"布朗尼加分"口语课堂:艰难的决定
可可网友们，大家好。今天我们要说的是有关选择的事儿。有人说，有选择总是好的，有人说，选择带来痛苦，你总无法确定自己选的那个是不是最正确的。故事里的Lisa就是个害怕做出选择，选了还总选错的人。
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.
汉语中，我们常用“温床”来比喻安逸的状态和环境，英语中的表达法类似，不过似乎更浪漫些，a bed of roses，一张铺满玫瑰的床。比如：My job is no bed of roses. I get a good salary, but I have to work long hours. 我的工作没那么轻松。虽然我薪水丰厚，但我不得不长时间的工作。
面对选择的时候谁都不可能总会觉得很轻松，不过像Lisa这样，每次你问她做了什么决定，却总是beat around the bush and never gave a direct answer。Beat around the bush打周围的灌木丛，却不打该打的目标。我们用这个短语表示waste time by not giving a direct answer，因为不给出正确答案而浪费时间。
不过，就算Lisa做了决定，却也总是bark up the wrong tree，认错了人；选错了对象。 再比如：He barks up the wrong tree if he thinks he can fool me. 如果他认为可以愚弄我的话，他就认错人了。
Lisa也希望能改变这样的状况，但就在她下定决心做出改变之后，却发现不知道该做什么去改变。这次决定对Lisa来说，是the last straw, 字面意思是“最后的稻草”，英语中有The last straw breaks the camel’s back. 最后一根稻草压断骆驼的背。现在常用the last straw表示the final thing after a series of bad things, the things that finally makes you angry. 终于使人无法忍受的最后一击。再比如：Everything’s gone badly this week, and today I lost my wallet! That’s the last straw. 这一周什么事情都不顺，今天又丢了钱包。这简直让我忍无可忍了。
经过最后一次尝试，Lisa彻底放弃了改变的想法。In a nutshell, nutshell, 坚果的壳儿。不过这个短语的引申意思和坚果没有什么关系，它相当于in a few words，“简而言之”。简而言之，像Lisa这样的人不太擅长做决定。
Well, our goodbye question: What do you do when you beat around the bush? See you next time.
