LH: Larry, 好无聊啊! 你说干点什么好啊?
Larry: (Distracted) Huh? Uh, yea... that’s nice, Lihua.
LH: 什么好好好? Larry! 你又在打电脑游戏啦?哎呀，不要玩儿了!(pulls the plug)
Larry: Hey! I was about to clear that level!
LH: 你每天晚上除了玩线上游戏就什么都不干了!我们就不能出去转转，找点好玩的事情做吗?
Larry: (Sigh) You’re right, Lihua. We haven’t really done anything new recently. I guess we’ve been stuck in a rut.
LH: In a rut?什么意思?
Larry: Being stuck in a rut means to be stuck in a boring routine.
LH: To be stuck in a rut就是生活一成不变。那么，这个rut是什么意思呢?
Larry: A rut is what happens when a wheel rolls over the same place over and over again. Eventually, the wheel will dig a line, or a rut, in the ground.
LH: 我明白了，rut是车轮不断压过同一个地方后留下的印迹。我想，这就比喻一成不变的常规吧。Larry, 我们最近的确有些stuck in a rut，感觉有点平淡无味，你说这是怎么回事呢?
Larry: I’m not sure, Lihua, but we have been together for over a year now. It’s relatively normal for couples to find themselves stuck in a rut after being together for a while.
LH: 啊?你觉得是因为咱们在一起时间不算短了，所以生活就变得平平淡淡了?我觉得根本不是这样，We’re stuck in a rot because of that stupid computer game! 都怪你天天打线上游戏，不陪我!
Larry: I’ll admit I like to play my games, but you remember what happened last weekend, right?
LH: 上个周末?怎么啦?
Larry: I wanted to take you out for a nice dinner, but you said you were too tired. We ended up staying home and watching TV all night!
LH: 还说请我吃顿好的?Larry, 你每次请我吃饭都是汉堡和薯条，连吃饭内容都一成不变，难怪我们会stuck in a rut!
Larry: Hmm... we need to find some new things to do that we both like. Otherwise, we might be stuck in this rut forever!
LH: 可不是嘛!咱们好久没有去打网球啦!不如去打两场吧!
Larry: Aw, you know tennis isn’t my cup of tea, Lihua. And besides, it’s been so hot out lately...
LH: Your cup of tea? 打网球还要喝茶?你不怕热吗?
Larry: I would drink water, of course! I said "playing tennis is not my cup of tea"...in other words, I don’t really enjoy tennis.
LH: 哦，你说playing tennis is not your cup of tea, 意思就是说你不喜欢打网球。那你的cup of tea到底是什么呀?
Larry: I like swimming! How about we start going to the pool? It’s always refreshing to take a dip in the pool on a hot day!
LH: 去游泳?可是，游泳不是我的cup of tea。我怕晒黑!Oh, I know! Why don’t you take me to the ballet? 我们去看芭蕾舞表演吧!
Larry: The ballet? Uh, that’s not my cup of tea, either. I never understood what’s going on! It just looks like a bunch of people jumping around on stage, if you ask me.
LH: 你这人一点都不浪漫!
Larry: Being romantic was never my cup of tea, Lihua. Remember when I sent you flowers for your birthday?
LH: 记得!我生日你送玫瑰花给我，结果我花粉过敏，打了一天喷嚏!
Larry: Heheh. See? No wonder we’re in a rut. I’m horrible at being romantic, and we can never agree on anything new to do. Tell you what - let me think about it some more while I finish this last boss in my video game...
LH: 不行!你别想溜!Get us out of this rut, Larry!要不你就别想玩儿电脑了!
Larry: Hmmm....
LH: 什么呀?你在想什么坏主意?
Larry: You want us to do something together, right? Our group could use another warrior...
LH: 你想让我和你一起打线上游戏?我可不会!You know video games are not my cup of tea!
Larry: (Sigh). Well, I guess I’ll go make myself a real cup of tea and go stare out the window for fun...
今天李华从Larry那儿学到两个常用语，一个是to be stuck in a rut, 表示枯燥，一成不变。另一个是someone’s cup of tea, 意思是某人有兴趣干的事。
