美语情景对话 第299期:Christchurch 克赖斯特彻奇
Todd: So, Hello!
托德：你好！Gabrielle: Hi!
加布里埃尔：你好！Todd: Can you say your name please?
托德：请问你叫什么名字？
Gabrielle: Gabrielle:
加布里埃尔：加布里埃尔。Todd: Gabrielle. Now, Gabrielle you talked to us last year.
托德：加布里埃尔，我们去年曾经谈过。Gabrielle:That's right!
加布里埃尔：没错！Todd: And you said that you're from Christchurch?
托德：你说你来自克赖斯特彻奇？Gabrielle: Uh-huh, from Christchurch in New Zealand.
加布里埃尔：嗯，我来自新西兰的克赖斯特彻奇。Todd: OK, can you talk about your city?
托德：好，你能谈谈你所在的城市吗？Gabrielle: Absolutely! Absolutely! Well, Christchurch I guess compared to Japan is pretty small, but for New Zealand it's quite a big city. I think it's a great place. Yeah, we've got the beach, the mountains, yeah so city center and nature, really close.
加布里埃尔：当然可以！当然！嗯，和日本比的话，克赖斯特彻奇非常小，但是克赖斯特彻奇在新西兰是个大城市。我认为那是个很棒的地方。我们那里有海滩，有高山，市中心和大自然非常近。Todd: Sounds nice! How many people live in Christchurch?
托德：听起来不错！克赖斯特彻奇有多少人口？Gabrielle: Oh, that's a good question. Gosh! We're certainly not up to a million! I guess about 600,000 people.
加布里埃尔：哦，这是个好问题。天哪！不到1百万人！我猜大概60万人吧。Todd: Wow, that's it! Just 6!
托德：哇！就只有60万！Gabrielle: That's it. Big city in New Zealand!
加布里埃尔：对。那是新西兰的大城市！Todd: Wow! So there's three big cities in New Zealand!
托德：哇！新西兰有三个大城市！Gabrielle: That's right! That's right! We're probably the second or third biggest city.
加布里埃尔：没错！对！克赖斯特彻奇可能是第二大或者是第三大城市。Todd: Uh, what's the transportation like?
托德：哦，那里的交通怎么样？Gabrielle: Well, I use my bike usually or a car. We certainly don't have the trains like Tokyo, but there's a bus system. It's not too bad, but most Kiwis have cars. Yeah, more convenient.
加布里埃尔：嗯，我通常是骑自行车或是开车出行。我们没有东京这样的火车系统，但是有公交车系统。还不算太坏，但是大部分新西兰人都有车。这样更方便。Todd: OK, now can I ask you about costs?
托德：好，我能问问你那里的开销吗？Gabrielle: Sure! Sure!
加布里埃尔：当然！当然！Todd: OK, and you can say Japanese yen prices.
托德：好，你可以用日元来表示。Gabrielle: Yeah! Yeah!
加布里埃尔：好的！好！Todd: How much is an apartment? A one bedroom apartment, downtown?
托德：一间公寓要多少钱？市中心一间卧室公寓的价钱？Gabrielle: Well, to be honest we don't have that style. We've got plenty of space so we usually rent a house which has three bedrooms and a garden, for example, and much cheaper, much, much cheaper. I'm just trying to convert.
加布里埃尔：嗯，说实话，我们那里没有这种类型的公寓。那里有很多空间，所以通常我们会租有三间卧室和花园的房子，而且比日本便宜很多，非常便宜。我正在努力换算。Todd: Three bedrooms and a garden!
托德：三间卧室和一个花园！Gabrielle: Yeah! And often we go "flatting" which means we share the house with maybe a couple of friends, probably pay about, I was paying $80 a week for my room so, oh, sorry my conversion rate is not working too quickly at the moment.
加布里埃尔：对！而且一般我们会合租公寓，就是和几个朋友一起租公寓，我租的房间一周大概要付80美元，抱歉，目前我汇率的换算不是很熟练。Todd: That's really cheap though!
托德：那真是很便宜！Gabrielle: It's incredibly cheap. Yeah, much, much cheaper! Much bigger!
加布里埃尔：便宜得令人难以置信。对，比这里便宜很多，便宜非常多！Todd: Wow! sounds like a nice place! OK, how much is, New Zealand prices OK, how much is a loaf of bread?
托德：哇！听起来是个很棒的地方！好，新西兰面包卖多少钱？Gabrielle: A loaf of bread! To get the good bread, probably about $2.50 a loaf, yeah, so, maybe about, oh sorry, my conversion's not working, I've been in Tokyo for too long!
加布里埃尔：一块面包！要买好面包，大概要2.5美元，抱歉，我现在没有换算出来。我来日本的时间太长了！Todd: How about a movie ticket?
托德：电影票的价格呢？Gabrielle: A movie ticket would be about $13, so it's much cheaper than here. Yeah, definitely!
加布里埃尔：一张电影票大概要13美元，比这里便宜很多。对，绝对是！Todd: And bus fare!
托德：公交车费呢？Gabrielle: Bus fare, a dollar fifty, two dollars for one way.
加布里埃尔：公交车单程费用大概1.5美元或2美元。Todd: How about if you're going to buy your friend a sweater, a nice sweater, how much would that cost?
托德：那如果你要是给朋友买毛衣，一件不错的毛衣要多少钱？Gabrielle: Well, I like the good outdoor brand sweaters so I would probably say about $50 but an everyday sweater you could get about $15 New Zealand. Yeah.
加布里埃尔：嗯，我喜欢户外毛衣品牌，那大概要50美元，不过在新西兰普通的毛衣大概是15美元。对。Todd: OK, Wow! Sounds like a great place. Oh, and last one, the weather, when is the best time of year to visit?
托德：哇！听起来真是个好地方。最后一个问题，天气，一年中什么时候是去新西兰旅游的最佳时节？Gabrielle: Oh, summer, definitely.
加布里埃尔：绝对是夏季。Todd: So that's December?
托德：那就是12月吗？Gabrielle: Yeah, so we're going into summer now so December to February, but we have four seasons in one day, so you can count on all weather even within summer. Yeah! Yeah!
加布里埃尔：对，现在是我们国家的夏季，12月至2月是夏季，不过我们那里可以在一天内体验到四种季节，所以即使在夏天你也可以体验到所有天气。没错！Todd: Do you have a really bad month to go, where the weather is not nice?
托德：那有没有最不适宜旅行的月份呢？什么时候天气不好？Gabrielle: Yeah, usually June, July, it probably rains the most, but we still get gorgeous sunny days in the winter so, yeah there's not really any bad time.
加布里埃尔：有，通常一月和七月是雨水最多的月份，但是在冬季也会有阳光灿烂的天气，所以，实际上并不算不适宜的时间。Todd: Oh, sounds nice! Thanks Gabrielle!
托德：哦，听起来真好！谢谢你，加布里埃尔！Gabrielle: No problem!
加布里埃尔：不客气。
重点讲解：
1. compared to
与…相比；和…比起来；
eg. My handwriting is good, but it is poor as compared to my father's.
我的书法很好，但与我父亲的相比，我的就很差了。
eg. Compared to his early work, this is a rather slight novel, ie not a major one.
这部小说与他早期作品相比，不甚重要。
2. at the moment
此刻；目前；眼下；
eg. There seems to be a dearth of good young players at the moment.
目前似乎好的年轻选手太少了。
eg. Everything's topsy-turvy in my life at the moment.
现在我的生活全都被打乱了。
3. a couple of
两个；几个；
eg. I have a couple of things to do.
我有几件事要做。
eg. If you don't like this job, I know a couple of hungry guys that want to do.
要是你不喜欢这工作，我知道几个跃跃欲试的小伙子正想要做呢。
4. a loaf of
一条（面包）；
eg. I need a loaf of bread.
我需要一条面包。
eg. I went to the baker's to buy a loaf of fresh bread.
我到面包铺去买了一个新鲜的面包。
5. count on
期望；预计；
eg. Don't count on much, Billy.
不要抱太大的希望，贝利。
eg. He is counting on winning seats and perhaps a share in the new government.
他期望能获得一些席位，或许还能参与新政府的执政。
