今天李華和Michael一起吃午飯 的時候，聊起了李華的室友小陳。Michael在談話中教給李華兩個年輕人常用的詞：psycho和laid back.
    M: Hey Li Hua. You look a little upset about something. What's up?
    L: 哎，還不是我的室友，她今天又找我的麻煩，說是以后再也不讓我做中國菜，因為她受不了廚房里的油煙味。
    M: She said what? Your roommate is a psycho! She's crazy!
    L: 你剛才說她是什么？
    M: I called her a psycho. P-S-Y-C-H-O.
    L: 我猜想，a psycho 就是中文里常說的“神經(jīng)病”，對吧？
    M: That' right. Also, psycho was the name of a famous movie about a crazy person who killed people in a hotel.
    L: 嗯，我聽說過[驚魂記]這部電影。不過，你說我室友是個 psycho，你不是真的以為她發(fā)瘋了吧？
    M: Well, I guess she isn't crazy. Usually we just call someone with strange behavior, and a bad unpredictable temper, a psycho.
    L: Bad, unpredictable temper，無緣無故亂發(fā)脾氣，哎呀，這簡直說的就是我室友嘛。Michael，再給我舉幾個psycho的例子好嗎？
    M: Well, my last boss was a real psycho. One time, I came to work one minute late, and he yelled at me in front of everyone.
    L: 真的？ 他當(dāng)著很多人的面罵你啊。這種人真是有毛病。哎，你可不可以想想看，還有什么psycho的例子呢？
    M: Well, ask any American, and they'll probably tell you about some famous serial killer, they are psychos.
    L: 噢，psycho也可以真的指一個心理變態(tài)的殺人狂。
    M: That's right. We might call someone who kills people for no reason a psycho.
    L: 這么說， 我那個室友倒是沒那么嚴(yán)重了，可我總得想辦法和她好好相處，你說對不對， Michael？
    M: Well, when is your apartment lease going to expire? You can always ditch your psycho roommate and find a new one.
    L: 好主意，我們公寓的租約還有兩個月就到期了。到時候我就可以搬出去了。
    ### ### ###
    M: Well, let's look at the roommate wanted ads in the paper.
    L: 你說我們來看看“尋找室友”的廣告啊。讓我來看看，這條廣告說Wanted: friendly, laid back female roommate to share a two bedroom apartment.Michael，這個“l(fā)aid back”是什么意思?。?BR>    M: Laid back, laid, L-A-I-D; back, B-A-C-K. Describes someone who does not get angry or excited easily. This person doesn't want a psycho roommate.
    L: 噢，laid back 是形容一個人個性比較隨和，不會輕易發(fā)脾氣。Michael，你覺不覺得我脾氣很好，很容易相處?。?BR>    M: Well, I guess so. Usually you are laid back. But, not always……
    L: 你這是什么意思，干嗎吞吞吐吐的，有話直說嘛。
    M: Well, remember when you got angry at your roommate for breaking your bicycle and then blaming you?
    L: 我承認(rèn)那次我很生氣，但那是因為我的室友先對我無理取鬧啊。
    M: And you certainly weren't very laid back when she tricked you on April Fool's day.
    L: 就是嘛， 那次也是因為她在愚人節(jié)捉弄我才惹我發(fā)脾氣的。
    M: Well and then your roommate……
    L: 夠了，夠了，別再提我的室友了，我每次生氣都是被她害的。
    M: You're right, Li Hua. She's the problem, not you. You'd better find a new, laid back roommate.
    L: 對，我們趕快看廣告吧。 你看這個廣告說：Asian girl, seeks female roommate for two bedroom apartment. Call Xiaoli Chen. 我的天 哪，這是我室友嘛 .她居然在瞞著我登廣告。真把我氣死了。
    今天李華學(xué)會兩個新詞，一個是psycho，指的是一個人行為反常，愛發(fā)脾氣；另一個是laid back，就是個性比較隨和的意思。