李華打電話問Larry 今天下午要不要一塊兒去打網球。今天李華會學到兩個
常用語：Bum 和ticker.

    （Telephone rings ）

    LH：嘿！Larry ，你今天下午有空嗎？想不想和我去打網球？今天天氣真好！

    LL： I'm sorry， Li Hua ， but my bumknee is bothering me. I don't
think it's a good idea to play tennis right now.

    LH：你的膝蓋怎么啦？Bum knee，那是什么毛病啊？

    LL： I have a bum knee means that there is something permanently wrong
with my knee.

    LH：原來 a bum knee 就是一個膝蓋以前受了傷而落下了毛病，也就是老毛
病。Larry ，你什么時候受的傷，我怎么不知道哪？

    LL：I tore a tendon playing soccer several years ago， and now my
knee hurts once in a while and it doesn't always bend well.

    LH：噢，你幾年前踢足球的時候受的傷，所以不時會感到痛，還不能彎。我
爺爺年輕時腿也受過傷，現在只要一下雨，他的腿就會發作。

    LL： Yes， having a bum knee or leg is very common， particularly
among former professional athletes.

    LH：就是啊，這種傷害對職業運動員來說都是常見的。我倒是很驚訝那些美
式足球隊員，打起球來橫沖直撞，居然還能走路。

    LL： Yes， well many of them do suffer from a bum leg ， a bum knee
，or a bum shoulder.

    LH：嗯，他們的工資非常高，據說有的年薪都上百萬呢！筋骨受傷大概只是
個小小的代價吧！

    LL： That's true， but not all of them make that much money and they
still suffer injuries that leave them with a bum joint.

    LH：當然不是每個球員工資都那么高的。工資低的也經常會受傷的。

    LL： Li Hua. I would play with you if I could. Try to find someone
who can play with you. If you can't ， give me a call and we can watch
a movie or something.

    LH：我要是找不到打球的伴再給你打電話。看個電影也挺好。

    ******

    LH： Larry，我找不著人和我打網球。你還想去看電影嗎？

    LL： I'm sorry， I can't. My mom just called to tell me that my uncle
is in the hospital because he has a bum ticker. I should go and visit
him.

    LH：你要去醫院看望你叔叔，他怎么啦？Larry ，你說你叔叔得了什么病，
bum ticker？什么是ticker？

    LL： He has a bum ticker. Ticker is slang for one's heart because
your heartbeats similar to the way in which a clock ticks. My uncle has
a bad heart.

    LH：噢，原來ticker是指心臟啊！對，心臟是像鐘表那樣滴滴答答地跳動。

    Larry ，你叔叔心臟病發作呀？

    LL： No ， he just had some pains in his chest. He knows that he has
a bum ticker， so he went to the hospital to have it checked out.

    LH：原來他是因為胸口痛才住院。希望他沒事。我爸爸的心臟也不好，所以
醫生特別叮嚀他要小心，避免壓力太大。

    LL： Well ， we've warned my uncle to take care of his old ticker ，
but he doesn't listen. He still eats junk food and he has a very stressful
job.

    LH：看來你叔叔不是個聽話的病人。心臟不好的人應該要避免吃垃圾食物。

    或許你叔叔這次出院后，能意識到要好好照顧自己的心臟了。

    LL： I hope so， but he has already had a heart attack and surgery，
so I doubt he'll change his habits because of a few chest pains.

    LH：他已經發作過心臟病，還動過手術！那看來胸口痛是不會促使他改變飲
食習慣了。得了，你還是趕快上醫院去吧，我明天再跟你聊嘍！

    LL： Okay ， bye.