时差N小时 买不起订婚戒指

Dear Annie:My girlfriend and I have been together for three years. When we first started dating, Mary unexpectedly¹ became pregnant² and we now have a beautiful child who is our life's joy. I would like to ask Mary to become my wife. Here's the problem: Money is pretty tight with a toddler, so buying an expensive engagement³ ring will be difficult. Is cubic zirconium worth looking into? I thought I'd get a nice-looking CZ ring and, when things settle down, maybe replace it with a real diamond.

亲爱的安妮：我和我女朋友在一起已经有三年了。当我们开始约会时，玛丽意外怀孕了，所以现在我们有个漂亮的宝宝，他给我们的生活带来不少快乐。我想让玛丽成为我的妻子。但存在一个问题：有了孩子之后用钱很紧张，因此买昂贵的婚戒就困难起来。那么暂时镶上锆石是否值得考虑？我打算先买一个好看的锆石环，等稳定以后，再用真正的钻石换掉锆石。

My initial⁴ thought is to be upfront with Mary and tell her. Do you think that's a good idea? We have a joint⁵ checking account, so she'll know all about my purchases. Is there a good way to mask how much the ring costs?—Perplexed in the Midwest

我最初的想法是想事先跟玛丽商量一下。你认为这个主意好不好？我们拥有一个共同的支票账户，所以我买任何东西她都会知道。有没有好的方法掩盖戒指的价值。

Dear Perplexed:Don't lie to Mary about the value of the ring. Women can be very understanding about not getting a diamond, but they don't like being fooled. And if you are serious about replacing the ring later, it doesn't matter what the original is made from. As for hiding the cost, you can put aside small amounts of cash until you have enough to purchase the ring and Mary will never know what you paid for it. P.S.: Best wishes on your upcoming engagement.

戒指的价值不要和Mary撒谎。没有钻戒女人能理解，但是她们不喜欢被骗。如果你真的准备事后换戒指，那戒指最先是什么材料都不重要。至于隐藏花销，你可以先攒小笔钱，直到你有足够的钱来购买戒指，玛丽绝不会知道你用哪比钱买的戒指。附：祝福你们即将到来的婚礼。

1 unexpectedly   

adv.未料到地，意外地；竟；居然；骤然

参考例句：

• The volcano unexpectedly blew up early in the morning. 火山一早突然爆发了。
• I had just put the dinner on when Jim walked in unexpectedly. 我刚把晚饭摆上桌，吉姆突然走进来。

2 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

3 engagement   

n.订婚，婚约，约定，约会

参考例句：

• I can't see you on Monday because I have a previous engagement.星期一我不能见你，因为我有约在先。
• It was my mother's very own engagement ring.这正是我母亲自己的订婚戒指。

4 initial   

adj.最初的，开始的，词首的；n.首字母，姓名的开头字母；vt.标注姓名的首字母于

参考例句：

• After she'd overcome her initial shyness,she became very friendly.她克服了起初的羞怯之后，变得十分友善。
• The experiments have given initial results eventually.那些试验总算初见成效了。

5 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。