Chris: Man, I got two questions for you: What do you do? And how do you do it?
Man: I'm a stockbroker.
Chris: Stockbroker. Oh, goodness. Had to go to college to be a stockbroker, huh?
Man: You don't have to. Have to be good with numbers and good with people. That's it.
Chris: Hey, you take care. I'll let you hang on to my car for the weekend. But I need it back for Monday.
Man: Feed the meter.
Chris: I still remember that moment. They all looked so damn happy to me. Why couldn't I look like that?
Chris: I'm gonna try to get home by 6. I'm gonna stop by a brokerage firm after work.
Linda: For what?
Chris: I wanna see about a job there.
Linda: Yeah? What job?
Chris: You know, when I... when I was a kid, I could go through a math book in a week. So I'm gonna go see about what job they got down there.
Linda: What job?
Chris: Stockbroker.
Linda: Stockbroker?
Chris: Yeah.
Linda: Not an astronaut?
Chris: Don't talk to me like that, Linda. I'm gonna go down and see about this, and I'm gonna do it during the day.
Linda: You should probably do your sales calls.
Chris: I don't need you to tell me about my sales calls, Linda. I got three of them before the damn office is even open.
Linda: Do you remember thatrent is due next week? Probably not. We're already two months behind. Next, next week we'll owe three months. I've been pulling double shifts for four months now, Chris. Just, just sell what's in your contract. Get us out of that business.
Chris: Linda, that is what I am trying to do. This is what I'm trying to do for my family, for you and for Christopher.
妙语佳句,活学活用
1. be good with
这个片语的意思是“灵巧的;与……相处得好”,正好对应了Have to be good with numbers and good with people 的两个用法。我们来看一些例子:She is good with her hands. 她手很巧。He is very good with the children. 他与这些孩子相处得很好。
2. hang on to
本意是“to hold firmly; keep fast抓住”,这里是Chris 和那个股票经纪人开的玩笑,意思是“I'll let you hang on to my car for the weekend. But I need it back for Monday.周末我这车就借你了,但是周一得还我。”
3. feed the meter
意思是“to put money in a parking meter; to pay for additional parking time”。在美国,路边停车白天必须打表计费。为了方便晚上居民停车,通常规定到了晚上一定时间,停车不需再打表计时,而周日整天都免费。这个片语是把计费的表比喻成动物,必须要用硬币来喂。我们来看个例子:I've got to run and feed the meter -- I don't want to get a parking ticket! 我得赶快去交停车费了——我可不想被开罚单!Parking ticket的意思就是“违规停车罚单”。