✶ 悲慘的生活 A Dog’s Life

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悲慘的生活

T = Mrs. Tsai           G = Grace

T:    Honey, you look exhausted.

G:   I am. All I want to do is crawl back in bed.

T:    That sounds nice, but it’s a school day. Did you stay up late?

G:   Yes. It’s really a dog’s life preparing for exams.

T:    I know. It can be really tough.

G:   Tell me about it. I’m so tired that I can’t think straight.

T:    Well, you can sleep in on Saturday.

G:   Huh? I’m sorry. I think I just dozed off for a minute.

a dog’s life

a dog’s life 字面上的意思為「狗的生活」。以前的狗兒不像現在當寵物這麼幸福，有些狗兒甚至會被當成食物吃掉。a dog’s life 即用來形容如狗般「悲慘不快樂的生活」。

•   Gary has to work three jobs to support his family. It’s really a dog’s life.
蓋瑞得做三份工作才有辦法養家。日子真的很苦。

•   The young actress said that her family used to live a dog’s life before she made it big in the film industry.
那位年輕女演員說她在電影業走紅前，她和家人曾過著很悲慘的生活。

蔡太太：寶貝，妳看起來累壞了。
葛瑞絲：我是啊。我現在只想爬回床上。
蔡太太：聽起來很棒，不過今天妳要上學。妳熬夜了嗎？
葛瑞絲：對啊。準備考試的生活真不是人過的。
蔡太太：我知道。這真的很不容易。
葛瑞絲：那還用說嗎？我累到無法思考了。
蔡太太：嗯，妳星期六可以睡久一點。
葛瑞絲：呃，什麼？抱歉。我想我剛打瞌睡了。

下列是一些與狗兒相關的有趣俚語：
work like a dog　　拚命地工作
work like a dog 字面上的意思是「像狗一樣地工作」，這是因為從人類的早期農業社會開始，狗兒就被賦予許多任務，因此用來比喻「拚命工作」。
•   Linda works like a dog to make enough money in order to buy a house.
琳達為了要存錢買棟房子而拚命工作。

Every dog has its day.　　
人都有得意的一天。（喻）風水輪流轉。
此俚語字面意義表「每隻狗都有牠得意的一天」，用來表示人總會有幸運、成功的時候，即中文所說的「風水輪流轉」。
•   Every dog has its day. Ed finally got a promotion.
風水輪流轉。艾德終於升官了。

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.　　老狗學不會新把戲。
這句話字面意思為「你無法教老狗學會新把戲」，近似中文成語「朽木不可雕也」；有時也可用來比喻一個人積習難改、無藥可救，或是用來罵人江山易改，本性難移。
•   The saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” doesn’t apply to my grandpa. He learns new things all the time.
「老狗學不會新把戲」這句諺語不適用於我爺爺。他總是不斷地在學習新事物。

      1.    exhausted [ ɪgˋzɔstɪd ] a. 精疲力竭的
•   Terry was exhausted by the long trip.
=    Terry was worn out by the long trip.
這趟長途旅行讓泰瑞精疲力竭。

      2.    crawl [ krɔl ] vi. 爬
•   The climbers crawled across those rocks carefully.
那群登山客小心翼翼地爬過那些石頭。

      3.    stay up　　熬夜
            =    sit up
•   I stayed up until 2 a.m. studying English.
我熬夜到半夜兩點唸英文。

      4.    prepare for...　　為……作準備
•   The basketball team has prepared for the game for a long time.
這支籃球隊已經為這場比賽準備很久了。

      5.    tough [ tʌf ] a. 艱難的
•   The team promised to complete the tough task on time.
該團隊承諾會準時完成這項艱難的任務。

      6.    Tell me about it.　　      我也是這麼覺得。∕還用你說嗎？∕我早就知道了。
•   A:   I get so annoyed with Henry!
    B:   Tell me about it. He drives me nuts.
   甲：我真的很氣亨利耶！
   乙：我也是這麼覺得。他讓我抓狂。

      7.    think straight　　正常思考，腦袋清楚
•   After he heard the news, Mark was so angry that he couldn’t think straight.
馬克聽到那消息後氣到無法正常思考。

      8.    sleep in　　賴床，睡懶覺（睡得很晚才起床）
             =    sleep late
•   People tend to sleep in during winter.
人們冬天往往會賴床。

      9.    doze off　　打瞌睡
•   The speech was so boring that he nearly dozed off.
這場演講太無聊，害他差點就打瞌睡了。