47. A Car can be Expensive 一輛汽車開(kāi)銷很大
A: Where are you off to?
B: I'm taking the car to the garage. It has to be lubed, the oil needs changing, and the brakes are grabbing. I'm going to leave it so the mechanic can check it over.
A: I thought you just had it in the garage.
B: That was last month. I had a new transmission put in. The car's a real lemon. I've only had it six months, and I've already spent a fortune on repairs.
A: Every time I think about buying a car, I consider how much it costs to keep one up, and decide to get along without one a little longer.
Notes
Off to-going to (現(xiàn)代美國(guó)口語(yǔ)中常用off to，表示到…地方去)
Garage 車庫(kù)，汽車修理行(這里作汽車修理行解)
Oil 潤(rùn)滑油
Brakes are grabbing 剎車吱吱作響
A real lemon 一個(gè)道道地地的廢物
Keep up-maintain 維持
Get along without 沒(méi)有…也過(guò)得去
A：你到哪兒去？
B：我把汽車送到修理廠去。它需要潤(rùn)滑。換一下機(jī)油。剎車吱吱作響。我打算把它留下讓機(jī)修工檢查一下。
A：我想你剛送去修理過(guò)。
B：那是上個(gè)月。我換上一個(gè)新變速器。這輛汽車是個(gè)道地的廢物。我才買了六個(gè)月，已經(jīng)花了一大筆錢修理。
A：每次當(dāng)我想買一輛車時(shí)，我就考慮到要花多少錢來(lái)維修保養(yǎng)它，最后我想沒(méi)有它也能過(guò)得去。
48. At the Filling Station 在加油站
A: What can I do for you today?
B: Just fill her up and check the oil.
A: You want regular or high test?
B: I think ethyl. That's what I usually use. And the oil's number 30. Oh, and maybe you'd better check the water and air, and the battery too.
A: Everything seems to be all right, sir. I'll get your windshield. There. That'll be thirteen fity all together. Eleven thirty for ten gallons of gas, and a quart of oil at two twenty.
B: Okay. Here's my credit card.
A: There you are, sir. Here's your receipt. And thanks for coming in.
Notes
Fill up 加滿油
Regular 普通汽油(在美國(guó)的加油站中通常有兩種汽油，一種是為防震而加入鉛的普通汽油，又稱乙烷油；另一種是不含鉛的高級(jí)汽油)
High test 高級(jí)汽油
Number 30 30號(hào)潤(rùn)滑油
Gas-gasoline 汽油
A：今天我能為您做些什么？
B：只要加滿油并檢查一下機(jī)油。
A：加普通汽油還是高級(jí)汽油。
B：我想加乙烷汽油。這是我通常使用的。機(jī)油是30號(hào)的。啊，或許你再檢查一下水和輪胎的氣，還有電瓶。
A：看來(lái)都沒(méi)問(wèn)題，先生。我替你擦一下?lián)躏L(fēng)玻璃。呶，總共十三元五角。十加侖汽油十一元三角，一夸脫機(jī)油兩元兩角。
B：嗯，這是我的信用卡。
A：好了，請(qǐng)收好，先生。這是您的發(fā)票。謝謝您光顧。
49. Are Women Good Drivers? 女人是好的駕駛?cè)藛幔?BR> A: Joe said something funny to me yesterday. I didn't understand him at all.
B: What did he say?
A: That I was just another women driver.
B: What were you talking about?
A: I had some trouble with a policeman. I was making a U-turn downtown, and he made an awful fuss. He didn't give me a ticket, though.
B: You were lucky. What Joe meant was that probably you were in the wrong. American men always say that women are bad drivers, even when they're not.
Notes
U-turn 將汽車掉頭開(kāi)(在美國(guó)城市某些街道上有No U-turn標(biāo)記，即不準(zhǔn)在此將汽車掉頭)
Fuss 大驚小怪
Ticket 汽車違章罰款單
A：昨天喬對(duì)我說(shuō)了一些奇怪的話。我全然沒(méi)有聽(tīng)懂他的意思。
B：他說(shuō)了什么？
A：他說(shuō)我只不過(guò)是又一個(gè)女駕車人？
B：你們?cè)谡務(wù)撌裁磥?lái)著？
A：我同一位警察發(fā)生點(diǎn)麻煩。我在市中心區(qū)把車掉頭，他大肆發(fā)作?？墒撬麤](méi)有給我罰單。
B：算你運(yùn)氣。喬的意思是說(shuō)，看來(lái)你是做了錯(cuò)事。美國(guó)男人總是說(shuō)女人是蹩腳的駕車人。即使在她們開(kāi)得并不差的時(shí)候。
50. Free Will 自由意志
A: Do you believe in free will, Frank? Or do you think that everything a person does is determined in advance?
B: I think that man always has free choice.
A: But look. Suppose you knew everything about someone, where he was born, what his parents were like, everything that happened to him since he was a baby, even what he had for breakfast and how his shoes were tied. If you know all those things, don't you think you could predict his behavior?
B: Stated that way I might be tempted to agree. But surely you don't believe one can ever know all these things about people. For all practical purposes, you'd have to say man has free will.
Notes
Free will 自由的選擇
Stated-said, presented
Tempted-induced, lured
A：你相信自由意志嗎，弗蘭克？或者你認(rèn)為一個(gè)人做的每件事都是事先定好的？
B：我想每人都可能隨時(shí)做出選擇。
A：但是，假定你知道某人的一切：他在何處出生，他的父母是什么模樣，從幼兒起他所經(jīng)歷的一切事，甚至他早餐吃些什么和他鞋如何系鞋帶。如果你知道所有這些事，難道你不認(rèn)為你能預(yù)知他的行為嗎？
B：在這個(gè)意義上，我會(huì)同意你的說(shuō)法。但是你肯定不會(huì)認(rèn)為一個(gè)人能夠了解到有關(guān)別人的所有這些細(xì)節(jié)。因此，現(xiàn)實(shí)地說(shuō)，你還是應(yīng)該承認(rèn)人有無(wú)法預(yù)計(jì)的自由行動(dòng)的可能。