午间休息时，哥儿几个又围着 Lawrence 替他开导，怕他还是走不出离婚阴影的怪圈儿，没想到反被这位仁兄以过来人的姿态给教育了......"I've been there, so bro. I think I'd like to keep my options open If I had to go through it again."

相信大家都看明白了 Lawrence 那苦口婆心式的自嘲，他刚才说 "我可是过来人啦，兄弟，所以如果再让我经历一遍的话，我给自己多留出点儿选择的余地。" 这里面有一句短语很实用，keep one's options open，对喽，字面儿上就是“将某人的选择（权力）保持成打开的状态”，这不就是“当你面临重要的抉择时，先缓缓，别急着给自己做出决定”的意思嘛，其实也就是平时口语里咱们所常说的"给自己留点儿余地"啦，怎么样，是不是很好理解~

keep / leave (one's) options open

暂不作决定，留有选择余地；推迟做决定；让自己的路子更宽阔

【En】

to wait before making a choice.

在做出决定之前等待。

If you keep your options open or leave your options open, you delay making a decision about something.

如果你要保留你的选择或没有进行选择，你就是延迟了对某事的决定。

To refrain from making a decision or commitment that will limit one's choices in the future.

克制不做会限制自己未来选择的决定或承诺。

avoid making a decision now so that you still have a choice in the future.

不要现在就做决定，这样你将来还可以有更多的选择。

● I'm keeping all my options open for the moment.

我暂时不排除任何可能。

● I am keeping my options open. I have not made a decision on either matter.

我将保留我的选择。这两件事我都还没有做出决定。

【Scenario Example 场景示例】

● I want to keep my options open for the moment.

目前我想暂不表态。

● I'm going to keep my options open while I find out about studying abroad.

在了解国外大学课程期间，我打算暂不作决定。

● Don' t take the job now keep your options open until you leave university.

先别接受这份工作--暂时保留选择权, 到离开这所大学再说。

● Doing business with him is sometimes quite stressful. He likes to keep all his options open until the very last minute.

和他做生意有时压力很大。他喜欢把所有的选择都保留到最后一刻。

● Some companies are keeping their options open on retaining or dumping anachronistic names.

一些公司在保留或抛弃不合时宜的名字方面仍有选择余地。

● You're awfully young to be getting married. I just think you should keep your options open until you're finished with college.

你这么年轻就结婚了。我只是觉得你应该在大学毕业前再考虑其他选择。

● They've offered me a good salary if I stay with the company, but I think I'd like to keep my options open.

如果我继续在这家公司工作，他们已经给我提供了很高的薪水，但我还是希望有更多的选择。

● Either way, you can keep your options open.

不管怎样，你都可以多做选择。

● We'll go to Princetown. But I'm keeping my options open. If there's any more trouble…we're out, we're home.

我们要去普林斯顿。但我会保留我的选择。如果碰上什么麻烦的话，我们就回家了。

● Flexibility is key, keeping your options open.

灵活性是关键，给自己留点儿选择余地。

● We must expect to be surprised in the future, and we must keep our options open.

我们必须期待未来会有惊喜，我们必须保持选择余地。

● You need to keep your options open in order to change courses at a moment's notice.

你需要保留你的选择，以便在接到通知后立即改变课程。

● At the end of the season, I will keep my options open.

在赛季结束时，我会保留我的选择。

出处：见配图水印