情景对话：

A: Our son played hooky again yesterday.

昨天儿子又逃学了。

B: The idea! why didn't you teach him a lesson?

太不像话了！你为什么不教训他一顿？

A: I wish I could, but he took to his heels as soon as he saw me.

我想呀！可是他看见我拔腿就跑了。

B: We must give him a dressing-down now.

现在我们必须对他严加训斥了。

一， 词海拾贝

take to one’s heels

exp. To flee or run away. （逃之夭夭，拔腿就跑，逃跑）

e.g. The youths took to their heels when they heard the police officers approaching.

那些年轻人听到警察走近时，拔腿就跑。

e.g. The man took to his heels to try to get to the bus stop before the bus left.

那人拔腿就跑，想在公共汽车开走前赶到车站。

e.g. Men who smash windows do not remain to parley with the law's minions. They take to their heels. （欧亨利）

毁坏窗子的人绝对不会留在现场与法律的宠臣攀谈，早就溜之大吉啦。

二， 语汇积累

1. play hooky：逃学，旷课

e.g. On the first warm spring day the boys played hooky to go swimming.

在第一个暖和的春天，男孩们逃了学游泳去了。

e.g. Though he often plays hooky, he does well in study.

他经常逃学，然而他的功课却很好。

2. as soon as：一……就……

e.g. As soon as the sun comes out, the mist will pass away.

太阳一出来，雾就会消失。

e.g. As soon as they saw us coming they turned tail and ran.

他们一看见我们来了, 掉头就跑。

3. teach somebody a lesson：教训某人一顿

e.g. His father thought this was a good chance to teach him a lesson about how hard life was for the less fortunate people of the world.

他的父亲想了想，觉得这倒是一个教训儿子的好机会，让他了解一下世界上那些不幸的人生活得有多艰辛。

e.g. That will teach him a lesson! It doesn't pay to make fun of the Law, my man!

那会给他一个教训！与法律开玩笑绝不会有好下场，我的老弟。

4. give someone a dressing down：严厉批评某人，痛斥某人

e.g. On hearing the news, the boss gave a dressing down to all those clerks that were involved in the business.

老板听到那个消息后严厉训斥了参与此事的职员。

e.g. His mother gave him a real dressing down for wasting so much time.

他母亲因他浪费了这么多时间，大骂了他一顿。

e.g. The butler gave the maid a dressing down for not cleaning the silver properly.

男管家因女仆没有把银皿擦洗干净而狠狠训斥了她一顿。

e.g. You should give him a serious dressing down to let him know this is wrong.

你应该好好痛斥他一顿，让他知道这样做是错误的。