洋話(huà)美眉在紐約

敏感話(huà)題問(wèn)年齡

Jason takes the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to Berkeley， grabs a cab， and goes to pick up Amber at her apartment. On the way to the restaurant that Ethabella suggested， Jason asks Amber her age. She is a little reluctant to tell him at first， but then does so. Is there a problem with asking this question?

Jason: You really do look great tonight， Amber.

Amber: Why， thank you. You don't look so bad yourself. (laughs)

Jason: (laughing also) I appreciate that. Speaking of which， I was wondering if I am older than you， because you look so young. How old are you， anyway?

Amber: (hesitatingly) Oh， I'm not too old， but I'm over eighteen.

Jason: I'm sorry， maybe that was a dumb question.

Amber: No， it's not that. Just... well， I was just a little surprised with your question. It's a bit unusual here for people to ask about age so soon.

Jason: Forgive me. I didn't mean to be impolite or rude.

Amber: I know. Anyway， I'm 27.

Jason: Really. You don't look a day over 23. How do you stay so young looking?

Amber: (flattered) No special way. Just a happy-go-lucky type of person， I guess.

Jason: Well， it works. You really don't look your age. I'm 28， by the way.

Amber: (jokingly) Is that right? I thought you might be a bit older…… just joking.

Jason: I guess I deserved that. (changing the subject) So， what about……

Jason乘海岸快速列車(chē)到了Berkeley，叫了一輛出租車(chē)就去接Amber。在去Ethabella建議的餐廳的路上，Jason問(wèn)起了Amber的年齡。開(kāi)始她有點(diǎn)不愿意告訴他，但最后還是說(shuō)了。這個(gè)問(wèn)題有什么不對(duì)勁嗎？

Jason: 你今天晚上看起來(lái)很美，Amber。

Amber: 謝謝。你看起來(lái)也不錯(cuò)啊！(笑起來(lái))

Jason: (也笑起來(lái))非常感謝，說(shuō)起這個(gè)，我在想我一定比你大，因?yàn)槟憧雌饋?lái)很年輕。你多大了？

Amber: (猶豫了一下)哦，我還不算太老，但是也過(guò)了18歲了。

Jason: 對(duì)不起，可能這是個(gè)很愚蠢的問(wèn)題。

Amber: 不，不是那么回事，只是……我真是被你的問(wèn)題弄得很吃驚。在這里，這么快地問(wèn)別人有多大不太常見(jiàn)。

Jason: 請(qǐng)?jiān)徫遥也皇枪室膺@么粗魯無(wú)理的。

Amber: 我知道，不管它了，我27歲了。

Jason: 真的嗎？你看起來(lái)還不到23歲。你是怎么保持年輕的？

Amber: (高興狀)沒(méi)什么特殊的方法。只是生性快樂(lè)罷了。

Jason:看來(lái)行得通。你看上去真的沒(méi)那么大。另外我28歲了。

Amber: (開(kāi)玩笑地說(shuō))是真的嗎？我覺(jué)得你可能更老一點(diǎn)……開(kāi)開(kāi)玩笑而已。

Jason: 我想你說(shuō)得對(duì)。(換了一個(gè)話(huà)題)那么……

美眉成了電視迷

Amber goes to a department store to buy some empty videotape cartridges. She has become enthralled by a TV program called 'Cops'， and is recording every episode. She also wants to check out the video cameras while she's at it. How does she get around the store? And what is so interesting about this show?

Amber: (to another shopper) Excuse me. Where can I find the information desk?

Shopper: Just around the corner (points the way).

Amber: Thanks. (She gets to the information counter. He overhears an inquiry by the customer ahead of him).

Customer: Where's the 'Lost and Found' counter?

Officer: On the 2nd floor， near the elevator.

Customer: Where's the elevator?

Officer: To your right， near the middle of the store.

(Now it's John's turn. She steps up to the desk)

Amber：Hello， Can you tell me the closing time?

Officer: 10 PM， miss.

Amber: Thank you. And can you point me to the video cameras?

Officer: 5th floor， to the left of the escalators.

Amber: Thank you. (He gets on the escalator and goes to the 5th floor. First he picks up a supply of videotapes， and then he browses around the video cameras for a while. Then he overhears another customer).

Customer: Let's go to the food court and get something to eat.

(Sounds like a good idea to Amber， since she hasn't had dinner yet. She wanted to make sure she could tape the next episode of 'Cops'， so she left for the department store right after work. She finds out where the food court is and goes to eat).

Amber來(lái)到當(dāng)?shù)氐囊患疑痰辏胭I(mǎi)一些空白的錄像帶。她最近迷上了一個(gè)叫‘Cops’的電視節(jié)目，每集必錄。同時(shí)她還想去看看錄像機(jī)。她怎樣在超市里找到正確的路徑呢？那個(gè)節(jié)目到底有什么吸引人的方呢？

Amber: (對(duì)另一個(gè)店員說(shuō))打擾一下，哪可以找到咨詢(xún)臺(tái)？

Shopper: 就在那個(gè)拐角處。(指出了方向)

Amber: 謝謝。(她來(lái)到咨詢(xún)臺(tái)，恰好聽(tīng)到前面的顧客在咨詢(xún))

Customer: 失物認(rèn)領(lǐng)處在哪？

Officer: 在二樓，靠近電梯。

Customer: 電梯呢？

Officer: 在你的右邊，在商店的中部。

(現(xiàn)在該輪到Amber了。她走到臺(tái)前。)

Amber：你好，請(qǐng)問(wèn)什么時(shí)候結(jié)束營(yíng)業(yè)？

Officer: 晚上十點(diǎn)，小姐。

Amber: 謝謝。你能給我指一下攝影機(jī)柜臺(tái)在哪嗎？

Officer: 在五樓，就在自動(dòng)扶梯的左邊。

Amber: 謝謝。(她踏上自動(dòng)扶梯上了五樓。先選了一些空白帶，然后又隨便看了看錄像機(jī)。這時(shí)她又恰巧聽(tīng)見(jiàn)了一個(gè)顧客的話(huà)).

Customer: 我們?nèi)ナ称饭衽_(tái)買(mǎi)點(diǎn)吃的。

(Amber 覺(jué)得是一個(gè)好主意，因?yàn)樗€沒(méi)吃飯呢。她為了確保能錄到下一集 ‘Cops’，一下班就跑到商店里來(lái)了。她找到餐廳就去吃飯了。)