Dialogue 2

下面的对话是 A 同学帮 B 同学想办法解决 B 在度假期间公寓处置的问题：

A：*You must be ⑴ pretty excited about your trip to Europe. When is it that you are leaving?

B： In just three weeks, and I am excited. But there are still ⑵ a few things I need to do before I go.

A： ⑶ Like what?

B:： Like renewing my passport, going to the travel agency to buy my plane ticket and ⑷ figuring out what to do with my apartment while I’m gone.

A： ⑸ You are not going to give it up, are you?

B： ⑹ No way. I’ll never find another apartment around here. But ⑺ I don’t like the idea of paying three months’ rent on an empty apartment, either.

A: I don’t blame you. *Perhaps you could ⑻ sublet it.

B： Yes, but whom to?

A： Mmm… let me think. Oh, I know just a person. An old colleague of mine, Jim Thomas, is coming here to do some research this summer, from June to August.

B： That’s exactly when I’ll be away. It sounds ideal, as long as the landlord agrees.

A： ⑼ Tell you what, I’ll be calling Jim late this week anyway, so I’ll mention it to him then.

B： Well, thanks, Bill. Let me know what happens. That extra money will really ⑽ come in handy.

词句解析：

⑴ pretty：在口语中的意思是“very”相当于副词的作用。

⑵ a few：意思是“很少一些”，用来修饰可数名词。注意：如果是 few，意思就是“几乎没有”。

⑶ Like what：当what 重读时，表示说话方极度不耐烦；轻读时，表示说话方想继续这个对话，并想了解更多的细节。在本段对话中要轻读。

⑷ figure out：美国习语，意思是“弄清楚、明白”。

⑸ You are not going to give it up, are you?：这种句式在英语中被称为“tag question”，其中，“give up”是美国习语，意思是放弃。

⑹ No way：重读，表示坚决反对或不同意。

⑺ I don’t like the idea of something or doing something：美国习语，意思是“我不愿意干某

事”。

⑻ sublet：意思是“转租”。

⑼ Tell you what：这是美语中常用的插入语，相当于汉语中的“这个、那个”；类似的词语还有“guess what, I mean, well, anyway, you know, etc.”

⑽ come in handy：美国习语，意思是“be useful from time to time。

思维解析：

1． You must be pretty excited about your trip to Europe.

美国是个充满活力的国家。美国人好动的性格使他们不停留于安逸，尤其是学生，都愿意利用闲暇时间去世界各地旅游、长见识。在美国国内，那些从事重复性工作或服务性行业的人多数是外国劳工或美国的老年人，而年轻人都在旅游或从事创造性强的工作。这是美国精神中求新求异观念的体现。

美国人对于旅游都是很热衷的。美国人最喜欢吹牛的话题就是旅游，因为这是一个花钱花体力的事儿。但并不是一定要等有钱的才能旅游。

2． Perhaps you could sublet it.

在美国，你租的房子可以转租，当然这要争得房主的同意；一般来说房主会同意的，因为让空房子闲置是一种浪费，中美之间就这一点有共同之处，但在怎样是浪费的问题上却存在分歧，比如：美国人认为让自己的钱静静地躺在银行里就是一种浪费，而中国人认为那是处理资金最稳妥的办法。

美国人商品社会发展的比较长的必然结果，Americans really know how to use money to make money,如何用钱去赚钱。美国人买很多大件贵重的东西都会用credits，大多数美国人都没有闲置的财富。

3. Define travel agency

Travel agency is a kind of business. It provides service to travelling.