Larry 和李华在海滩享受温暖的阳光。不过李华有点心事，因为她的朋友Joe
向她借了钱，却一直没还。今天李华会学到两个常用语：deadbeat和cool it.

    （Ambience sound on the beach ）

    LL： Li Hua ， relax and enjoy the day. Joe isn't a deadbeat. He'll
pay you back as soon as he can. LH：我也希望Joe 会还我钱。你说Joe 不是
一个deadbeat，那是什么意思啊？

    LL： A deadbeat is someone who does not pay his/her debts or fulfill
his/her obligations. Joe is not a deadbeat. He always pays people back.
LH： A deadbeat 就是一个故意赖帐的人。你说Joe 不是那样的人，可要是他一
直不还我钱，那我该怎么跟他提这件事，又不伤他的自尊心呢？这事真麻烦！

    LL： You're right ； money is an awkward subject. I usually just avoid
lending people money altogether. That way I don't have to worry about
deadbeats. LH ：唉，我也不喜欢借钱给别人，可我是真的想帮他忙。

    LL： Yeah ， I know what you mean. Just be careful who you help in
the future： there are a lot of deadbeats out there. LH ：我知道，下回
我再要借钱给别人，一定会格外小心，因为借钱不还的人还是有的。对了，Larry
，我还听过别人说deadbeat dads. 那是什么意思啊？

    LL： Well ， after a divorce， a man is supposed to send money to
his ex-wife to help her support their children. A man who doesn't send
money is a "deadbeat dad." LH ：噢，我懂了，A deadbeat dad就是离婚后不
肯负担孩子抚养费的父亲。

    LL： Exactly. I know a guy whose father was a deadbeat dad. The poor
guy's mother had to work three jobs to support her children. LH ：这个
妈妈要做三份工来抚养她的孩子，就是因为爸爸不肯抚养孩子。难道法律都不惩
罚这些不负责任的父亲吗？

    LL： Well ， the courts can tell a deadbeat dad that he needs to pay
child support ， but that doesn't mean that he actually will. LH：什么！

    法庭告诉他们要付钱，他们不付也没事呀？唉，真是糟糕！

    ******

    LL： Wow！ Those kids over there are really loud. I wish they'd cool
it. LH：那些孩子是挺吵的。你要他们怎么着，cool it ？什么意思呀？

    LL： I wish they would "cool it" means calm down. It can also mean
to stop what one is doing. LH ：噢，cool it 就是安静下来，或者停止做某
件事的意思。你的意思是要这些孩子别再吵了。

    LL： Exactly. I wonder where their parents are？ I'm surprised that
their parents haven't told them to cool it yet. LH：就是啊，那些孩子在
那里鬼吼鬼叫好一会儿了。他们的爸妈到底听见了没？怎么不好好管教自己的孩
子呢？

    LL： It's hard to enjoy the day with such noisy kids around. I'm considering
going over there myself and telling them to "cool it." LH ：啊？你想自
己过去叫那些孩子安静一点？我不知道这样做好不好呢。

    LL： Why not？ Their parents obviously aren't going to do it and those
kids are ruining the day for a lot of people. LH： Larry，也许你该冷静
一点，cool it ，别跟那些孩子一般见识了。不然，我们可以搬到远一点的地方
坐。

    LL： Yeah ， that's probably a good idea. LH：来吧，我们把东西收一
收，搬到海滩的另一边去好了。

    LL： Okay ， let's go.

    今天李华学到两个常用语。第一个是deadbeat，是指借钱不还，故意赖帐的
人。另一个常用语是cool it ，是指安静下来，或停止做某件事。