Larry 和李華剛剛在餐館吃完飯。李華今天要學(xué)兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)doggie bag和back
burner.

    LL： This is waaaay too much food for me to finish. I guess I'd better
ask for a doggie bag.

    LH：怎么啦，你不會(huì)是想吐吧。

    LL： Huh？ No ！ I said I am going to ask for a doggie bag. That's
a bag that you use to take home leftover food from a restaurant.

    LH：我知道了，就是中國(guó)人說(shuō)的打包。你們叫"doggie bag"，是因?yàn)槊绹?guó)人
一般都把剩下的飯菜喂狗吧？可你沒(méi)有狗呀。

    LL： It's just a figure of speech. I 'm asking for a doggie bag because
I plan on eating the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

    LH：原來(lái)是你自己吃啊。美國(guó)人這種習(xí)慣真好。在中國(guó)，大家出去吃飯總要
點(diǎn)好多菜，根本吃不了，剩下的，有的就扔了。

    LL： The U.S. isn't so different. People originally used the phrase
"doggie bag" because they were embarrassed to admit they were saving food.

    LH：怪不得叫 "doggie bag" ，原來(lái)開(kāi)始的時(shí)候美國(guó)人也不好意思承認(rèn)自己
節(jié)儉，所以說(shuō)是要喂狗。美國(guó)人真覺(jué)得這樣做丟人嗎？

    LL： Hmm……well， in the U.S. you wouldn't ask for a doggie bag at
a really nice restaurant， or on a formal occasion. But otherwise most
people would rather ask for a doggie bag than waste food.

    LH：所以說(shuō)，在高級(jí)飯店和正式場(chǎng)合一般不打包，但除此之外，打包就很正
常了。中國(guó)現(xiàn)在也差不多，打包越來(lái)越普遍，不過(guò)我們用的是飯盒。

    LL： Yeah ， same here. But even though the food usually goes in a
box ， people still use the term "doggie bag".

    LH：美國(guó)人真把剩飯剩菜喂狗嗎？

    LL：（Chuckles） The food from doggie bags can make a dog fat ！

    LH：不光是狗，經(jīng)常在外面吃，人也會(huì)變胖的。賬單來(lái)了。你得要 "doggie
bag"了。

    LL：（To the waiter ） Excuse me， could I get a doggie bag for this
please？

    ******

    LH： Larry，剛才說(shuō)了半天 "doggie bag".我還真想養(yǎng)只小狗。

    LL： I know ， you've mentioned that before. But you'd better just
put that on the back burner for now.

    LH：把什么放在爐子上？你在說(shuō)什么呀？

    LL： I said put it on the back burner. That means ， you should give
your idea of owning a dog low priority， and wait until it is more practical
or convenient.

    LH：你是說(shuō)我養(yǎng)狗不現(xiàn)實(shí)，所以不要著急，應(yīng)該暫時(shí)放一放。其實(shí)，我要是
真的養(yǎng)條狗也沒(méi)有什么不可以，就是要做出一些犧牲罷了。

    LL： Really ， you should just put it on the back burner. Taking care
of a pet requires money and time.

    LH：你說(shuō)得也對(duì)，養(yǎng)狗又花時(shí)間，又費(fèi)錢，確實(shí)應(yīng)該等畢業(yè)有工作了再說(shuō)。
我真恨不得馬上畢業(yè)。

    LL： I know ！ I have to put so many things on the back burner while
I'm in school …… I feel like I have no life ！

    LH： Larry，你都想干些什么呢？

    LL： Well ， for instance ， Jack and I were working together on an
online business ， but I am too busy with school to work on it often.
I had to put that on the back burner.

    LH：你和Jack要合作在網(wǎng)上做生意，真有兩下子呀！

    LL： It's on the back burner right now. You know， I was in a rock
band for a while， but I put that on the back burner as well.

    LH：（Laughs）搖滾樂(lè)隊(duì)？不會(huì)吧。Larry ，我聽(tīng)過(guò)你唱歌，你不會(huì)真想當(dāng)
搖滾歌星吧？（Cell Phone Rings）是你的電話。

    LL： Whoa ， it's Angie. I'll talk to you later ， Li Hua. I've got
to answer this. I'm going to ask Angie out this weekend.

    LH：誰(shuí)？你不是要跟Cindy 約會(huì)嗎？怎么又變成Angie 了。你可不能腳踏兩
條船啊。

    LL： Cindy？ Well ， earlier this week， she left for study abroad
in Europe ， so I had to put her on the back burner.

    LH：（Groans） Whatever ， Larry！

    今天李華學(xué)到了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是Doggie bag，意思是在外面吃完飯打包
用的盒子。還有一個(gè)是back burner ，意思是暫時(shí)不考慮。