They've probably been held up by the traffic.
對(duì) 話
Tom: You're not looking too cheerful.
Henry: Well I arranged with Bob and Chris to meet me here for a drink at seven o'clock. It's now a quarter to eight and neither of them has turned up.
Tom: I wouldn't give up hope. They've probably been held up by the traffic -
it's been very heavy for the past hour.
Henry: Even so, they should have turned up by now.
Tom: Well, I'd give them another quarter of an hour or so.
Henry: OK, but after that I'm going home.
湯姆：你看來不很高興。
亨利：我約了巴布和克里斯七點(diǎn)鐘在這里見面，喝杯東西?，F(xiàn)在七點(diǎn)四十五分了，兩人都還未見蹤影。
湯姆：我想他們會(huì)來的，應(yīng)該只是塞車，過去半小時(shí)，交通非?；靵y。
亨利：即使如此，他們現(xiàn)在也應(yīng)該到了。
湯姆：假如我是你，就會(huì)多等十五分鐘左右。
亨利：好吧，但再過十五分鐘，我就要回家去。
交通阻塞，往往使人時(shí)間上失了預(yù)算。要向朋友、同事等解釋遲到原因，可以說：I've been held up by the traffic。Hold up是‘阻止’或 ‘延誤’，例如：(1) An accident held up the traffic.（一件意外事故，阻礙了交通）。(2) Production was held up by the strike.（生產(chǎn)為罷工所阻）。
和以前談過的make up（化妝）、get (somebody/oneself) up（穿上特別或古怪服裝）等動(dòng)詞詞組一樣，hold up二字連起來也可作名詞，例如：There is a traffic hold-up because of road works.（由于道路工程，交通受阻）。
此外，hold up還可以指搶劫，多是指持槍打劫銀行、店鋪、車輛等，例如：(1) Three men held up the bank, and escaped with more than two million dollars.（有三個(gè)男人打劫銀行，搶去二百多萬元）。(2) During the bank hold-up, two cashiers were shot.（在這宗銀行劫案中，兩名出納員中槍）。這樣的hold up可不止是‘延誤’了。
留意I wouldn't give up hope、I'd (= I would) give them another quarter of an hour的說法。這其實(shí)是If I were you, I wouldn't give up hope和If I were you, I would give them another quarter of an hour的縮略。要給人家意見，即可用這句語法：不是說自己會(huì)怎樣做，而是說‘假如我是你，就會(huì)那樣做’。由于‘我是你’是不可能實(shí)現(xiàn)的假設(shè)，動(dòng)詞和輔助動(dòng)詞就用假設(shè)語態(tài)過去式were、would等。
對(duì) 話
Tom: You're not looking too cheerful.
Henry: Well I arranged with Bob and Chris to meet me here for a drink at seven o'clock. It's now a quarter to eight and neither of them has turned up.
Tom: I wouldn't give up hope. They've probably been held up by the traffic -
it's been very heavy for the past hour.
Henry: Even so, they should have turned up by now.
Tom: Well, I'd give them another quarter of an hour or so.
Henry: OK, but after that I'm going home.
湯姆：你看來不很高興。
亨利：我約了巴布和克里斯七點(diǎn)鐘在這里見面，喝杯東西?，F(xiàn)在七點(diǎn)四十五分了，兩人都還未見蹤影。
湯姆：我想他們會(huì)來的，應(yīng)該只是塞車，過去半小時(shí)，交通非?；靵y。
亨利：即使如此，他們現(xiàn)在也應(yīng)該到了。
湯姆：假如我是你，就會(huì)多等十五分鐘左右。
亨利：好吧，但再過十五分鐘，我就要回家去。
交通阻塞，往往使人時(shí)間上失了預(yù)算。要向朋友、同事等解釋遲到原因，可以說：I've been held up by the traffic。Hold up是‘阻止’或 ‘延誤’，例如：(1) An accident held up the traffic.（一件意外事故，阻礙了交通）。(2) Production was held up by the strike.（生產(chǎn)為罷工所阻）。
和以前談過的make up（化妝）、get (somebody/oneself) up（穿上特別或古怪服裝）等動(dòng)詞詞組一樣，hold up二字連起來也可作名詞，例如：There is a traffic hold-up because of road works.（由于道路工程，交通受阻）。
此外，hold up還可以指搶劫，多是指持槍打劫銀行、店鋪、車輛等，例如：(1) Three men held up the bank, and escaped with more than two million dollars.（有三個(gè)男人打劫銀行，搶去二百多萬元）。(2) During the bank hold-up, two cashiers were shot.（在這宗銀行劫案中，兩名出納員中槍）。這樣的hold up可不止是‘延誤’了。
留意I wouldn't give up hope、I'd (= I would) give them another quarter of an hour的說法。這其實(shí)是If I were you, I wouldn't give up hope和If I were you, I would give them another quarter of an hour的縮略。要給人家意見，即可用這句語法：不是說自己會(huì)怎樣做，而是說‘假如我是你，就會(huì)那樣做’。由于‘我是你’是不可能實(shí)現(xiàn)的假設(shè)，動(dòng)詞和輔助動(dòng)詞就用假設(shè)語態(tài)過去式were、would等。