英语小达人 262 Parking Fee

 　　Parking Fee

　　停车费

　　An Indian walks into a New York City bank and asks to see the loan¹ officer. He says he is going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.

　　一个印度人走进纽约城市银行要见贷款客户服务经理。他说他要去欧洲出差两个星期，因此要借贷5000美元。

　　The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security² for such a loan, so the man hand over the keys of a new Rolls Royce parked on the street in front of the bank.

　　客服经理说银行规定这样的借贷需要有担保，于是这人递上停在银行外街边的一辆劳斯莱斯新车的钥匙。

　　Everything is checked out, and the bank agrees to accept the car as collateral³ for the loan.

　　里里外外检查了一遍之后，银行同意用他的车作担保。

　　An employee drives the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parks it there.

　　一个职员把这辆劳斯莱斯开进了银行的地库存放。

　　Two weeks later, the man returns, repays⁴ the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41.

　　两个星期后，印度人回来了，还清了5000美元和15.41美元的利息。

　　The loan officer says, "We are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction⁵ has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is why would you bother to borrow $5,000?"

　　贷款客服经理说：“我们银行很高兴能有你做主顾，我们之间的这笔业务已经圆满完成了。只是我们还有一点儿困惑。你不在的这段时间里，我们核实了你的情况，发现你是个千万富翁。让我们不能理解的是你为什么要来借区区5000美元？”

　　The Indian replied, "Where else in New York can I park my car for two weeks for 15 bucks⁶?"

　　印度人答道：“纽约还有什么地方能让我只花15美元就把我这辆车存两个星期呢？”

　　重点讲解：

　　1. on business

　　出差；因公；

　　eg. No admittance except on business.

　　闲人免进。

　　eg. I flew to Tokyo on business.

　　我飞往东京出差。

　　2. hand over

　　交给；递给；

　　eg. 'I've got his card.' Judith said, handing it over.

　　“我有他的名片，”朱迪丝边说边把名片递了过来。

　　eg. You must hand over your passport before you leave.

　　离境前必须交回护照。

　　3. check out

　　了解清楚；核实；查实；

　　eg. Maybe we ought to go down to the library and check it out.

　　或许我们应该去趟图书馆，查个明白。

　　eg. We ought to check him out on the computer.

　　我们理应在电脑上查清他的资料。

　　eg. The police had to check out the call.

　　警方不得不追查那通电话。

　　4. work out

　　（如期）发生；进展（顺利）；

　　eg. Things just didn't work out as planned.

　　事情根本没有按计划进行。

　　eg. I hope it will work out well.

　　我希望进展顺利。

　　eg. The deal just isn't working out the way we were promised.

　　结果待遇根本不是他们对我们许诺的那样。

　　5. bother to do sth.

　　费心去做某事；

　　eg. It's general knowledge.Why do you bother to ask?

　　这是常识，你怎么还要问?

　　eg. Lots of people don't bother to go through a marriage ceremony these days.

　　如今很多人不再费心思举行婚礼。

1 loan   

n.贷款；借出的东西；借；vt.借出；贷予

参考例句：

• I asked the bank to help me with a loan.我请银行给我一笔贷款。
• Has the bank okayed your request for a loan?银行批准你的贷款要求了吗？

2 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

3 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

4 repays   

偿还( repay的第三人称单数 )； 付还； 报答； 酬报

参考例句：

• It repays your labour well. 你的付出会得到回报的。
• It troubles you for an hour, it repays you by immortality. 它打扰你一小时，偿还给你的却是不朽的生命。

5 transaction   

n.处理，交易，相互作用

参考例句：

• He was twenty dollars in pocket by the transaction.他在这笔生意中赚了20美元。
• He left the transaction of the matter to his secretary.他把这件事交给秘书办理。

6 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》