Friends,中文译名为《六人行》或《老友记》是美国正在热播的一个sitcom (即situation comedy)也就是我们所说的情景喜剧。它之所以这么受欢迎，是因为其内容轻松，语言幽默，每每令人捧腹不已。对于英语学习者来说，我们更能从中学到不少地道的口语。现在就请大家和我一起感受其中的乐趣吧！

　　圣诞节快要到了，Chandler和老友们约好说这次圣诞节就他们六个人一起吃年夜饭,不准有其它约会(Just the six of us- dinner.)。

　　在大伙装饰圣诞树时，Phoebe说到了她新交的男友：

　　语音讲解：
　　　(点击右键“另存为”可下载语音)

　　Phoebe: I just- I just wanna be with him all the time. Day and night, and night and day... and special occasions...

　　Chandler: Wait a minute, wait a minute, I seeswheresthis is going, you're gonna ask him to New Year's, aren't you. You're gonna break the pact. She's gonna break the pact.

　　Phoebe: No, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, could I just…?

　　Chandler: Yeah, 'cause I already asked Janice.

　　Monica: What?!

　　Ross: C'mon, this was a pact! This was your pact!

　　Chandler: I snapped, okay? I couldn't handle the pressure and I snapped.

　　Monica: Yeah, but Janice? That-that was like the worst breakup in history!

　　Chandler: I'm not saying it was a good idea, I'm saying I snapped!

　　【世博视角】

　　刚刚坠入爱河的恋人们总是恨不得每天都粘在一起，就像Phoebe说得那样：I just wanna be with him all the time. Day and night, and night and day...(日日夜夜)，and special occasions...(还有一些特殊场合)。听到这儿，Chandler有点反应过来了：“Wait a minute, wait a minute, I seeswheresthis is going,这句话颇有点像我们中文所说的“我知道你葫芦里装的是什么药了"，圣诞节不就可以算是个“特殊场合”吗？所以Chandler猜测Phoebe想和他的男友一起过圣诞(you're gonna ask him to New Year's, aren't you.)，这样的话Phoebe就要打破他们先前的约定了(She's gonna break the pact)。pact就是“约定”的意思，它既可以指那些非常正式的，比方说国与国之间的互不侵犯协定(e.g. The two countries signed a non-aggression pact.),也可以是几个人之间的口头约定,譬如：We made a pact never to tell anyone about what had happened.

　　既然和别人有了约定就应该遵守，break the pact总是要被人骂的，所以当Chandler一语道破Phoebe的心思之后，她起先还一个劲地否认，最后才不好意思说：“Yeah, could I just…(是的，我能不能…?)”没料到Chandler居然也回答说Yeah,因为他自己也约了别人('cause I already asked Janice.)这下大伙都跳了起来，要知道那个pact可是Chandler提出来的,难怪Ross说：“This was your pact!”自知理亏的Chandler只得承认自己受不了新年没有约会的压力，出尔反尔(I couldn't handle the pressure and I snapped)。handle是一个常用的动词，看它的拼写我们就不难想象出它的意思，需要用hand来做的事情总是比较复杂的，因此handle就可解释为“处理”棘手的情况、问题或是人，比如：She's very good at handling difficult customers.而pressure (压力)就属难对付的情况之一，有些人就处理不好，像Chandler在压力之下就“啪”地一声被折断了( snap的基本含义.)。顺便说一下，handle也可作名词，表示“把手”,如：She turned the handle and pushed the door open.

　　Monica更是想不通Chandler为什么偏偏还要约他的前女友Janice,再和她分手之后,Chandler曾夸张地告诉大伙说那是史上最糟糕的分手(That was like the worst breakup in history!)面对Monica的诘问，Chandler只能辩解道：“我又没说这是个好主意，我说我受不了了嘛！(I'm not saying it was a good idea, I'm saying I snapped!)”

　　*本篇所讲到的地道表达法：

　　sign / make / break a pact

　　handle something / somebody

　　(本栏目是由世博英语(360abc.com)Starry_Night原创编写！让我们通过电影轻松学英语！未经书面授权，请勿转载！）