Larry©M§õµØ¦b°Ó¶q¤U¬P´Á¤T¦³¨S¦³®É¶¡¥hÅ¥Àï¤h­µ¼Ö¡C¤µ¤Ñ§õµØ·|¾Ç¨ì¨â­Ó±`¥Î»y¡Gto play something by ear©Mstrapped.

LH: Larry, §Ú¬Ý¨ì¤@±iÀï¤h­µ¼Ö·|ªº®ü³ø¡C§Ú«Ü·Q¥h¡C«ç»ò¼Ë¡A§A¤U¬P´Á¤T¦³¨S¦³ªÅ¥hÅ¥©O¡H

LL: I don't know. I have several papers due next week and I'm not sure if I'll have time. Let's play it by ear, okay?

LH: «z¡A§A¤U¬P´Á±o¥æ¦n´X¥÷³ø§i°Ú¡H¨ºªÖ©w¨S¦³ªÅ¤F¡C«u¡A§A­è¤~»¡¡G Let's play it by ear¡C§A·Qª±¤°»ò°Ú¡Hª±¦Õ¦·¡H

LL: No! "To play something by ear" is to wait and see if something is possible and to be flexible rather than set any firm plans.

LH: ¾¾¡Aplay something by ear´N¬O·Q°µ¤@¥ó¨Æ¡A¥i¬O¤S¤£¯à½T©w¬O§_¥i¯à¡A¥u¦n¨ì®É­Ô¬Ý±¡ªp¦A»¡¡A´N¹³¤¤¤åùØ»¡ªº¡§¬Ý±¡ªp¦Ó©w¡¨¡I

LL: Right. I just can't make any definite plans right now, so I prefer to play it by ear.

LH: ©Ò¥H§A­è¤~ªº·N«ä¬O¡A§A­n¦Aµ¥µ¥¬Ý¯à¤£¯à¤Î®É¼g§¹³ø§i¡AµM«á¤~¯à½T©w¯à¤£¯à¥h­µ¼Ö·|¡I ¹ï¤F¡A§A¤£¬OµªÀ³§Ú¤U¬P´Á¤»¥h³Õª«À]¶Ü¡H§AÁÙ¯à¥h¶Ü¡H

LL: Oh, I forgot that I promised to go with you. Can we play that by ear, too?

LH: §A«ç»ò§âµªÀ³§Úªº¨Æ³£µ¹§Ñ¤F¡I§Ú¯S§O·Q¥h¨º­Ó³Õª«À]¡I§A¤£¯à¥h¤]±o¦­§i¶D§Ú¶Ü¡I

LL: Just because I want to play it by ear doesn't mean that we definitely won't go. It just means that I'm not certain.

LH: Larry¡A¤U¦^§A­n¬ù§Ú¤W¨º¨à¥h¡A§Ú¤]¾Ç§A»¡¡GLet's play it by ear, ¨ì®É­Ô¦A»¡¡I

LL: That's not fair, Li Hua. It's not my fault that I can't make any definite plans because I have so much work to do.

LH: ¦n°Õ¡A»¡¯uªº¡A³o¤]¤£¬O§Aªº¿ù¡C¨º§Ú­Ì¤]¥u¦n¬Ý±¡ªp¦A»¡¤F¡I

LL: All right, I'll call you the day before the concert to let you know if we should get tickets, okay?

LH¡G¨ì­µ¼Ö·|«e¤@¤Ñ¦A§i¶D§Ú¡A¨ºÁÙ¶R±o¨ì²¼§r¡I Let's play it by ear!

******

LL: Hey, Li Hua, I can't go to the concert with you. I'm sorry, but I'm really strapped for time.

LH: ¾¾¡ALarry¡A§A¤£¯à¥hÅ¥­µ¼Ö·|¡C¨SÃö«Y¡C§ÚÅ¥»¡²¼¤l¦­½æ§¹¤F¡C§A­è¤~»¡¡Gstrapped for time¡A¨º¬O¤°»ò·N«ä°Ú¡H

LL: Oh, to be "strapped" for time or money means that you don't have enough of it.

LH: ¾¾¡A§ÚÀ´¤F¡CStrapped for something´N¬O¯Ê¤Ö¤°»òªF¦è¡C§A¦]¬°¦³«Ü¦h³ø§i­n§¹¦¨¡A©Ò¥H¨S¦³®É¶¡¥hÅ¥­µ¼Ö·|¤F¡CYou're strapped for time¡C¹ï¶Ü¡H

LL: Exactly. I still have 20 pages to write by Friday.

LH: ¬P´Á¤­¥H«eÁÙ¦³20­¶ªº³ø§i­n¼g¡A¨º«Ü¦h­C¡I¨º¬P´Á¤»ÁÙ¥h³Õª«À]¶Ü¡H

LL: Yes¡II should be finished with everything by Friday, so I won't be strapped for time this weekend.

LH: §A¯uªº¯à¦b¬P´Á¤­¥H«e§â³ø§i³£¼g§¹§o¡I¨º§A³o­Ó¶g¥½´N¦³®É¶¡³­§Ú¥h¬Ý³Õª«À]¤F¡CYou'll not be strapped for time this weekend, right?

LL: Yes, I promise to go with you.

LH: ¨º¤Ó¦n¤F¡I§Ú«Ü°ª¿³³o­Ó¬P´Á¤»§Ú­Ì¯à¤@¶ô¨à¥X¥h¡A¦]¬°¤U­Ó¶g¥½§Ú´N­n¦£¤F¡AI will be strapped for time next weekend!

LL: Why? Do you have a paper due?

LH: ´N¬O°Ú¡C¤U­Ó¶g¥½¡A§Ú±o¼g§¹¤@½g­^¤å½Òªº³ø§i¡A©Ò¥HªÖ©w¤£¯à¥X¥h¤F¡C

LL: Let me know if you need any help with that. Listen, I'm sorry, but I'm too strapped for time to talk any more right now. I'll talk to you after Friday, okay?

LH: ¨S°ÝÃD¡Cµ¥§A¬P´Á¤­¼g§¹³ø§i¦A¥´¹q¸Üµ¹§Ú§a¡C

¤µ¤Ñ§õµØ¾Ç¨ì¨â­Ó±`¥Î»y¡C¤@­Ó¬Oplay something by ear, ´N¬O²{¦bÁÙ¤£¯à½T©w¡A­nµ¥¨ì®É­Ô¬Ý±¡ªp¦A»¡¡C¥t¤@­Ó±`¥Î»y¬Ostrapped, ¤]´N¬O¯Ê¥F¤°»ò¡A³q±`¬O«ü¯Ê¥F®É¶¡©Îª÷¿ú¡C

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