名人教英文：解决问题
to sort things out 解决问题
ollie: have you heard about what's going on at west city rovers?
奥利﹕你知道城西流浪队现在的状况吗？
taro: well i know they've been losing a lot of matches lately.
塔罗﹕嗯，我知道他们近来输了多场比赛。
ollie: they haven't actually won since the end of last season. and it's not surprising.
奥利﹕事实上，他们上个球季结束之后，没有胜过一场。这并不奇怪。
taro: how's that?
塔罗﹕为什么？
ollie: there's a lot of bad feeling between the players. it's almost like there's a war in the dressing room.
奥利﹕他们球员彼此不和，在更衣室里，气氛就如在战场之上。
taro: no wonder they're losing matches.
塔罗﹕怪不得他们比赛失利。
ollie: they're getting a new manager next week, so all of us fans are hoping he'll be able to sort things out.
奥利﹕他们下星期会有一个新经理。我们城西流浪球迷都希望，他能够整顿局面。
taro: well if he doesn't, they'll keep on losing matches and get relegated.
塔罗﹕不整顿的话，球队比赛就会继续失利，而被降级。
to sort things out有两个常见意思，一是「拣出」，一是「处理」或「解决」，例如﹕(1) she sorted out the clothes that required mending（她拣出须缝补的衣服）。(2) after his divorce, he had difficulty sorting out his life（他离婚之后，人生路上不知何去何从）。
lately和late二字，切勿混淆。lately是副词（adverb），意思是「最近」；late也可作副词，但意思是「迟」。请比较以下两句﹕(1) he came late（他迟来了）。(2) he came as lately as a few days ago（他最近一次到来，不过是几天之前的事）。
lately和recently都是「最近」；另一同义说法是of late。of late较少用于口头，多见于文字，例如﹕i have been very busy lately / recently / of late（我近来很忙）。
there's a lot of bad feeling between the players这一句，feeling改为复数形式的feelings也可以。至于between，有人也许会认为应改为among，但其实绝对不必更改。
不少英文教师以至文法书都说，「两者之间」，应用between；两者以上，则应用among。这说法其实没有根据。要强调「个体之间」，英文习惯用between；要强调「群体之间」，则用among。例如﹕(1) i suspect there are agreements between the several supermarkets（我怀疑，那几家超级市场之间，彼此有协议）。
(2) the pigs on the animal farm executive council discussed the matter among themselves
（动物农庄行政会议的猪猡讨论过这件事）。