很久不见的好友Lisa, Karen和Gina一起吃饭。Lisa先到，注意听她帮朋友点了些什么菜。
Lisa: Karen! Gina! So good to see you! Sit down!
凯伦！吉娜！见到你真好！请坐！
Karen: Hi, Lisa!
你好，丽莎！
Gina: Good to see you, too! It's been so long!
我也很高兴见到你！好久不见！
L: Indeed it has! I ordered your favorite dish: spaghetti with cherry tomatoes and I got Gina the vegetarian pasta!
确实很久没见了！我点了你最喜欢的菜：有樱桃和马铃薯的意大利面，我给吉娜点了素食意大利面！
G: Excellent!
太棒了！
K: I really do love the spaghetti here.
我真的很喜欢这里的意大利面。
Lisa最早一个到，已经帮Karen和Gina点好了她们爱吃的菜their favorite dish。Karen爱吃spaghetti with cherry tomatoes加小西红柿的意大利面条；Gina爱吃vegetarian pasta，素的通心粉，vegetarian is spelled v-e-g-e-t-a-r-i-a-n, vegetarian吃素的，素食的。
L: So what's new? Are you planning a vacation this summer?
有什么计划吗？比如夏天出去旅游？
G: Well...frankly...I'm not sure we have the budget for a vacation this year.
嗯……坦率地说……今年恐怕没有钱出游了。
K: Yeah, actually we're thinking about skipping the vacation too.
是的，事实上我们也想不去度假了。
L: I think money is tight for everyone these days. Last year we went to the Indonesian resort island of Bali for six days! It was incredible, but we did end up spending over five grand!
我觉得这些日子大家都缺钱花。去年我们去印度尼西亚的巴厘岛玩了6天。虽然听起来有些不可思议，但是我们花了五千美元。
K: We went to Mexico last year and stayed at a villa by the beach!
我去年去了墨西哥，在海滩上的别墅度假的。
G: Last year we did Alaska...absolutely gorgeous...but pretty pricey as well.
去年我们去了阿拉斯加……确实很高贵……但是也很贵。
Lisa问大家，夏天计划去哪里渡假。Gina说，I'm not sure we have the budget for a vacation this year. 今年恐怕没钱出去玩了。Karen也说，考虑skip the vacation，渡假就免了。Lisa说，现在大家手头都紧，money is tight for everyone. 去年她们一家去巴厘岛，结果花了五千多美元。End up doing something，意思是最后，结果做了某事。five grand 就是five thousand dollars. Karen去年去了墨西哥，Gina去了阿拉斯加，都很贵，pricey, pricey is spelled p-r-i-c-e-y, 是价钱很贵的意思。
L: Well, we have to face reality and adapt to it. There just isn't any extra money lying around these days.
嗯，我们不得不面对现实然后适应它。如今谁都没有许多闲钱。
K: You can say that again! I've been penny-pinching all year!
我也这么觉得!我都是一分钱掰成两分来花的。
G: Our family has basically stopped eating out. I cook almost every meal and while it takes some extra effort...cooking at home saves us a lot of money!
我们家基本上不去外面吃饭。我们自己在家做，能省不少钱……
Lisa说，大家都要面对现实，适应现实，to face reality and adapt to it. 如今谁都没有多少闲钱，there isn't any extra money lying around. Karen马上表示赞同，说她一年来花钱一直特别节省，I've been penny-pinching all year. penny-pinch，意思是一分钱掰成两半花，节省。Gina也说，她们一家现在基本上不出去吃饭to eat out，是出去吃饭的意思，相反的是cook at home自己在家做，能省不少钱。她们三个人还有什么省钱的诀窍呢？ |