A friend paid my mother a visit. Later, I spoke with Mom.
一位朋友拜访了我母亲。后来,我和母亲聊天。
"I was very nervous," she said. "Why?" I asked.
她说:“我当时很紧张。”我问为什么。
"Because he's a captain in the Air Force."
“因为他是一名空军上尉。”
"Mother, as you know, I, too, am a captain in the Air Force." "Yes," she said.
“妈妈,你知道,我也是空军上尉。”“我知道,”她说。
"And you also make me nervous when you visit."
“你来的时候也让我很紧张。”
In San Diego to work with military linguists, my colleague and I checked into a hotel and ordered a 5 a.m. wake-up call.
在圣地亚哥与军事语言学家一起工作时,我和同事住进了一家酒店,并预订了早上5点的叫醒服务。
The next morning, the phone didn't ring until 5:30.
第二天早上,电话直到五点半才响。
"You were supposed to call us at 5 a.m.!"
“你应该在早上5点给我们打电话!”
I admonished the desk clerk on the other end of the line.
我警告了电话另一端的接待员。
"What if I had to close a million-dollar contract this morning?
“如果今天早上我必须签下一份百万美元的合同呢?”
Your oversight would have cost me the deal!"
你的疏忽会使我失去这笔交易!”
"Sir," he said calmly, "if you had to close that type of deal, I doubt you'd be staying in this type of hotel."
“先生,”他平静地说,“如果你要完成那种交易,你不会住在这种类型的酒店里。”