Dreamgirls《追梦女郎》（精讲之五）

1. Clean up one's act

意思是"to stop doing things that other people do not approve of and start to behave in a more acceptable way"，例如：There's a very strong anti-press feeling at the moment. A lot of people think it's time they cleaned up their act.

此外，clean up 还可泛指一切"bring to a certain standard of order or morality"的行为，例如：This script won't do; we'll have to clean up the language.

2. Gang up on someone

Gang up 的意思是"联合起来一致行动，通常是对抗/攻击另一方"，例如：The older children were always ganging up on the little ones.

3. Lay off

这里的意思是"Stop doing something, quit"，例如：Lay off that noise for a minute, so the baby can get to sleep. C.C. 这里的意思是要Effie 不要再纠缠不清了。

Lay off 在俚语中还可以用来警告别人"不要再烦我"：Lay off or I'll tell the teacher.

考考你（答案见下一期）

用今日所学将下面的句子译成英语。

1. 他得修正自己的行为，遵守规定。
He'll have to clean up his act and obey the rules.

2. 各个机构联合起来对抗非法药品的使用。
Various agencies gang up to combat the use of illicit drugs.

3. 她下定了决心戒烟。
She resolved to lay off smoking.

Dreamgirls《追梦女郎》（精讲之四）考考你 参考答案

1. I know what you cats are trying to do, and you can forget it. James Early ain't no street-corner punk looking for his first date. He's an established artist with a recording contract.我知道你们这些人想干嘛，你们还是算了吧。詹姆斯·厄里可不是业余歌手，他是个有名望的签约艺术家。

2. All I'm asking is one record, man. One song with a simple hook. "Look at me in my pretty car, makes me feel like a movie star." You know where all the hits happen these days? In cars, man. Songs that make you feel good while you're driving your automobile. 我要求的只是一张唱片，一首简单的、能让人们记住的歌。"驾着美丽的车，感觉自己像个电影明星"。你知道这年头排行榜首的都是些什么歌吗？都是关于汽车的，朋友，都是那些让你在开车时感觉良好的歌。