选自电影：American Beauty《美国丽人》
■ 莱斯特因为受不了上司的欺压，愤然辞职。然而回到家中，却得不到妻子的体谅。于是一场餐桌战越演越烈，油盐酱醋，什么挖苦讽刺都在这段对话中，听来有盐有味，很丰富。
单词通缉令
1. blackmail vt.勒索
2. asparagus n.芦笋
3. Mason jar 玻璃瓶罐
4. sink n.洗涤槽;污水沟
5. marvel vt.惊异于
6. contemptuous a.轻蔑的;侮辱的
7. whoops 像声词，激动时发出的声音
8. sole a.唯一的;仅有的
9. mortgage n.抵押;按揭
10. fat chance 没有机会
11. psychotic a.精神病的
12. laugh meter 一种测量笑声分贝的仪器
Jane: Sorry, I’m late.
Carolyn Burnham: No, no, that’s quite alright, dear. Your father and I were just discussing his day at work. Why don’t you tell our daughter about it, honey?
Lester Burnham: Janie, today I quit my job and then I told my boss to go fuck himself and then I 1)blackmailed him for almost 60,000 dollars. Pass the 2)asparagus.
Carolyn: Your father seems to think this kind of behavior is something to be proud of.
Lester: And your mother seems to prefer that I go through life like a fucking prisoner while she keeps my dick in a 3)Mason jar under the 4)sink.
Carolyn: How dare you speak to me that way in front of her. And I 5)marvel that you can be so 6)contemptuous of me on the same day that you lose your job.
Lester: I didn’t lose it, it’s not like 7)whoops where did my job go? I quit! Someone pass the asparagus to me.
Carolyn: Oh, oh, oh, oh, and I want to thank you for putting me under the added pressure of being the 8)sole bread winner now.
Lester: I already have a job.
Carolyn: No, no, don’t give a second thought as to who’s going to pay the 9)mortgage, we’ll just leave it all up to Carolyn. You think you’re going to take care of everything now, Carolyn? Yes, I don’t mind, I really don’t. You mean everything? You don’t mind having the sole responsibility. Your husband feels he can just quit his job and you don’t care what’s going to happen 10)fat chance.
Lester: Will someone please pass me the fucking asparagus?
Jane: I’m not going to be a part of this.
Lester: Shut up! I am sick and tired of being treated like I don’t exist. You two do whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it and I don’t complain. Now all I want is the same…
Carolyn: Oh, you don’t complain. Oh, please excuse me, excuse me. I don’t feel 11)psychotic then. If you don’t complain, what is this? Let’s bring in the 12)laugh meter and see how loud it gets on that one. Do you know the look…
简：对不起，我晚了。
凯洛琳•伯翰姆：不，不晚，亲爱的，一点都不晚。你父亲和我正在谈论他今天的工作。为什么不把这件事告诉我们的女儿，亲爱的?
莱斯特•伯翰姆：简妮，今天我辞职了，我告诉老板说，去你妈的，然后我敲了他6万美元。把龙须菜递给我。
凯洛琳：你父亲好像觉得这种行为很让人自豪。
莱斯特：你母亲好像更愿意我像个囚犯似地过日子，可以把我的命根子藏在玻璃罐里，放在阴沟中。
凯洛琳：你怎么敢当着孩子的面说这种话。我真服了你了，在丢了工作的当天还可以这样藐视我。
莱斯特：我没有丢，哦，我的工作哪去了，这不是那么回事。是我辞职!麻烦谁把龙须菜递给我。
凯洛琳：噢，哦，哦，哦，我还要感谢你让我的负担更重了，让我成为唯一的面包供应者。
莱斯特：我已经有工作了。
凯洛琳：别，别，别再想谁来支付抵押，把这一切都交给凯洛琳吧。你觉得你要负担这一切了吗，凯洛琳?是的，我不介意，我一点也不介意。你是说所有的一切吗?你不介意这都成为你一个人的责任，你丈夫觉得他可以就这样辞职，你才不管会发生什么，没门。
莱斯特：有人把他妈的龙须菜递给我吗?
简：我不想参于你们的争吵。
莱斯特：闭嘴!我厌倦、讨厌被人当作没这个人一样。你们俩爱做什么就做什么去吧，随时都可以做，我没意见。现在我要的同样是……
凯洛琳：噢，你没意见。哦，请原谅，请原谅，我没有疯。如果你没意见，那这是什么?可以把笑声测量仪拿来，看看用它测出来的声音有多大。你不知道这种样子……
句子模仿秀
这句话用词简单，但有多层含义，通常我们会用几句话来表达。我们会说我现在肩上的担子重了，全家人就靠我赚钱养活。然而只用of一个单词，就把两句合成一句。这种妙用英语中比比皆是，希望多加注意。
学习指导
跟读朗诵，最佳朗诵时间为5秒钟。
