《小屁孩日記》是一個美國中學生的日記，受兒子的影響，我也是《小屁孩日記》的成人鐵粉啦。這套書故事情節富於想象力，幽默，雖然是一本兒童讀物，但地道的英語表達是學習口語的好素材，讀著英文，看著笑話，快樂閱讀，快樂學習，啟程吧！
I called Mom to tell her we were going to crash at Gramma's for the night. But Mom sounded really mad on the phone.
我給老媽打了電話，跟她說我們今晚就在奶奶家過夜了。不過老媽在電話那頭聽起來怒不可遏。
crash: 這裡是指找到臨時寄宿或避難的地方。
我查了字典，牛津和柯林斯詞典都沒有這個意思，只有朗文詞典有這個意思："（留在別人家裡）過夜": to stay at someone's house for the night.
Can I crash at your place on Saturday night?
星期六晚上我能在你家過夜嗎？
還有"（由於很疲倦）很快入睡"的意思：
I crashed out on the sofa this afternoon.
今天下午我在沙發上睡著了。
"怒不可遏"這個翻譯也是夠誇張的了，這和美國人的性格很相似。如果你聽慣了英式發音，再去聽美式發音，你會發現美式發音也比英式發音要誇張，可以用"抑揚頓挫"來形容美式發音了。
She said it was a school night and that we had to get home right that instant. So that meant we were gonna have to make a run for it.
她說現在可不是假期，明天還要上學，馬上給我回來。這就意味著：我們得開始逃難了。
這句話裡用了反譯。
Gonna的原型是going to, 表示"將要"的意思。如：I am gonna go. 相當於 I am going to go. 意思是"我要走了。"
由於美式口語的語速很快，經常會出現吞音或變音現象，於是就出現了一些根據口語發音拼寫的單詞，最為常見的是與to搭配的動詞短語，如gotta, wanna, wanta…
gotta = have got to
wanna = want to
wanta = want a /an
I looked out the window, and this time, I didn't see the truck. But I knew those guys were hiding somewhere and were just trying to draw us out.
我看了看窗外，這次沒看到那輛卡車了。不過我估計這幫傢伙正暗地裡潛伏著，為了要誘使我們出來。
So we snuck out the back door, hopped over Gramma's fence, and ran all the way to Snake Road. I figured our chances were better there because there aren't any streetlights.
我們從後門溜出來，越過奶奶家的柵欄，一路朝巨蟒大道狂奔。我知道我們朝那邊跑生還的概率較大，因為那裡沒有街燈。
snuck: sneak的過去式。
Snake Road is scary enough on its own without having a truckload of teenagers hunting you down. Every time we saw a car coming, we dove into the bushes. It must've taken us a half hour to go 100 yards.
巨蟒大道本來就夠可怕了，更何況還有一車的小青年在圍追堵截。每次看到有車來，我們就趕緊伏到灌木叢裡，步履維艱，半個小時還走不到100米。
without: 這裡是指"在沒有…的情況下"（發生或做某事）
He was offered a generous pension provided he left without a fuss.
他如果一聲不吭地離開，就會獲得一筆豐厚的養老金。
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