Larry 跟李華一起開高速，去李華親戚家過周末，由李華開車。今天我們要
學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語：take the fall 和tough it out.

    LH： Larry，今天路可真不好開，我有一種不好的預(yù)感。

    LL： What do you mean ？ Are you talking about your relatives ， or
are you referring to the possibility of an accident ？

    LH：快別說“出事”這個(gè)字，多不吉利！不過，我還真有點(diǎn)兒怕，更何況，
這輛車不在我的名下。

    LL： If there's an accident ， I may have to take the fall， Lihua.

    LH：什么叫take the fall ？

    LL： When someone 'takes the fall' for something， they are accepting
responsibility for another person's mistake.

    LH：哦，take the fall 原來是替別人承擔(dān)責(zé)任的意思。

    LL： Yes. For example ， if a company has a bad performance ， the
CEO may take the fall - basically accepting responsibility and making
himself the center of the blame ， so that the company can continue.

    LH：這么說，如果真出了車禍，你就要替我承擔(dān)責(zé)任了？

    LL： That's right ， Li Hua. I'll take the fall for you. This is my
car ， after all. It's registered in my name. So， I'll HAVE to take the
fall！

    LH：我看咱們還是停下來，由你開好了，否則真出了事，要你替我背黑鍋，
那多過意不去！

    LL： Hey， don't worry. Let's drive for a little longer ， because
I want to take a nap. I worked really late yesterday， remember ？

    LH：我怎么會(huì)忘！哪天咱們有了孩子，你這個(gè)工作狂要是整天不在家，I will
have to take the fall.

    LL： Don't worry - you wouldn't have to take the fall for that. I'd
be a responsible father and tell them myself， and I would accept full
responsibility！

    LH：說真的，Larry ，什么樣的情況下你愿意替我背黑鍋呢？

    LL： OK ， let me think. If you made your father angry， I would take
the fall.

    LH：那不算，我爸本來就不太喜歡你！

    LL： I know. So I have nothing to lose if I take the fall for you
for this！ Hahah！

    ******

    LH：還有一英里就可以下高速了，天好象也要放晴了。

    LL： Yeah ， it appears to be that way. We should be at your relatives'
house in a few minutes.

    LH：哎呀！Whoa（車打轉(zhuǎn)）……（輪胎剎軋聲，汽車打火聲）不好，車熄火
了。

    LL： Let me take a look. Oh wow. Total engine failure. Let's see.
You know what ？ We could just tough it out and walk to your relatives'
place.

    LH：什么？走去我親戚家？你瘋了吧？還有你說的tough it out，那是什么
意思�。�

    LL： Tough it out means to complete a task under difficult circumstances.
For example ， we need to complete our journey to your relatives' house.
But because the car is broken down， we have to walk outside in the cold
to finish the journey.

    LH：可你還是沒有說明白什么叫tough it out啊。

    LL： It's cold， and it will take longer， and we have to exert more
strength to do it. Because of this， it's tough - so we call it 'toughing
it out.'

    LH：你要做硬漢，可以自己去tough it out. 我可不愿意。

    LL： If you stay in the car ， two things can happen： you can get
even colder because there is no heat， and something bad could happen
to you. It's dangerous to be alone off the highway.

    LH：你是說會(huì)有壞人？那我只好跟你一起走了。

    LL： I think it's our only choice. If we tough it out together， we
can get to your relatives' house in about 15 minutes. We can get some
exercise！

    LH：那車怎么辦？就扔在這兒?jiǎn)幔?/p>

    LL： We'll bring our valuables， and I'll use the cell phone to call
a tow truck. If we just stand here to tough it out， we risk getting too
cold.

    LH： OK. Let's tough it out together， Larry！

    LL： Yeah ！ Let me grab our luggage. Just in case. But I'll carry
it. I can tough it out.

    LH： Larry，你告訴我，咱倆在一起，你有沒有在精神上覺得受不了的時(shí)候？

    LL： As a matter of fact， yes. When you went to do research in China
for three months， I had to tough it out.

    LH：是啊，那段日子我也覺得挺難熬的！I had to tough it out too.現(xiàn)在
好了，一切都過去了。

    今天李華學(xué)了兩個(gè)常用語。一個(gè)是take the fall ，意思是替別人承擔(dān)責(zé)任。
另一個(gè)是tough it out，意思是堅(jiān)持到底。