Larry在學(xué)校的電腦室里見(jiàn)到了李華。李華今天要學(xué)會(huì)兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)ASAP和crank out.
    LL: Hey Li Hua! What are you working on? A paper?
    LH: 不是，我在寫申請(qǐng)威廉森中國(guó)歷史獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金的申請(qǐng)書(shū)。
    LL: What? But that's due tomorrow! You'd better finish that ASAP.
    LH: 我知道明天是申請(qǐng)的最后期限，所以我在趕吶。ASAP, 那是什么意思?。?BR>    LL: ASAP means "as soon as possible". You need to finish that application as soon as possible!
    LH: 噢，原來(lái)ASAP就是盡快 - as soon as possible 的縮寫。 Larry，那你為什么不說(shuō)as soon as possible而是說(shuō)ASAP呢？
    LL: Well, people say "as soon as possible", but if you are in a hurry, it's easier to just say ASAP.
    LH: 匆忙的時(shí)候說(shuō)ASAP，這能節(jié)省多少時(shí)間呢， 頂多半秒鐘吧。
    LL: Well, it also sounds more forceful. For instance, if your boss tells you, "Li Hua, I need you to get this done ASAP!" you know that he is in a hurry!
    LH: 那倒是。ASAP聽(tīng)起來(lái)比較干脆，比較有力。
    LL: Or if your mechanic tells you that you car is leaking oil, and that you need to have it fixed ASAP, you'd better take his word for it.
    LH: 你別舉這種讓我倒霉的例子。不過(guò)，要是我的車漏油了，我當(dāng)然得盡快修理。I need to have it fixed ASAP.
    LL: Wait, Li Hua, you promised me yesterday that you would proofread my Chinese composition. Have you done that yet? I need to hand it in ASAP!
    LH: 天啊， 昨天我答應(yīng)幫你修改中文作文，我怎么把這件事給忘了呢？真的好對(duì)不起。那你今天下午交還來(lái)得及嗎？
    LL: I need to go to work ASAP, so I need to hand this in before I go.
    LH: （Sighs） 如果你一定要在上班之前把作業(yè)交上去， 那我現(xiàn)在就幫你看吧。
    LL: Thank you so much, Li Hua. You're such a good friend.
    （Larry returns to the computer lab later in the day.）
    LL: Hey Li Hua! I am back from work. Are you still working on that statement?
    LH: 是啊， 我還在寫申請(qǐng)。哎，Larry, 寫申請(qǐng)有什么竅門嗎？你怎么每次都寫得那么快呢？
    LL: Oh, I don't know. I guess because I have written so many of them, now it's easy for me to crank them out.
    LH: Crank them out? 這是什么意思呀？
    LL: To crank something out means to produce something quickly and mechanically, without much thought.
    LH: 嗯，To crank something out就是不需要太多思考，很機(jī)戒地做成某種事。
    LL: Well, when I was an undergraduate, I would just crank out essays and term papers, no problem. Of course, it's not that easy these days.
    LH: 我聽(tīng)說(shuō)了，你讀本科的時(shí)候是寫作高手， 論文和學(xué)期作文都難不倒你?，F(xiàn)在當(dāng)研究生就不一樣了；你要作大量研究才能有根有據(jù)地寫。
    LL: Exactly. So, did you ever just crank out essays when you were a student in China?
    LH: 當(dāng)然了，我在中國(guó)讀中學(xué)的時(shí)候， 半個(gè)小時(shí)就能crank out兩頁(yè)的政論文章。Larry, to crank out這個(gè)短語(yǔ)還能用在別的地方嗎？
    LL: Sure, for instance, at McDonald's, they crank out hundreds of hamburgers every day.
    LH: 麥當(dāng)勞每天制作成千上萬(wàn)個(gè)的漢堡包。這一點(diǎn)也不錯(cuò)。
    LL: And Hollywood cranks out stupid action movies every other week.
    LH: 我從來(lái)不看好萊塢制作的那種武打片，所以我就不太清楚了。
    LL: Anyway, I have another piece of homework for Chinese class that I need you to look at ASAP. Can you help me?
    LH: 沒(méi)問(wèn)題，我可以幫你看中文作業(yè)，不過(guò)你得幫我修改一下我寫的申請(qǐng)書(shū)。I need to drop it in the mail ASAP.
    LL: Ok, no problem. Show me what you've written so far.
    今天李華學(xué)到了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是ASAP, 意思是盡快。還有一個(gè)是crank out， 意思是不需多加思考地，機(jī)戒地制作某種東西。