炒股失敗的，有的甚至傾家蕩產(chǎn)，還欠銀行的錢(qián)。Billy 就是一個(gè)不幸的倒霉蛋。這里還是要告訴大家：股市有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，入市須謹(jǐn)慎。
Kelly: You'll never guess what happened!
Jim: What? Tell me!
Kelly: You know now I'm looking for a new home?
Jim: Yeah. You said the housing market is thirty to forty percent lower than two years ago.
Kelly: Right. Well, the real estate agent took me to see Billy's old place!
Jim: Wow! He's really hit rock bottom!
Kelly: Yeah. It was almost creepy to see Billy's pad up for sale!
Jim: Oh. Something else a friend of Billy's told me...
Kelly: What's that?
Jim: The banks are leaning hard on Billy to return some unpaid loans.
Kelly: Maybe he left the city - or the country - to escape all this pressure.
Jim: I would too if I had collection agencies breathing down my neck!
Notes:
1. 看來(lái)Billy真的是夠倒霉的了。Kelly一直在找新房子，因?yàn)榉渴斜绕饍赡昵?，價(jià)錢(qián)低了三到四成。但是今天房屋中介帶Kelly去的就是Billy以前住的地方?？磥?lái)Billy真的是窮途末路了。Hit rock bottom 是“陷入低潮”的意思。這個(gè)短語(yǔ)是用來(lái)形容一個(gè)人正處于人生的“低潮”，也就是low point，心情跌倒谷底。這時(shí)候好像做什么事情都不順利，好像一瞬間所有壞運(yùn)氣都聚集到他身上，就像中文里面的“屋露偏逢連夜雨”。比如說(shuō)：
---Tom's wife left him after he lost his job. Tom丟了工作之后，老婆也離開(kāi)了他。
---Poor guy. He is definitely hit rock bottom.可憐的家伙。真是禍不單行，倒霉透頂。
---Don't let yourself hit rock bottom, turn yourself around before it's too late! 別讓自己陷入萬(wàn)劫不復(fù)的境地，在一切還沒(méi)有太晚之前浪子回頭吧。
---Thanks for the advice. 多謝你的提醒。
2. Kelly說(shuō)看到Billy的房子等著被拍賣(mài)實(shí)在讓人心底發(fā)毛。Jim還聽(tīng)說(shuō)銀行這個(gè)時(shí)候也在催Billy還一些未付清的貸款。也許Billy已經(jīng)離開(kāi)這里，甚至潛逃出境，來(lái)擺脫所有的壓力。Jim說(shuō)，如果討債公司死纏著我，我也會(huì)這么做。Collection agency 的意思是“討債公司”。
3. breathe down one's neck 表示“緊盯著某人”，小時(shí)候，如果你遲遲沒(méi)有交作業(yè)，你的老師會(huì)用緊迫盯人的辦法要你立即寫(xiě)完。Breath down one's neck 正是用來(lái)形容這樣的動(dòng)作，想象一下，如果有人在背后緊盯著你，近到連他的呼吸你都可以感覺(jué)到，相信在這樣的壓迫感之下，被盯著的人應(yīng)該馬上就能把該交的東西交出來(lái)吧！我們用一個(gè)對(duì)話來(lái)做例子：
---Are you coming home soon? 你快要回家了嗎？
---I can't. The boss is breathing down my neck for this report. 還不行。老板正盯著我要這份報(bào)告。
Kelly: You'll never guess what happened!
Jim: What? Tell me!
Kelly: You know now I'm looking for a new home?
Jim: Yeah. You said the housing market is thirty to forty percent lower than two years ago.
Kelly: Right. Well, the real estate agent took me to see Billy's old place!
Jim: Wow! He's really hit rock bottom!
Kelly: Yeah. It was almost creepy to see Billy's pad up for sale!
Jim: Oh. Something else a friend of Billy's told me...
Kelly: What's that?
Jim: The banks are leaning hard on Billy to return some unpaid loans.
Kelly: Maybe he left the city - or the country - to escape all this pressure.
Jim: I would too if I had collection agencies breathing down my neck!
Notes:
1. 看來(lái)Billy真的是夠倒霉的了。Kelly一直在找新房子，因?yàn)榉渴斜绕饍赡昵?，價(jià)錢(qián)低了三到四成。但是今天房屋中介帶Kelly去的就是Billy以前住的地方?？磥?lái)Billy真的是窮途末路了。Hit rock bottom 是“陷入低潮”的意思。這個(gè)短語(yǔ)是用來(lái)形容一個(gè)人正處于人生的“低潮”，也就是low point，心情跌倒谷底。這時(shí)候好像做什么事情都不順利，好像一瞬間所有壞運(yùn)氣都聚集到他身上，就像中文里面的“屋露偏逢連夜雨”。比如說(shuō)：
---Tom's wife left him after he lost his job. Tom丟了工作之后，老婆也離開(kāi)了他。
---Poor guy. He is definitely hit rock bottom.可憐的家伙。真是禍不單行，倒霉透頂。
---Don't let yourself hit rock bottom, turn yourself around before it's too late! 別讓自己陷入萬(wàn)劫不復(fù)的境地，在一切還沒(méi)有太晚之前浪子回頭吧。
---Thanks for the advice. 多謝你的提醒。
2. Kelly說(shuō)看到Billy的房子等著被拍賣(mài)實(shí)在讓人心底發(fā)毛。Jim還聽(tīng)說(shuō)銀行這個(gè)時(shí)候也在催Billy還一些未付清的貸款。也許Billy已經(jīng)離開(kāi)這里，甚至潛逃出境，來(lái)擺脫所有的壓力。Jim說(shuō)，如果討債公司死纏著我，我也會(huì)這么做。Collection agency 的意思是“討債公司”。
3. breathe down one's neck 表示“緊盯著某人”，小時(shí)候，如果你遲遲沒(méi)有交作業(yè)，你的老師會(huì)用緊迫盯人的辦法要你立即寫(xiě)完。Breath down one's neck 正是用來(lái)形容這樣的動(dòng)作，想象一下，如果有人在背后緊盯著你，近到連他的呼吸你都可以感覺(jué)到，相信在這樣的壓迫感之下，被盯著的人應(yīng)該馬上就能把該交的東西交出來(lái)吧！我們用一個(gè)對(duì)話來(lái)做例子：
---Are you coming home soon? 你快要回家了嗎？
---I can't. The boss is breathing down my neck for this report. 還不行。老板正盯著我要這份報(bào)告。