Kelly: Hey, Jim. Listen to this: I called Billy's home……
Jim: And?
Kelly: His number is no longer in service. Then I called his company……
Jim: What did they say?
Kelly: They said they gave him the boot months ago.
Jim: Holy smokes! What's he doing, then? I hope he's OK.
Kelly: You know his girlfriend…… try giving her a call.
（A day later.）
Jim: Guess what, Kelly? Linda and Billy broke up.
Kelly: Does she know where he is?
Jim: It sounds like she never wants to hear his name again, that wench!
Kelly: I thought they were in love.
Jim: I think she loved his promises of the easy life. Maybe Billy's too ashamed now to contact us.
Kelly: Let's keep trying his other friends to try to track him down.
Notes：
1. 对话中Kelly 和Jim在四处打探Billy的下落，Kelly给Billy家打电话，但是他家的电话已经停机了。Be in service 表示“可供使用的”，那么be out of service的意思就是“无法使用的”。
2. 然后Kelly又给Jim的公司打了电话，但是他们说几个月前Billy就被解雇了。Give someone the boot这个短语就表示“请某人走路，解雇某人”。一般来说，表示“解雇”这个意义的正式说法是“I was laid off.”
3. 如果要口语化一点，就是“I was fired.” 或者“I was canned.” 对话中的give someone the boot也可以表示“解雇”这个意义，我们一个对话来做例子，比如说：——Have you heard of it? Tom's given the boot! 你听说了吗？汤姆被解雇了。——Wow! It's unbelievable! 哇！真叫人无法想信！
4. 除了“解雇”这个意思之外，give someone the boot也可以表示“和某人断绝关系”，不过这里的关系通常是指男女关系。比如说：——Hey, Julie. Where's Peter? I thought he was coming. 嘿，Julie，Peter呢？我以为他也会来呢。——No, I gave him the boot. He was too possessive.没有，我把他甩了。他的占有欲太强了。
5. Jim对这个消息感到很吃惊，他说“Holy smokes!”，在口语中表示“天哪！”，跟“Oh, God!”差不多。Kelly让Jim打电话给Billy的女朋友，问问她知不知道Billy的下落。但是Jim带回来的消息却是，Billy和女朋友Linda已经分手了。她根本不知道Billy在哪，而且再也不想听到这个倒霉的人的名字了。Jim很气愤，说Linda是wench，wench在口语中表示“可恶的女人”，就跟bitch差不多。
6. Kelly还以为他们两个人是相爱的，没想到却大难临头各自飞，因为Linda看重的只是Billy承诺的轻松优越的生活。爱情事业都不得意，也许现在Billy没有脸跟朋友们联系了。Too ashamed to do something 表示“感到很羞愧而不能做某事”，比如说：He felt too ashamed to ask for help. 他不好意思请求帮助。
7. be ashamed of someone / something / oneself，表示“为某人/某事/为自己感到惭愧，感到羞耻”，比如说：You should be ashamed of yourself for telling such lies. 你应该为自己说谎而感到羞耻。He felt ashamed of having done so little work. 他因为只做了这么一点工作而感到惭愧。
8. Kelly还是不放弃希望，要继续打探Billy的消息。Track something /someone down，表示“经追踪或搜索而发现某人或某物”，比如说：I finally tracked down the reference in a dictionary of quotations.
www.qidian55.com股市最红火的时候几乎是全民皆股，可自从去年调整印花税以来，股市一直是动荡不安，被套的股民数不胜数。他们见面最常聊的就是“你的股票怎么样了”？
Kelly: So, Jim, how has everything been with you? Jim: My stocks are losing a little bit, but it's nothing too serious. Kelly: Of course! Stocks, stocks, stocks……Some things never change! Jim: Yeah. How have you been? Kelly: Good, except for all the counterfeit money my software business has been receiving lately. Jim: Really? Is that a big problem? Kelly: Yeah. So I have to invest in one of those machines that can detect fake bills. Jim: Why didn't you just buy one of those little things with a red light beam? Kelly: Those red beams can't sniff out the high-quality fakes. Jim: Sounds like a big hassle. Kelly: It's a drain on small business - a real sore spot.
Notes：
1. 对话中Kelly碰见了 Jim，两个人在谈论彼此的近况。询问近况，可以像对话中的那样，How has everything been with you? 还可以说How have you been? 或者How is everything going on with you?
2. Jim说最近自己的股票赔了一点，但是还不太严重。Kelly一听说股票就不耐烦了，股票，股票，总是股票，真是江山易改，本性难移。Some things never change! 这句话就是说，有些习惯永远改不了，说难听一点就是狗改不了吃屎。俗话说，牛牵到北京还是牛。这里大多数时候指的是坏习惯或者错误一犯再犯，所以下次如果你发现别人死性不改，就可以说这句话还表示你的无奈和抗议。我们来用一个对话做例子：——I can't believe Tom's late again! ——Well, some things never change. Just give him a call. ——真不敢相信汤姆又迟到了。——狗改不了吃屎，给他打个电话吧。
3. 那么Kelly最近怎么样呢？还不错，就是最近卖电脑软件总是收到伪钞，counterfeit money，意思就是伪钞。Counterfeit，既可以作名词，也可以作形容词，表示“伪造的，假冒的；赝品”，比如说，This ten-dollar bill is a counterfeit. 这张10美金的钞票是伪钞。
4. Kelly的问题还挺严重的，她不得不花钱买一台验钞机。这里我们可以看出，伪钞的另一种说法就是fake bills.Jim问为什么不买一支小小的带红光的机器呢？还要破费一大笔钱买一台验钞机。Kelly说那红光根本没有办法测出制作精良的伪钞。
5. 听起来还真伤脑筋。Sounds like a big hassle. hassle 这个词表示“麻烦”的意思，所以当你觉得某事做起来相当麻烦，就可以跟对方说这句话，委婉地表示“听起来真头痛。”我们用一个对话来做例子，——Oh, no! I forgot to put in the cables. I have to repack all these parcels. ——Sounds like a hassle. ——噢，不会吧！我忘了把电缆线放进去了，我还得重新打包。——听起来真是麻烦。 6. sniff sth/sb out 这个词组表示“发现某人，找出某人”，例如：They were determined to sniff out the murderer. 他们下定决心一定要找到杀人犯。Kelly抱怨说，小本生意加上金钱损失，实在是让人伤神啊。Sore spot，指“痛处”，这里是用来形容收到伪钞的痛苦。
www.qidian55.com股市最红火的时候几乎是全民皆股，可自从去年调整印花税以来，股市一直是动荡不安，被套的股民数不胜数。他们见面最常聊的就是“你的股票怎么样了”？
Jim: Speaking of losing money, have you heard from Billy lately?
Kelly: Not a peep. I haven't seen him since we had dinner together last time.
Jim: Same here. I know his stocks took a hit, though.
Kelly: Is it happening all over again - you know, Billy, losing money?
Jim: Well, I told him to invest in the HSI when it was above fifty-five hundred points.
Kelly: Over five thousand? Now it's hovering around four!
Jim: Yeah, that's what worries me…… for Billy's sake.
Notes：
1. 对话中Kelly 和Jim想起好长时间没有Billy的消息了。Hear from sb，这个词组表示“接到某人的来信，电话等”，也就是跟某人联系，有某人的消息，比如说，How often do you hear from your sister? 你多长时间收到你姐姐一次信？要跟hear of sb/sth区分开。Hear of sb表示“听说过或者知道某人某事物”，比如说，I've never heard of the place. 我从没听说过那个地方。
，谈谈股票吧(3)