今天Larry 要開車去接李華一起去上課。李華會學到兩個常用語：get it together
和tough.

    （Doorbell Rings）

    LL： Hey， Li Hua ！？ You're not ready for school！ We need to go
now ！ It's already 8 ：30. LH：（Yawns ） Larry？你怎么這么早就來啦！
現在幾點了？

    LL： Get it together， Li Hua ！ It's already 8 ：30！ We need to
leave in fifteen minutes， or we'll be late to class！

    LH： Get it together？（Groans and yawns）把什么放一起啊？你在說什
么嘛？

    LL： I said "get it together" ！ That means ， get organized， focus
on what you need to do. LH：噢，你是要我趕快準備好上學。Get it together
就是要人打起精神做該做的事。那除此之外，Larry ，get it together 還能用
在什么場合呢？

    LL： "To get it together" ， or "get one's act together" can also
mean something very general ， such as arranging one's life for the better.
LH：哎喲！get it together 既可以指準備去上學，又可以指把一個人的生活安
排得更好。Larry ，這聽起來很復雜，我都有點糊涂了。

    LL： Here's an example： After finishing college， I didn't work hard
to plan for the future for several years. But finally I got my act together，
and got accepted into graduate school. LH ：大學畢業后悠閑幾年，沒有長
遠打算這在年輕人里也是常事。不過，你們這些生在美國的孩子真幸福。要是在
中國，錯過一次機會以后恐怕就難了。

    LL： That's right …… here in the U.S. people usually have several
chances to get it together. One of my friends almost failed his first
semester of college. But he got his act together， and now he's a Ph.
D. candidate at Yale. LH：哇！你這個朋友還真是好樣兒的。大學第一學期差
點兒不及格，現在居然是耶魯大學的博士生了。可有的人犯了錯，一開始失敗了
就很難再振作起來，做好事情了！

    LL： Right， right…… enough talking ！ Get it together， Li Hua.
If you're not ready in ten minutes， I'm leaving！

    LH：好啦！好啦！別催我嘛！再給我5 分鐘！

    ******

    LL： All right， let's go. Now. LH：等一等！還不能走啦！我還沒吃早
餐呢！

    LL： Well ， that's tough. You'll just have to wait until after your
first class to eat something. Now let's go！

    LH： Tough？你是要我堅強一點，就這么餓著啊？

    LL： No ， that's not what I mean. When I say "that's tough" that
means "too bad". Sometimes， you can just say "tough" by itself. Anyway，
It's too bad that you can't eat breakfast ， but we have to go now. LH
：噢！tough 就是指：沒辦法了，你就忍著點吧。哎，Larry ，你真不講道理！

    LL： That's right ， its not very polite to say "that's tough ！"
when someone complains or has a problem. Usually when you say "that's
tough" it means you don't care about their problem. LH：原來你真的一點
都不同情我啊！That's tough，是不太禮貌的用法，表示你根本不在乎別人的問
題。哎呀，Larry 我們可不可以至少去一下麥當勞買點吃的！我這樣肚子空空的
上課也不能專心。

    LL： That's just tough， Li Hua. We don't have time to get you breakfast.
You should have gotten up earlier. LH ：可是……起的晚又不是我的錯，是
我的鬧鐘壞了嘛！

    LL： Tough！ I don't care why you're late this morning， I just want
to get to class on time. Let's go. LH ：你真是毫無同情心。我既沒有吃早
餐，我連今天上課要用的材料都還沒看呢！

    LL： Tough. You can look at you notes in the car. I'm leaving right
now …… you'd better come with me if you want a ride to school. LH ：
好啦！好啦！我來了啦！噢！我真的好餓噢！

    LL： Tough， Li Hua. If you'd just get yourself together， this kind
of thing wouldn't happen. Let's go！

    今天李華學到兩個常用語，一個是get it together ，也可以說get one's
act together，意思是打起精神，做好該做的事。另一個常用語是tough ，意思
是：情況就是這樣，沒辦法了。這是不太禮貌的說法，表示你對別人的困難不在
乎。