Larry和李华一起去参观艺术博物馆。他们会用到一个常用语：write something/someone off，意思是“小瞧，不看好；认为……不重要”。

LH: Larry, 你喜欢什么流派的艺术啊？现实主义还是抽象主义？

L: I definitely prefer the realistic kind. Anybody can make abstract art!

LH: 人人都能创作抽象派艺术作品？那好，你创作一个给我看看！

L: Er ... I guess you're right. I shouldn't write off abstract artists so quickly.

LH: Write them off? 这是什么意思？

L: When you write something off, that means you decide that it isn't important.

LH: 哦，就是小看，不看好的意思。你是说，你不该小瞧抽象派艺术家。

L: Right! Here is another example. In high school most people had written Jack off as an actor, so they were really surprised when he became a movie star years later.

LH: 我明白了。高中时大家都觉得Jack肯定当不了演员，可后来他成了电影明星，所以大家都很吃惊。

L: That's right!

LH: 对了Larry, 你说这些艺术品的创作者一定都很有钱吧？他们的作品都卖得好贵哦！

L: Actually I don't think so. Many great artists were written off in their own time, and people only started to appreciate them many years later.

LH: 也是，好多艺术家在世的时候不被世人重视，总是死了之后才得到人们的认可，真可惜！哎， Larry, 你喜不喜欢画画？

L: I thought of being an artist when I was a little kid, but I wrote that dream off a long time ago when I realized I was bad at drawing.

LH: 哦，你发现自己画画不行，就放弃了当画家的梦想。

L: Yeah, but I still like to draw as a hobby. Even though I can't be a professional artist, giving it up even as a hobby would have been overkill.

LH: 要不这样吧，Larry, 把你最近画的大作拿来，跟我五岁时画的儿童简笔画比比，看看你有没有达到我五岁时的水平？

L: Very funny, Lihua. I'll write that off as a joke!

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