larry: hey, there you are, lihua。
　　lh: (sounding tired) oh, hi larry。
　　larry: i haven't seen you since last weekend. what have you been up to? don't tell me you're having midterms already。
　　lh: 我连看书的时间都没有！尽忙着照顾我表妹了。她从中国来美国上高中，初来乍到，什么都不会，所以我这两天一直在帮她安顿。
　　larry: i'm sure it's a very tough transition for both of you. but, it's so nice of you to take her under your wing。
　　lh: "take her under my wing"? 这是什么意思？
　　larry: to take someone under your wing means to give them a great deal of personal guidance and protection while they are learning something of which you have experience。
　　lh: 我明白了，to take someone under your wing就是指导、保护和照料某人。我现在就是这样像母鸡带小鸡一样照顾着我表妹呢！
　　larry: it takes time to learn how to cope with living in a totally new environment - it's only natural to need a little bit of help at first. as a matter of fact, i can remember a time not so long ago when i took a certain confused girl from china under my own wing.。.
　　lh: 你说你也曾这样帮助过一个女孩？你不是在说我吧？larry, 虽然你给了我很多帮助，但这和我给我表妹的帮助是不同的。我要是不在她身边，她连出门买吃的都不敢！
　　larry: but lihua, you couldn't buy groceries on your own either when you first moved here. one time at the grocery store, your bill came to $7.50 and you pulled out a dollar bill, asking me if it was enough!
　　lh: haha，这个我记得。刚到美国时，每次需要跟美国人打交道我都会非常紧张，就算不说英语，还是觉得很恐怖。
　　larry: luckily, i was there to take you under my wing while you got used to living in the united states - just like how you're taking your cousin under your wing now!
　　lh: 哈，看来我们都是好心人！最近我在帮我表妹找房子。她以前的房东欺负她是新来的，把房租提高了两倍！我表妹已经傻呼呼地交了一个月的钱！
　　larry: yeah, you have to be really careful. it sounds like that landlord was taking your cousin for a ride。
　　lh: taking her for a ride? 开车带她出去？那个房东可没这么好心！
　　larry: um, i mean "taking her for a ride" as in, taking advantage of her situation - playing a trick on her for his own benefit。
　　lh: 哦！原来to take someone for a ride还有欺负人，宰人的意思！
　　larry: yea, that's right. for example, when i went to new york city, my cab driver noticed that i had never been to new york before, and so he took a longer route to my hotel in order to run up my bill. this is a classic case of "taking someone for a ride."
　　lh: 啊？司机看你是第一次来纽约，就带着你绕远路，多收你的车费。这可真差劲，欺负人！
　　larry: unfortunately, some people will take advantage of other people like that。
　　lh: larry, 咱们是愿意take others under our wings, 不遗余力地帮助别人，可这个房东和那个出租司机却会take people for a ride，占别人便宜。所以这两个说法的意思正好相反嘛！
　　larry: yea, you could think of it like that. so, it's a great thing that you are taking your cousin under your wing! otherwise, it would be easy for people to take her for a ride。
　　lh: 好吧，为了防止她受欺负，我就继续努力吧。
　　larry: i'm sure your cousin is a smart girl. before you know it, she'll be just as capable to live on her own in the united states as you are - and you won't have to worry about people trying to take her for a ride。
　　lh: (叹气)不过，在她完全自立前，我可有的忙了，估计不能常和你见面了！
　　larry: that's ok. taking someone under your wing is a quite a full-time job!

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