Joshua Odgen-Davis/肝脑涂地

Marcus： ①So， Marian， hows it going lately？

Marian： Pretty well， Marcus. Hey， why are you looking at me like that？

Marcus： ②Well， its no secret that Maxwell has been pining for you for a while now.

Marian： And your point is？

Marcus： ③Well， word on the street is that he finally asked you out yesterday， but you shot him down.

Marian： This office is a bunch of gossips！ Anyway， whatever happened yesterday is between me and Max. Why are you bugging me about it？

Marcus： No reason. Its just， well， Maxwell is not your average guy. ④Hes a real catch. Why not go out with him， at least once？ Marian： Oh， my goodness. This is the last thing I need. ⑤Please try to keep your nose out of other peoples business， Marcus！

Marcus： Hey， hey， I didnt mean anything by it. Sorry. Didnt mean to make you upset.

Marian： No， Im sorry， ⑥I didnt mean to lash out at you. You see， the thing is， well， I did have a reason for rejecting Maxwell.

I can tell you， but youll have to promise not to tell anyone else.

Marcus： ⑦Cross my heart and hope to die！

Marian： Well…Im not really single. Actually， Ive been married for three years.

Marcus： What！？ Well， thats news to me. Why havent you ever mentioned this before？

Marian： You know how it is. Dont you remember when we were hired？ This company wont hire married people.

Marcus： Yeah， I remember something about that. But why is that？

Marian： Were so busy， always taking overtime. I guess they think a married person with a real home life wouldnt be able to keep up.

Marcus： So you lied just to get this job？ Guess you really love it here.

Marian： Its been my dream to work here since I was a little girl！ So I 1）fudged the application， and they hired me.

Marcus： Fooling the boss is one thing， but youve been lying to all of us too！ Maxwell has been taking overtime just to help you finish your projects， just because he cares about you. How can you think thats fair？

Marian： Its not fair. Actually， Ive been pretty 2）conflicted about that， too. But Ive told Max many times that he shouldnt help me like that.

Marcus： If you really want him to stop， then youll just have to tell him youre married.

Marian： I dont want to risk getting fired. And besides， a lot of people are just like me， hiding their marriage for work-related reasons. Its becoming more and more common.

Marcus： ⑧I still think its better if you just come clean.

Marian： But what about my job？

Marcus： Actually， if I were you， I wouldnt worry about that so much. I think youre safe.

Marian： Whats that supposed to mean？

Marcus： Forget it. Pretend I didnt say anything.

Marian： No way！ I let you in on my big secret. You cant hide anything from me！

Marcus： Well， I guess thats fair. But you have to promise not to tell！

Marian： Cross my heart and hope to die.

Marcus： Well， I didnt want to say anything， but…Im married， too！ I told the boss about it last week and she didnt mind， but she did tell me to keep it to myself.

Marian： No way！ Ill never trust anyone in this office ever again！

马库斯：玛利亚，最近还好吗？

玛利亚：很好，马库斯。嘿，你干嘛这样看着我？

马库斯：嗯，大家都知道麦斯威尔对你朝思暮想了一段时间啦。

玛利亚：你想说的是？

马库斯：好吧，人人都知道他昨天约你出去了，但是你拒绝了他。

玛利亚：这间办公室的人太八卦了！总之，不管昨天发生了什么，都是我和麦斯威尔的事，你干嘛拿这事来烦我呢？

马库斯：没什么，没什么。这只是，好吧，麦斯威尔不是普通的人。他不可多得。为什么不和他去约会，一次也好？

玛利亚：噢，我的天啊。我不需要。请你不要多管闲事，马库斯！马库斯：嘿，嘿，我没有别的意思。对不起，我不想让你不高兴。

玛利亚：不，我才该道歉，我不是想骂你。你知道吗，问题是，好吧，我确实有拒绝麦斯威尔的理由。我可以告诉你，但是你必须保证不告诉其他人。

马库斯：我发誓！

玛利亚：嗯……我不是真的单身，事实上，我已经结婚三年了。

马库斯：什么？好吧，我真不知道。你为什么之前都没有提及过此事呢？

玛利亚：你知道为什么的。你不记得我们受聘的时候吗？这家公司不招已婚的人。

马库斯：嗯，我记得是有这样的事。但是为什么呢？

玛利亚：我们太忙了，经常要加班。我想他们会认为一个结了婚有家庭生活的人是不能够胜任的。

马库斯：所以你撒谎只是为了得到这份工作？我想你真的很喜欢这里。

玛利亚：我还是个小女孩的时候就梦想着在这里工作了。所以我捏造了那张申请表，然后他们就聘用了我。

马库斯：欺骗老板是一回事，但是你对我们所有人都撒谎了！麦斯威尔总是加班，只是为了帮你完成计划书，只是因为他在乎你。你觉得这公平吗？

玛利亚：这不公平。事实上，我自己也很矛盾，但是我已经跟麦斯威尔说过很多次不用那样帮我。

马库斯：如果你真的不想他再帮你，那么你只有告诉他你结婚了。

玛利亚：但是我不想冒被炒的风险。另外，很多人都像我一样，因为工作的原因隐瞒自己已婚的事实，这变得越来越常见了。

马库斯：我还是觉得你坦白一切更好。玛利亚：那我的工作怎么办？

马库斯：事实上，如果我是你，我不会那么担心这件事。我想你是安全的。

玛利亚：这是什么意思？

马库斯：忘了它。就像我没说过任何东西。

玛利亚：不行！我告诉你我的大秘密。你不能对我有任何隐瞒！

马库斯：好吧，我想这样才公平。但是你得保证不说出去！

玛利亚：我发誓。

马库斯：好吧，我本来不想说的，但是……我也结婚了！我上个星期就告诉了老板，但是她并不介意，只是告诉我不能告诉别人。

玛利亚：不会吧！我再也不会相信这间办公室的任何人了！

Smart Sentences

① So， Marian， hows it going lately？ 玛利亚，最近还好吗？

hows it going： used as a general greeting between acquaintances（熟人之间的一般问候语）。例如：

—Hi， Dan， hows it going？

丹，你好啊，一切还好吗？

—Not bad.

还行吧。

② Well， its no secret that Maxwell has been pining for you for a while now. 嗯，大家都知道麦斯威尔对你朝思暮想了一段时间啦。

pine for sb.： like sb.， want to be with sb. romantically（喜欢某人；为某人相思）。例如：

Please dont try to fix Jim and I up together； Im not exactly pining for him.拜托别把吉姆跟我往一块撮合，我不喜欢他。

③ Well， word on the street is that he finally asked you out yesterday， but you shot him down. 好吧，人人都知道他昨天约你出去了，但是你拒绝了他。

word on the street： what everyone is saying/knows（人尽皆知的事情）。例如：

According to word on the street， George and Amy are divorced.

人人都知道乔治和艾美已经离婚了。

shoot sb. down： refuse sb.， disappoint sb.（拒绝某人；使某人失望）。例如：

He wanted to dance with me but I shot him down.

他想跟我跳舞，但我拒绝了。

④ Hes a real catch. 他不可多得。

real catch： sb. has lots of good qualities and its very lucky to find him/her（不可多得的人）。例如：

Mrs. Stearns approved of her future son-in-law since he seems like a real catch.

斯特恩斯夫人对这个未来女婿表示赞许，他不可多得。

⑤ Please try to keep your nose out of other peoples business， Marcus！ 请你不要多管闲事，马库斯！

keep ones nose out of others business： not to pry into or interfere with others affairs（不打听或干涉别人的事情）。例如：

Helen， keep your nose out of Teds business. He can deal with it on his own.

海伦，不要插手泰德的事，他自己能处理好。

⑥ I didnt mean to lash out at you.我不是想骂你。

lash out at sb.： speak to sb. angrily or critically（责难某人，严厉斥责某人）。例如：

Mr. Jackson lashed out at his son for his inappropriate behavior in front of the guests.杰克森先生就儿子在客人面前的不当行为责骂他。

⑦ Cross my heart and hope to die！我发誓！

cross my heart and hope to die： pledge that you are telling the truth， same as“I swear，” used when you want sb. to believe you（发誓说的是实话，等同于“I swear”，用于你想让别人相信你的话）。例如：

Ive not heard from them the whole week. Cross my heart and hope to die！

我一整周都没有他们的消息了。我发誓！

⑧ I still think its better if you just come clean. 我还是觉得你坦白一切更好。

come clean： admit or tell people about sth. thats been kept secret（承认或告诉他人保守已久的秘密）。例如：

Its time for you to come clean about what really happened last week.

你是时候坦白地告诉我们上周到底发生了什么事情。