本课您将学到：kill(杀人？)It's not that big of a deal!(没什么大不了！)

　　今天接着讨论关于吸烟的话题。

　　上次说到青年人吸烟的两个主要原因，一个是peer pressure，另一个是advertisement。其实，还有一个原因也很重要，那就是家庭的影响。

　　Macy comes home and finds her little brother Greg sitting in the kitchen looking guilty.

　　Macy: Why does it reek of smoke in here?

　　Greg: Er…I was cooking some eggs and…

　　Macy: Don't lie(说谎) to me. You were smoking, weren't you?

　　Greg: I just had a few puffs, and I didn't even like it.

　　Macy: Good. Dad would kill you if you started smoking.

　　Greg: Who do you think I got the cigarette from?

　　啊哈，原来是Dad干的“好事”！没办法，姐姐只好改口：

　　Macy: But smoking is for adults(成年人).

　　Greg: It's not that big of a deal! Everyone at school smokes.

　　Macy: And if everyone at school decided to jump off a bridge(桥), would you join them?

　　姐弟俩的对话，总是会不知不觉变成抬杠，呵呵……

　　Greg: Well, what do you want me to do? My two best friends smoke, and when I don't join them, they laugh at me.

　　Macy: I know all about peer pressure. It's just not worth it to give in.

　　弟弟对姐姐的说教有点不耐烦了，警告她说：

　　Greg: One day I'll be an adult, and you won't be able to tell me what to do.

　　Macy: In the meantime, trust me on this one. Don't start something you may not be able to stop.

　　当姐姐真是不容易，你说呢？

　　【世博读书笔记】

　　Macy和Greg是姐弟俩，这天，姐姐回家发现弟弟正满脸羞愧地坐在厨房里，怎么会事？reek是不及物动词，与of连用表示“散发出浓烈气味(通常指不好的味道)”，如：He reeks of whisky.他满口散发出威士忌酒味。Greg则把厨房搞得“烟”熏火燎的(Why does it reek of smoke)，还假装说自己是在煎蛋(I was cooking some eggs)。

　　姐姐当场揭穿，他还不忘狡辩，不过抽了几口(a few puffs)而已嘛，再说我根本不喜欢那个味道。puff是可数名词，表示“(抽)一口烟”，如：The manager took a puff at his cigarette.经理抽了一口烟。我们吹出的一口气，也可以用这个词来表示，如：He blew out three candles with a single puff.他一口气吹灭了三根蜡烛。

　　姐姐幸灾乐祸地说Good，老爸知道了一定会kill你！kill在这里当然不是“杀人”的意思，而是“对...发怒”的意思，口语中我们经常能听到这样的话：The boss will kill me if he finds out.老板知道了,会对我大发脾气的。弟弟有恃无恐，原因很简单：你以为我是从谁哪得到烟的？(Who do you think I got the cigarette from?)

　　这下，姐姐没了尚方宝剑，只好拿年龄问题堵弟弟的嘴，抽烟是成年人的事(smoking is for adults)，小孩子不能染指。可弟弟似乎认为Children and grown-ups should have equal rights.(儿童和大人应该享有同样的权利，grown-up也可以表示“成年人”)，所以对姐姐的批评不以为然，那又怎么样！(It's not that big of a deal!)学校里每个人都抽烟。(Everyone at school smokes.)每个人都吸烟当然不可能，不过我们应该理解弟弟这种不服气的心情，当你觉得某件事没什么大不了的，也可以放胆说一声：It's not that big of a deal!或者What's the big deal!

　　A: I caught a fish twice that big last week.(上星期我钓到的鱼有那条的两倍大。)

　　B: What's the big deal! I've caught a fish twice bigger than yours.(那算什么！我还钓到过比你的大两倍的鱼呢！)

　　弟弟自以为回答得很潇洒，没想到被姐姐抓住了把柄，反问他：如果学校里的人都去跳河，你也去吗？(if everyone at school decided to jump off a bridge, would you join them?)

　　弟弟理亏词穷，口气软了下来：你到底想要我怎么样？(what do you want me to do?)我的两个好朋友都吸烟，如果我不干，他们会嘲笑(laugh at)我的。人们就是这样，往往因为别人和自己不同就互相嘲笑，就像“老友记”中的Phebo不就经常会有这样的遭遇嘛：They all laughed at her queer idea.(他们都嘲笑她的怪念头。)

　　姐姐对这种peer pressure也深有体会，但我们不能因为这样就让步(give in)啊！根本不值得嘛！(It's not worth it.)当然，每个人价值观不同，所以对值得或不值得的看法也不相同，不过，我的许多同事在看过《英雄》这部电影时都是这样评价的：It's not worth it, you'd better rent a video instead.(没什么意思，还是租影碟吧。)所以，至今我也没去看这部电影。

　　弟弟显然不赞同姐姐的看法，走着瞧，总有一天(One day)，我成年了，你就再也不能对我指手画脚了。(you won't be able to tell me what to do.)姐姐并不放弃，因为在此期间(In the meantime，也可以说成meanwhile)，也就是在你未成年之前，在这件事上你还得相信我，(trust me on this one)告诉你一个做人的原则就是：别做你控制不了的事。(也就是别染上你戒不掉的毛病。)

　　(本栏目是由世博英语(360abc.com)大妮子原创编写！从零开始，循序渐进，地道英语，轻松入门！未经书面授权，请勿转载！)