Wei: It’s all of this stress. I don’t know how anyone can cope with the pressures you’re under.
Wei：都是因为压力太大了。 我觉得除了你，没有其他人可以承受那么大的压力。
Jason: It’s nothing. I’ll just take a pill for my stomach.
Jason：没什么。 我吃片胃药就好了。
Wei: That won’t solve the problem. Look at you. You look worn out. Are you losing sleep, too?
Wei：药根本不能解决问题。 看看你。 太衰弱了。 你正在失眠，是吧？
Jason: I have had trouble sleeping.
Jason：我确实睡眠不好。
Wei: It’s no wonder. At home, you have the demands of raising two kids on your own, and at work, you’re in a dog-eat-dog environment everyday.
Wei：当然会睡眠不好。 在家里，你要独自带两个小孩；工作中每天又是竞争激烈。
Jason: I have to admit that my nerves are shot, but what can I do?
Jason：我承认我是有点神经衰弱，但是我又能怎么办呢？
Wei: Maybe we can work something out. To start, how about if I watch your kids for a few hours this weekend so you can get some rest?
Wei：或许我们可以找个解决办法。 刚开始的话，这周末我可以帮你带几个小时孩子，你休息一下怎么样？
Jason: I couldn’t ask you to do that. You have to take care of your own kids.
Jason：我怎么能让你帮我带孩子。 你也有孩子要照顾。
Wei: So, what’s two more?
Wei：多两个也没什么问题？
Jason: If you really don’t mind, I’ll take you up on that. I could really use a breather.
Jason：如果真的可以的话，那就麻烦你了。 我就可以休息一下。
Wei: It’s set, then. Here, take one of these pills. If it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger.
Wei：就这样定了。 药在这里，吃一片吧。 吃了药就会好了。
Jason: Thanks!
Jason：谢谢！
Our dialogue begins with Wei saying to Jason, “What’s wrong? You look like you’re in pain” you look like you’re having some painful experience. Jason says, “My stomach is acting up again.” When we say something is “acting up,” we mean it’s not working correctly. In this case, his stomach is causing him pain. You can also use the verb “to act up” when we are talking about a machine: “My car is acting up again.” If a person is “acting up,” especially a young child, we mean that that child is causing problems – yelling, fighting, screaming, et cetera. So, to “act up” has those different meanings.
对话开始时，Wei对Jason说，“What’s wrong? You look like you’re in pain” 你看起来很痛苦。 Jason说，“My stomach is acting up again.” 当我们说某件事“acting up,”意思是不能正常工作。 在这里，他的胃不舒服让他很难受。 你也可以用这个动词“to act up”来形容机器出故障了：“我的车子又坏了。” 如果某个人“acting up,”特别是小孩子，我们是说小孩子闯祸了-尖叫打架等等。 因此，“act up”有这些不同的意思。
Jason says, “My stomach is acting up” – it’s causing me pain. Wei says, “It’s all of this stress.” “Stress” is the feeling of being worried, nervous, and anxious, usually because you have a lot of responsibilities or things that you have to do – a lot of pressure. Wei says, “I don’t know how anyone can cope with the pressures you’re under.” To “cope” (cope) means to be able to manage a difficult situation, to be able to succeed when things are very difficult. Wei says, “I don’t know how anyone can cope with the pressures you’re under.” “Pressure,” in this case, means things that you need to do, but that are difficult and make you feel worried, nervous, and anxious. “I’m under a lot of pressure” is the expression we would use – I have a lot of things that people want me to do and that I have to do.
Jason说，“My stomach is acting up”-我很痛苦。 Wei说，“It’s all of this stress.” “Stress”是担心，紧张，焦虑的感受，一般是因为担负太多责任或者压力太大。 Wei说，“I don’t know how anyone can cope with the pressures you’re under.” “cope” 意思是能够处理困难情况，情况很艰难也能成功。 Wei说，“I don’t know how anyone can cope with the pressures you’re under.” “Pressure,”在这里，意思是你需要去做但是又很艰难让人烦心的事情。 “I’m under a lot of pressure”是指我有很多的事情要做。
Jason says, “It’s nothing (meaning I don’t have that many problems). I’ll just take a pill for my stomach” – a pill that has medicine that will help my stomach. Wei says, “That won’t solve the problem (that won’t end the problem). Look at you. You look worn out.” When someone says “look at you,” they’re saying there’s something wrong with you; you need to realize something that you are not realizing yet. “You look worn out,” Wei says. To be “worn (worn) out” is when you are very tired, when you’re exhausted. “I was playing with my five-year-old nephew, and now I’m worn out” – I’m very tired; he has a lot of energy, and I, as you know, am an old man...or, getting older! Wei says, “Are you losing sleep, too?” To “lose sleep” means to not be able to sleep at night, usually because you are under a lot of stress – under a lot of pressure. There’s an expression, “I’m not going to lose any sleep over it,” which means I’m not going to worry about it; it’s not going to bother me. Here, Wei is asking, “Are you losing sleep?” Jason says, “I have had trouble sleeping.” Wei says, “It’s no wonder.” When we say something is “no wonder,” we mean it’s not surprising; it’s not unexpected. She says, “At home, you have the demands of raising two kids on your own.” The “demands” are the things that Jason has to do. He has many things in raising his two kids on his own, meaning there’s no mother or wife at home; he is the only one who is helping the children grow up. She continues, “at work, you’re in a dog-eat-dog environment everyday.” The expression “dog-eat-dog” means very competitive – very aggressive. Someone says, “This is a dog-eat-dog business,” they mean it’s a very difficult business; there’s a lot of competition; a lot of people trying to do better than the other people. Jason says, “I have to admit that my nerves are shot, but what can I do?” Your “nerves,” here, are your feelings of being anxious, worried, and stressed. We have another expression “to get on someone’s nerves.” It means to make them feel anxious or worried – to bother them. Jason says his “nerves are shot.” When we say something is “shot,” we mean it’s worn out; it’s tired; it doesn’t work anymore correctly. “Shot” has a couple of different meanings in English; take a look at our Learning Guide for some additional explanations.
Jason说，“It’s nothing (meaning I don’t have that many problems). I’ll just take a pill for my stomach”-能够减轻胃疼的药物。 Wei说，“That won’t solve the problem (that won’t end the problem). Look at you. You look worn out.” 当某个人说“look at you,”他们是说你有点不对劲；你需要认清一些你不知道的事。 “You look worn out,”Wei说。 “worn (worn) out”是指你狠疲惫。 “我刚刚和我五岁的侄子一起玩耍，现在筋疲力尽了。”-我现在很累；我的侄子还很有活力，但是我，一个老人！ Wei说，“Are you losing sleep, too?” “lose sleep”意思是晚上不能入睡，通常是因为你很有压力。 有一个短语“I’m not going to lose any sleep over it,”意思是我不会担心这件事。 在这里，Wei问道，“Are you losing sleep?” Jason说，“I have had trouble sleeping.” Wei说，“It’s no wonder.” 当我们说某件事“no wonder,”意思是这件事没什么好惊讶的。 她说，“At home, you have the demands of raising two kids on your own.” “demands”是指Jason需要做的事情。 他抚养两个孩子有很多事情要做，意思是孩子的母亲不在家；他是唯一一个抚养孩子长大的人。 她继续说，“at work, you’re in a dog-eat-dog environment everyday.” 短语“dog-eat-dog”意思是竞争激烈的。 某个人说，“This is a dog-eat-dog business,”他们是说这个生意不好做；有很多竞争对手；很多人想做的比别人好。 Jason说，“I have to admit that my nerves are shot, but what can I do?” “nerves,”在这里，是指焦虑担心的感受。 有一个短语是“to get on someone’s nerves.” 意思是让他们感到焦虑。 Jason说他的“nerves are shot.” 当我们说某件事“shot,”意思是疲惫了；不能再正常工作了。 “Shot”在英语中有几种不同意思；看看学习指导中一些其他解释。
Wei says, “Maybe we can work something out.” To “work something out” is an expression that means to be able to find a solution for a problem – to find a way to be able to do something. Wei says, “To start, how about if I watch your kids for a few hours this weekend so you can get some rest?” Wei is offering to go over and take care of Jason’s two children, so Jason can have some time to rest and not worry about taking care of the children. Jason says, “I couldn’t ask you to do that,” meaning no, it’s not right for me to ask you to do that. He says, “You have to take care of your own kids.” Wei has children that she has to take care of. Wei says, “So, what’s two more?” meaning having two more children will not be a problem for me. Jason replies, “If you really don’t mind (if it’s really not a problem), I’ll take you up on that.” To “take someone up on something” means to accept someone’s offer, to agree to do what someone else has suggested to you. Usually it’s when someone is offering to help you. Jason says, “I could use a breather.” A “breather” (breather) is a break; a rest; a short period of time when you don’t have to do anything. If you’re working very hard with someone, you might say, “Let’s take a breather” – let’s take a break; let’s stop working for a short time so we can rest. Wei says, “It’s set, then,” meaning okay, we’ve agreed. “Here,” she says, “take one of these pills” – for Jason’s stomach, we can guess. She says, “If it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger.” This is sort of a funny expression: “if it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger”– it will make you stronger. It means that things that are difficult often help people be better, as long as they’re not too difficult. Jason says, “Thanks!”
Wei说，“Maybe we can work something out.” “work something out”是一个短语意思是找到问题的解决办法。 Wei说，“To start, how about if I watch your kids for a few hours this weekend so you can get some rest?” Wei是在请求去照顾Jason的两个孩子，那么Jason就有时间休息，不用担心没人照顾孩子了。 Jason说，“I couldn’t ask you to do that,”意思是不，我不应该叫你那么做。 他说，“You have to take care of your own kids.” Wei必须要照顾孩子。 Wei说，“So, what’s two more?”意思是我再带两个孩子应该没什么问题。 Jason回答说，“If you really don’t mind (if it’s really not a problem), I’ll take you up on that.” “take someone up on something”意思是接受某个的请求。 通常在某个人自愿提供帮助时会用到。 Jason说，“I could use a breather.” “breather” 是指休息；没事情做的一段时间。 如果和某个人合作很辛苦，你就可以说，“Let’s take a breather”-我们休息一下吧。 Wei说，“It’s set, then,”意思是，好吧，就这样定了。 “Here,”她说，“take one of these pills”-因为Jason胃痛。 她说，“If it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger.” 这是个搞笑的表达方式：“if it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger”-它会让你更加强壮。 意思是艰难的事情常常会让人更好，因为他们也不是那么的难。 Jason说，“Thanks作者: lisor 时间: 2011-12-2 00:11
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