Larry下班后跟李华一起吃晚饭。今天我们要学两个常用语： hothead和even keel. LH: Larry, 今天上班忙吗？ LL: Well, to be honest Li Hua, it was a bit stressful. One of our ad campaigns was not successful and my boss had a total meltdown. He is such a hothead. LH: A hothead? 你是说老板性情急躁，动不动就发脾气吗？ LL: Yes, exactly, a hothead means someone who gets very angry very quickly. When something makes a hothead mad, you absolutely do not want to be around him. LH: 没错，急脾气的人要是生气了，最好是离他们远点，否则一不小心就成了出气筒。 LL: That is exactly right, a hothead can really be dangerous sometimes, though often they'll just throw a tantrum and be done with it. LH: 他们倒是出气了，可旁边的人却要跟着倒霉。快说说，你们老板当时什么反应？ LL: Well, when he heard that the campaign was not successful, he blamed ME. He was such a hothead, he slammed down his coffee mug and broke it. LH: 那咖啡还不洒得到处都是？ LL: It got all over his shirt. This got him even angrier. LH: 太可怕了。我有个同学，就是典型的hothead。 LL: In what way, Li Hua? LH: 比方说吧，前不久他的一篇作文，教授只给了C，他气得脸红脖子粗，竟然把课本一下子扔到地上。He is such a hothead. LL: Wow, what did your professor do? LH: 教授当时已经走了，可教室里还有很多人，大家都没想到他的脾气如此暴躁。对了，刚才说到一半，那你们老板是什么时候消的气呢？ LL: He didn't talk to anyone for the rest of the day. He just stormed off to his office. Because he was such a hothead, no one dared to knock on his door. LH: 可想而知，办公室里的气氛肯定一天都好不了。 LL: Well, the afternoon actually turned out alright. LH: Oh? And why was that? LL: Once he stormed off, the boss was out of everyone's hair for the rest of the day. It was pretty relaxing from there on out. ****** LH: Larry, 广告没做好，你那些同事是不是也特别气馁？ LL: No one was happy, of course, but I would say that everybody managed to keep an even keel. LH: An even what? LL: Even keel. It means to stay calm or keep your cool, like a boat on calm water. LH: 我明白了，even keel就是情绪稳定。老板发那么大的火，换成我，肯定没法保持even keel. LL: I'll admit I was pretty nervous when my boss became such a hothead, but I was able to maintain an even keel. LH: 还好你没有过于激动，在这种情况下，是很容易说错话的。 LL: Exactly, I find that when I'm at work, the best policy is to always try to keep an even keel. That way I can speak clearly and be focused on what I have to do. LH: 我觉得，你们老板真应该去上Anger Management控制情绪的课。 LL: That's right. He was such a hothead. LH: 你发现没有，身边有个脾气急躁的人，自己也容易受影响。 LL: That's true, Li Hua, sometimes being around someone who is worked up can get you feeling pretty tense as well. LH: 反过来说，周围人都保持镇静，发脾气的人也容易冷静下来。 LL: Yes. It was good that only my boss lost his cool and everyone else kept an even keel. It would have been a very stressful afternoon otherwise. LH: 一点没错。 LL: What about you, Li Hua? When your classmate became such a hothead, were you able to keep an even keel? LH: 我跟本没想到that guy was such a hot head. 吓得我赶快收拾东西开遛。不过说实话，作文得低分，是挺让人沮丧的。 LL: I thought you always did well on papers. LH: 我上个月宏观经济学的作文就得了C+。 LL: You seem to have recovered from the shock though. LH: Yes, now I am keeping a pretty even keel. LL: That's good. I don't want to have to deal with a hothead. 今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是 hothead, 意思是脾气急躁的人。另一个是even keel, 意思是情绪平静。