"布朗尼加分"口語課堂:艱難的決定
可可網友們，大家好。今天我們要說的是有關選擇的事兒。有人說，有選擇總是好的，有人說，選擇帶來痛苦，你總無法確定自己選的那個是不是最正確的。故事裏的Lisa就是個害怕做出選擇，選了還總選錯的人。
Lisa always wanted her life to be a bed of roses. She wanted everything to be easy and comfortable. But when she had a choice or decision to make, she could not do it. When you asked her what she was going to do, she always beat around the bush. She never gave a direct answer. And when she did decide something, she usually makes a mistake. She was always barking up the wrong tree. So, she decided to turn over a new leaf and change her life. But when she finally made up her mind to change, she couldn't decide what to do. That was the last straw. She realized that she would never change. In a nutshell, if you want to describe Lisa, you could say that she isn't good at making decision.
漢語中，我們常用“溫牀”來比喻安逸的狀態和環境，英語中的表達法類似，不過似乎更浪漫些，a bed of roses，一張鋪滿玫瑰的牀。比如：My job is no bed of roses. I get a good salary, but I have to work long hours. 我的工作沒那麼輕鬆。雖然我薪水豐厚，但我不得不長時間的工作。
面對選擇的時候誰都不可能總會覺得很輕鬆，不過像Lisa這樣，每次你問她做了什麼決定，卻總是beat around the bush and never gave a direct answer。Beat around the bush打周圍的灌木叢，卻不打該打的目標。我們用這個短語表示waste time by not giving a direct answer，因爲不給出正確答案而浪費時間。
不過，就算Lisa做了決定，卻也總是bark up the wrong tree，認錯了人；選錯了對象。 再比如：He barks up the wrong tree if he thinks he can fool me. 如果他認爲可以愚弄我的話，他就認錯人了。
Lisa也希望能改變這樣的狀況，但就在她下定決心做出改變之後，卻發現不知道該做什麼去改變。這次決定對Lisa來說，是the last straw, 字面意思是“最後的稻草”，英語中有The last straw breaks the camel’s back. 最後一根稻草壓斷駱駝的背。現在常用the last straw表示the final thing after a series of bad things, the things that finally makes you angry. 終於使人無法忍受的最後一擊。再比如：Everything’s gone badly this week, and today I lost my wallet! That’s the last straw. 這一週什麼事情都不順，今天又丟了錢包。這簡直讓我忍無可忍了。
經過最後一次嘗試，Lisa徹底放棄了改變的想法。In a nutshell, nutshell, 堅果的殼兒。不過這個短語的引申意思和堅果沒有什麼關係，它相當於in a few words，“簡而言之”。簡而言之，像Lisa這樣的人不太擅長做決定。
Well, our goodbye question: What do you do when you beat around the bush? See you next time.
