Don, I know how you must feel about me. Opening the door to the broom closet suddenly must have startled you and Millie quite badly, and to think how hard you bumped your chin on the shelf when you bent over to pull up your pants, it makes me sick. We\'ll have to get together for dinner some night after the dentist finishes your plates.
Nancy, the only excuse I can offer for stealing all your clothes and hiding them when I found you passed out in the ladies room, is that I was drunk. Also, I want you to know I was very embarrassed when I couldn\'t remember where I hid them and you had to go home in that old sofa cover. Running your bra up the flagpole was a bit too much, but like I said, I was a little drunk.
To all of you, I am sorry. Setting Jan\'s panties on fire seemed funny at the time, and it makes me sad to hear that her husband is divorcing her because of it.
Urinating in everyone\'s drink was in bad taste, and not telling them about it until all the drinks were gone was even worse.
Now that I have apologized to all of you, I know that I am forgiven. Even though I no longer work there, I will do my best to come to the picnic next Friday.
Words and Expressions:
apology извинение
beloved любимый
to be aware осознавать
baboon павиан, бабуин
whore проститутка, шлюха
strictly строго; в строгом смысле
figment фикция, вымысел
imagination воображение
undoubtedly без сомнения
water cooler аппарат для охлаждения воды
incident происшествие, случай
jug кувшин, сосуд
regrets сожаления
defense защита
to remind напоминать
escapade эскапада, проделка
stairway лестница
bannister перила
landing лестничная площадка
rupture перелом
to incur получать (ранение)
to land приземляться
to admit признавать
cuss сленг тупой малый
to forgive прощать
goose сленг дурак
story этаж
to regret сожалеть (о чем-л.)
fireman пожарник
false alarm ложная тревога
fire hoses пожарные шланги
pressure давление
broom closet хозяйственное помещение (чулан для швабр)
to startle пугать
to bump ударять(ся)
chin подбородок
dentist дантист
plates вставные челюсти
excuse извинение
to embarrass ошеломлять, ставить в неловкое положение
bra разг. бюстгальтер
flagpole флагшток
to urinate мед. мочиться
to apologize извиняться
son of a bitch сукин сын
deaf and dumb глухонемой
in spite of несмотря на
to break a fall разг. прерывать падение
it makes me sick (при мысли об этом) меня тошнит, мне плохо
to pass out сленг вырубаться
bad taste дурной вкусSection 59 New year\'s eve at the pub
One New Year\'s Eve Judy stood up at the local pub and said that it was time to get ready. At the stroke of midnight, she wanted every husband to be standing next to the one person who made his life worth living. Well, it was kind of embarrassing. The bartender was almost crushed to death.
Words and Expressions:
the stroke of midnight момент наступления полуночи
kind of разг. типа
to crush to death задавить насмертьSection 60 New year\'s eve at the pub – 2
A man stumbles up to the only other patron in a bar and asks if he could buy him a drink.
«Why of course?» comes the reply.
The first man then asks, «Where are you from?»
«I\'m from Ireland,» replies the second man.
The first man responds, «You don\'t say, I\'m from Ireland too! Let\'s have another round to Ireland.»
«Of course,» replies the second man.
Curious, the first man then asks, «Where in Ireland are you from?»
«Dublin,» comes the reply.
«I can\'t believe it,» says the first man. «I\'m from Dublin too! Let\'s have another drink to Dublin.»
«Of course,» replies the second man.
Curiosity again strikes and the first man asks, «What school did you go to?»
«Saint Mary\'s,» replies the second man. «I graduated in \'62.»
«This is unbelievable!» the first man says. «I went to Saint Mary\'s and I graduated in \'62, too!»
About that time in comes one of the regulars and sits down at the bar.
«What\'s been going on?» he asks the bartender. «Nothing much,» replies the bartender. «The O\'Malley twins are drunk again.»
Words and Expressions:
to stumble up подходить, спотыкаясь
patron постоянный посетитель
to graduate заканчивать школу
regular постоянный посетитель
Why of course? А почему бы и нет?
You don\'t say! Не может быть!
another round to Ireland еще один раз (стаканчик) за Ирландию
What\'s been going on? Что происходит?Section 61 The work crew
A fellow stopped at a rural gas station, and, after filling his tank, he paid the bill and bought a soft drink. He stood by his car to drink his cola and he watched while a man would dig a hole two or three feet deep and then move on. Then another man came along behind and filled in the hole. While one was digging a new hole, the other was about 25 feet behind filling in the old.
The men worked right past the fellow with the soft drink and went on down the road. «I can\'t stand this,» said the man tossing the can in a trash container and heading down the road toward the men.
«Hold it, hold it,» he said to the men. «Can you tell me what\'s going on here with this digging?»
«Well, we work for the county,» one of the men said.
«But one of you is digging a hole and the other fills it up. You\'re not accomplishing anything. Aren\'t you wasting the county\'s money?»
«You don\'t understand, mister,» one of the men said, leaning on his shovel and wiping his brow. «Normally there\'s three of us: me, Rodney and Mike. I dig the hole, Rodney sticks in the tree and Mike here puts the dirt back. Now just because Rodney\'s sick, that don\'t mean that Mike and me can\'t work and get paid.»
Words and Expressions:
crew бригада, команда
rural сельский
gas station автозаправочная станция
tank бак
soft легкий, мягкий; зд. безалкогольный
cola кока-кола
to move on двигаться дальше
to fill in заполнять, засыпать
to toss пихать, совать
trash мусор, отходы
container контейнер
county округ, район, графство
to accomplish завершать, заканчивать
to waste тратить попусту
to lean склоняться, наклоняться, опираться (на что-л.)
shovel лопата
to wipe вытирать
brow лоб
to stick втыкать, вставлять
dirt грязь, почва, земля
to be sick болеть
to come along идти следом, подходить
Hold it! Постой! Подожди!
that don\'t mean разг that doesn\'t meanSection 62 Job applicants
A mathematician, an accountant and an economist apply for the same job. The interviewer calls in the mathematician and asks, «What do two plus two equal?»
The mathematician replies, «Four.»
The interviewer asks, «Four, exactly?»
The mathematician looks at the interviewer incredulously and says, «Yes, four, exactly.»
Then the interviewer calls in the accountant and asks the same question, «What do two plus two equal?»
The accountant says, «On average, four – give or take ten percent, but on average, four.»
Then the interviewer calls in the economist and poses the same question, «What do two plus two equal?»
The economist gets up, locks the door, closes the shade, sits down next to the interviewer and says, «What do you want it to equal?»
Words and Expressions:
job работа, рабочее место
applicant соискатель, претендент на рабочее место
mathematician математик
interviewer интервьюер, проводящий собеседование
to call in вызывать (в кабинет)
to equal равняться, быть равным
exactly точно
incredulous недоверчивый, скептический
percent процент, проценты
to lock запирать (дверь)
shade жалюзи, шторы
to apply for подавать заявление о приеме
What do two plus two equal? Чему равняется два плюс два?
on average в среднем
give or take ten percent плюс-минус десять процентов
to pose a question задавать вопрос, ставить вопросSection 63 Schubert\'s productivity
A company chairman was given a ticket for a performance of Schubert\'s Unfinished Symphony. Since he was unable to go, he passed the invitation to the company\'s Quality Assurance Manager. The next morning, the chairman asked him how he enjoyed it, and, instead of a few plausible observations, he was handed a memorandum which read as follows:
1. For a considerable period, the oboe players had nothing to do. Their number should be reduced, and their work spread over the whole orchestra, thus avoiding peaks of inactivity.
2. All twelve violins were playing identical notes. This seems unnecessary duplication, and the staff of this section should be drastically cut. If a large volume of sound is really required, this could be obtained