李華和Larry 在看世界杯足球賽，美國隊和阿爾及利亞隊。我們要學兩個常
用語：on the edge of your seat和down to the wire.

    LH： Larry，今天這場比賽可很重要！美國要是贏了，就進16強，要是輸了
就得回家了。

    L ： I know ！ Who do you think will win？ The U.S. or Algeria？

    LH：這可說不好。

    L ： I agree， it's hard to predict who will win. All I know is that
I'm going to be on the edge of my seat the whole game.

    LH：什么？你要坐在椅子邊兒上看比賽？這樣坐著你一會兒就得累。

    L ： Actually ， when you are really excited or nervous about something，
you can say that you are on the edge of your seat.

    LH：哦，on the edge of your seat不是真的坐在椅子的邊兒上，而是形容
緊張的樣子。你是說，這場比賽讓你感到特別緊張、興奮，簡直坐也不是站也不
是。

    L ： Right！ Or for another example ， my friend Eddie loved the new
Jack Nicholson suspense movie. He said it kept him on the edge of his
seat for two hours.

    LH：對！懸疑電影總是讓人的心提在嗓子眼，緊張得不行！哎，Larry ，你
不是說你在網上買了一件美國隊的球衣么？寄來了沒有？

    L ： I've been waiting on the edge of my seat all week for it to come，
but it hasn't arrived yet. I hope it didn't get lost in the mail.

    LH：別急，沒準今天球衣就到了。你看別的世界杯比賽了嗎？

    L ： Yeah a few ， but for me ， none can keep me on the edge of my
seat like a U.S. match does.

    LH：這倒是！不過，足球比賽太緊張了！要不我們還是看“美國偶像”吧，
輕松一下。

    L ： No way ！ I'm always sitting on the edge of my seat whenever
they announce the winner of American Idol.

    LH：你怎么看什么都這么激動！對了，我還真沒看出來，你也是美國偶像的
粉絲啊！

    L ： Well you never know when you might learn something surprising
about me， Lihua.

    LH：哈哈，那以后和你說話時我該緊張了，I'll be on the edge of my seat
when I talk to you！

    ******

    美國對阿爾及利亞的比賽結束了，Larry 和李華在談論這場比賽。

    LH：真夠懸的！雙方一直是0 比0 ，我還以為美國隊要被淘汰了呢！誰知美
國隊居然在最后三分種里進了個球，這下就挺進16強啦！

    L ： I know ！ That was so amazing！ If I watch a few more games like
that， I'm going to have a heart attack ！

    LH：心臟病？不至于吧！不過，這場比賽最后幾分鐘確實挺刺激的。

    L ： You're right. That game really came down to the wire.

    LH： Down to the wire ？這是什么意思？

    L ： When something comes down to the wire， that means there isn't
much time left.

    LH：哦，down to the wire就是指到了最后關頭。你是說這場比賽在快結束
的時候居然難分勝負。

    L ： Right. Here's another example. My big report for work is due
tomorrow and I still have a lot of work to do ， so it's really coming
down to the wire today.

    LH：你是說，明天有報告要交，可你還沒怎么寫呢，所以今天是你完成報告
的最后關頭了！哎？既然要寫報告，干嘛還看世界杯？

    L ： I'll just say that I know what's important in life. Say， how
is your summer job search going ？

    LH：還在找呢。我已經快沒錢了，如果再找不到工作，我連房租也交不出來
了。

    L ： Gosh ， it sounds like it's really coming down to the wire. Have
you had any success ？

    LH：倒是有一份工作，我已經進入最后一輪面試了，公司說今天下午打電話
通知我結果。

    L ： Wow， it sounds like it's coming down to the wire. You must really
be on the edge of your seat.

    LH：是啊，已經快5 點了，還沒來電話，我都要急死了！

    今天李華學了兩個常用語。一個是on the edge of your seat，表示緊張興
奮。另一是down to the wire，意思是到最后關頭。