickly and
mechanically， without much thought. LH ：嗯，To crank something out就
是不需要太多思考，很机戒地做成某种事。

    LL： Well ， when I was an undergraduate， I would just crank out
essays and term papers， no problem. Of course， it's not that easy these
days. LH：我听说了，你读本科的时候是写作高手，论文和学期作文都难不倒你。
现在当研究生就不一样了；你要作大量研究才能有根有据地写。

    LL： Exactly. So， did you ever just crank out essays when you were
a student in China？

    LH：当然了，我在中国读中学的时候，半个小时就能crank out 两页的政论
文章。Larry ， to crank out 这个短语还能用在别的地方吗？

    LL： Sure ， for instance ， at McDonald's， they crank out hundreds
of hamburgers every day. LH ：麦当劳每天制作成千上万个的汉堡包。这一点
也不错。

    LL： And Hollywood cranks out stupid action movies every other week.
LH：我从来不看好莱坞制作的那种武打片，所以我就不太清楚了。

    LL： Anyway ， I have another piece of homework for Chinese class
that I need you to look at ASAP. Can you help me？

    LH：没问题，我可以帮你看中文作业，不过你得帮我修改一下我写的申请书。
I need to drop it in the mail ASAP.

    LL： Ok ， no problem. Show me what you've written so far.

    今天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是ASAP，意思是尽快。还有一个是crank
out ，意思是不需多加思考地，机械地制作某种东西。