今天李華到Larry的宿舍里去串門兒，李華會學到兩個常用語：on the fritz和to hog.

    Li Hua：Hey， Larry， 我昨天晚上給你打電話，在你手機上留了言，你怎么沒給我回電話�。�

    Larry：I didn't get your message. My cell phone has been on the fritz. I don't know what's wrong with it.

    Li Hua：你沒收到我的留言？還說你的手機怎么啦？On the fritz - 那是什么意思��？

    Larry：I said my cell phone is on the fritz. If something is on the fritz， that means something is wrong with it and it is not working properly. Li Hua：噢，要是說什么東西on the fritz， 意思就是“出了毛病，不能正常工作了”。哎呀，我的手機有時候也會on the fritz. Larry， 除了電話以外，還有什么東西也可以說是on the fritz呢？

    Larry：Well， usually it is machines that are on the fritz. For instance， sometimes my computer does not respond to my commands， so it's on the fritz. Li Hua：原來on the fritz通常是用在機器設備上，比方說像你說的電腦。就是啊，有的時候電腦會出故障，不聽指令，那就是on the fritz了。

    Larry：Now Li Hua， can you give me an example？

    Li Hua：有了。昨天我在學校的食品零售機買coke，我明明塞進去一塊美元，可是零售機一點反應都沒有。It must have been on the fritz.

    Larry：Oh， some of the vending machines are often on the fritz. Li Hua：哎，Larry， 除了說機器，我能不能說一個人on the fritz呢？

    Larry：Not really. However， the exception is that you can say that your stomach is on the fritz if it is uncomfortable. Li Hua：噢，我們不能直接說一個人on the fritz， 但是，要是我的胃感到難受，我就可以說：My stomach is on the fritz.

    Larry：All right， Li Hua， forget about things that are on the fritz. You want to watch this DVD？

    Li Hua：Sure！ 但愿你的DVD player is not on the fritz.

    Larry：Oh， come on， Li Hua！

    Larry：Hey， Li Hua， stop hogging all the popcorn！ I want some too. Li Hua：得了得了，想吃爆米花就說話呀，給你！你說我什么？Hogging all the popcorn？ 好像不是什么好意思，你可得給我解釋清楚！

    Larry：Well， to hog something is to keep it for yourself and not share it with others. Just now you were eating all of the popcorn without sharing it with me. Therefore， I said you were hogging the popcorn. Li Hua：To hog something就是霸占著某樣東西，不給別人。嘿，Larry， 你怎么能說我霸著爆米花不給你呢？我又不知道你也想吃，再說，我現在不是分給你了嗎？

    Larry：Okay， I suppose you aren't hogging it anymore. Li Hua：對了，Larry， 除了說食物以外，這種說法還可以用在別的地方嗎？

    Larry：Well， we are now watching a DVD， if I don't let you use the remote control， then I'm hogging the remote. Li Hua：噢，要是你一個人拿著遙控器，不讓我用，那你就是hogging the remote. 那可比hogging the popcorn更氣人了！

    Larry：Okay， now it's your turn to give me an example. Li Hua：讓我也舉個例子��？想起來了。我那個同屋啊，她有的時候用洗手間用好長時間，進去了就不出來，我真應該告訴她 - stop hogging the bathroom.

    Larry：That's a very good example. Hey， Li Hua， look at me - if I lie down on the couch and don't give you any room to sit down， then I am hogging the couch. Li Hua：哎喲，Larry， 你干什么呀？你干嘛一個人把整個沙發都占了，一點兒地方都不給我留，你想讓我坐地板啊？Stop hogging the couch， Larry！

    Larry：Calm down， Li Hua， I was just giving you an example.

    今天李華從Larry那兒學到兩個常用語。一個是on the fritz， 意思是“出了故障”。另外一個是to hog something， 意思是“把某樣東西據為己有，不給別人”。