每天三分钟学英语 第161期:英文"便宜"怎么说

 情景对话：

A: I heard eating out was expensive in the U.S. Is that true? 我听说在美国出去吃饭很贵，是真的吗？

B: Yeah, kind of because of the taxes and the tips. 对啊，这是因为要加税还有小费。

A: How does tipping work? We don't do it in China. 小费是怎么回事？我们中国没有这个。

B: People usually leave 15%, but now it might even be 20% of the bill. 大家通常会留你这顿饭消费的15%作为小费，不过现在可能会留20%。

A: Wow, that's a lot. Do you have to leave that much? 哇这好多啊。你一定要留这么多的吗？

B: I think it's minimum¹ otherwise, they'll think you're cheap. But one time I didn't leave a tip. 我觉得这是最起码的，不然别人会觉得你很小气。不过又一次我没给小费。

今日知识点：

Cheap 小气

Why are you so cheap? The large is only 50 cents more. 你怎么这么小气？大的也只是多加5毛。

Dirt cheap 非常便宜

Because of the sale, a smart TV is dirt cheap. 因为在打折，一部智能电视非常便宜。

Something is a steal 非常便宜，跟抢来的一样

I bought the house at an auction². It was a steal. 我拍卖买来的房子，简直跟抢来一样，太便宜了。

Cost next to nothing 跟不要钱一样

The table costs next to nothing. 这桌子跟不要钱似的。

Good deal 还不错，很便宜

It was a good deal. 还不错，挺便宜的。

1 minimum   

adj.最低的，最小的；n.最小量，最低限度

参考例句：

• What is the minimum price?最低价是多少？
• Today's minimum temperature is 10℃.今天的最低气温是10℃。

2 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。