30. A Business Trip

　　On a business trip to India, a colleague of mine arrived at the airport in Dilhi. He took a taxi to his hotel, where he was greeted by his hospitable¹ Indian host. The cab driver requested the equivalent of eight dollars U. S. for the fare, which seemed reasonable, so my friend handed him the money.

　　But the host grabbed the bills and initiated³ a verbal assault upon the cabby, calling him a worthless parasite⁴ and a disgrace to their country for trying to overcharge visitors. The host threw half the amount at the driver and told him never to return.

　　As the taxi sped off, the host gave the remaining bills to my colleague and asked him how his trip had been. "Fine," the business- man replied, "until you chased the cab away with my luggage in the trunk."

Notes:

　　(1) colleague n.同事

　　(2) hospitable n.好客的

　　(3) equivalent n.等值；等量

　　(4) initiate² v.开始

　　(5) verbal n.言辞的

　　(6) assault (on/upon) n.猛烈而突然之攻击

　　(7) cabby n.出租汽车司机

　　(8) parasite n.寄生虫

Exercises:

根据短文回答下列句子：

　　①Where was the businessman going?

　　② How did he get to the hotel?

　　③ How much money did the taxi driver request?

　　④ What did the host think of the charge?

　　⑤ How was the trip?

30.出差旅行

　　我的一个同事去印度出差。他抵达迪尔黑机场，就搭出租车到宾馆。好客的印度主人在那里迎接他。出租车司机索要相当于八美元的费用。我朋友觉得似乎是合理价格，就把钱给了他。

　　但迎客主人一把抓过那钱钞，对出租司机大骂不止，称他是一文不值的寄生虫，并说他企图宰国外来客，真是丢尽了他们国家的面子。他把钱钞的半数扔给司机，告诉他永远别再回来。

　　出租司机一踩油门跑掉了。主人把剩下的钱还给我的同事，问他旅途如何。“很好，”这位商人回答，“只是你把出租车赶跑了，我的行李还在车箱里。”

练习参考答案：

       ① India

　　② He took a taxi.

　　③ The equivalent of eight dollars U. S.

　　④ He thought it was too much.

　　⑤ Fine except that the luggage was still in the trunk of the taxi.

1 hospitable   

adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的

参考例句：

• The man is very hospitable.He keeps open house for his friends and fellow-workers.那人十分好客，无论是他的朋友还是同事，他都盛情接待。
• The locals are hospitable and welcoming.当地人热情好客。

2 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

3 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

4 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。