歡樂感恩聚會

感恩節在西方也算是傳統大節日了，那這群生活在中國的老外們在這天又會用什么方式來慶祝節日一解鄉愁呢？你還別說，真夠豐富的，還不費事！

Mark: Hello， this is Mark.

Carol: Hi， Mark， it’s Carol. How have you been?

Mark: Yeah， not bad; ①a bit snowed under with work， but I guess I can’t complain.

Carol: I know the feeling. ②Things really come in waves here—you can go for months with hardly any work， then suddenly you’re swamped. You get used to it.

Mark: Yeah， it’s no big deal. ③I’m just going with

the flow.

Carol: So， anyway， the reason I’m calling is to see if you have any plans for Thanksgiving.

Mark: Ah， no I don’t， actually. What have you got on offer?

Carol: I’m having a get-together at my place this weekend. ④You are more than welcomed to join. We are going to cook and have a few drinks， and then ⑤we might head into the city and go out.

Mark: That sounds awesome. So who is doing

the cooking?

Carol: ⑥We are all going to pitch in. Sam is making a potato salad. Tom is on cheese cake duty. And I am going to take on the turkey—if I can find one. Plus everyone else is bringing snacks and drinks.

Mark: I have a great recipe for devilled eggs， but I’ll need to find a supermarket which has the ingredients.

Carol: Yeah I am going to need a good supermarket to find a turkey， plus I want to make a cranberry sauce.

Mark: Are you free tomorrow? We can head out to the Metro. I’ve heard it’s about a 20-minute taxi ride， but I’ve never actually been there.

Carol: That sounds great. ⑦I’ve been meaning to go out there for a while. It’ll be good to stock up on a few things. Make sure you have enough cash: there is bound to be lots of little goodies you will want to buy. I haven’t been there since last Thanksgiving now that I think of it.

Mark: Oh， so you know how to get there?

Carol: I will get the address off the Internet and we can just show it to the taxi driver.

Mark: So you do this sort of thing every year?

Carol: Well I’ve only been in China for two years， but this will be my second Thanksgiving celebration. It was a blast last year. We ended up playing board games till about

3 A.M..

Mark: Ah， cool. ⑧It’ll be good to have a western fix.

Carol: We won’t really set a timetable. I’ve just told people to come over any time after 5 and we’ll see where the night takes us. We might not actually make it out to any clubs.

Mark: Sounds nice and chilled. If we are all having a good time ⑨there is no point breaking up the party， right?

Carol: Yeah， that’s right. OK， ⑩I’ve gotta fly， but I’ll come to your place in the morning and we can head to the supermarket together.

Mark: Sounds great. See you then.

馬克：你好，我是馬克。

卡羅爾：嗨，馬克，我是卡羅爾。最近過得

怎樣？

馬克：噢，還好吧。有點忙得不可開交，但我想我沒什么好埋怨的。

卡羅爾：我很清楚這種感覺。事情真的是一波接一波——你可能幾個月內一點活也沒有，然后突然你會忙不過來。你會習慣的。

馬克：是的，沒什么大不了。我隨遇而安就

好了。

卡羅爾：那么，事實上，我打電話給你的原因是想看看你感恩節有沒有計劃。

馬克：啊，我沒有，真的。你有什么好節目？

卡羅爾：這個周末我打算在我家搞一個聚會。非常歡迎你來參加。我們打算做點菜，喝些酒；然后可能到市區去

逛逛。

馬克：聽上去真棒。那么誰負責做菜呢？

卡羅爾：我們都會動手參與。山姆要做個土豆沙拉，湯姆就負責芝士蛋糕，我將負責做火雞——如果我能找到一只的話。另外，其他人都會帶上零食和飲

料的。

馬克：我有一個絕妙的魔鬼蛋做法，但我要找到有這些材料賣的超市才行。

卡羅爾：是呀，我也要到一家好的超市才能買到火雞，而且我還想做越橘調

味汁。

馬克：你明天有空嗎？我們可以去麥德龍（譯者注：國際知名的連鎖經營百貨零售中心，目前在中國很多大城市開設有分店）逛逛。我聽說大約坐20分鐘出租車就到了，不過其實我從來沒去過

那兒。

卡羅爾：不錯啊。我想去那兒已好一陣子了。去儲備一些物品挺不錯的。你要記得帶夠錢喲，肯定有不少的好東西你想買的。現在想起來，自從去年感恩節我就沒有去過那里了。

馬克：哦，那么你知道怎么去那里嗎？

卡羅爾：我會從網上把地址抄下來，然后我們可以給出租車司機看。

馬克：那么你每年都做這樣的事情？

卡羅爾：嗯，我來中國只有兩年，而今年這個將會是我的第二個感恩節慶祝會。去年那個辦得很成功。我們最后玩棋盤游戲直到凌晨3點鐘。

馬克：啊，真棒。加上一點西方的元素也不錯。

卡羅爾：我們不會安排時間表的。我只是告訴大家5點鐘后就恭候光臨，然后我們就得看晚上的情況來安排了。也許，我們根本就不去酒吧了呢。

馬克：聽上去真令人興奮。如果我們都玩得很開心，那么就沒有理由結束這個派對了，不是嗎？

卡羅爾：是的，沒錯。好吧，我要（掛電話）走了，我上午會到你家，然后一起去超市。

馬克：好的。到時見。

Smart Sentences

① A bit snowed under with work. 有點忙得不可開交。

snow under: used to emphasize having a lot of things to deal with（強調有很多事情要做/處理，窮于應付）。例如：

Michael Phelps was snowed under with the press after the Olympics.

邁克爾·菲爾普斯奧運會過后對媒體應付不過來。

② Things really come in waves here. 事情真的是一波接一波。

come in waves: things happen in varying frequencies（事情接踵而來）。例如：

Phone calls came in waves after the news that Betty had an accident.

貝蒂出事的消息傳開后，電話多了起來。

③ I’m just going with the flow. 我隨遇而安就好了。

go with the flow: let things happen or let other people tell you what to do（既來之則安之）。例如：

I don’t understand this thing， so I’ll just go with the flow.

對這事兒我不了解，所以既來之則安之。

④ You are more than welcomed to join. 非常歡迎你來參加。

more than welcome: used to emphasize sth. is much more appreciated because it is better than expected（用以表達因為某事好于預期時的心情）。例如：

In such a steamy hot summer， the rain is more than welcomed.

在酷熱的夏天，這場雨是求之不得的。

⑤ We might head into the city and go out. 我們可能到市內去逛逛。

head: go towards a place（前往）。例如：

I’m heading for downtown.

我正往市中心去。

⑥ We are all going to pitch in. 我們都會動手參與。

pitch in: to join forces with others， to help（協力，幫助）。例如：

A lot of people pitched in with the rescue effort after the Wenchuan earthquake.

汶川地震后，許多人都參與了救援工作。

⑦ I’ve been meaning to go out there for a while. 我想去那兒已經好一陣子了。

I’ve been meaning to…: to indicate already having the intension of doing sth.， usually used when trying to defend oneself（解釋自己的初衷，通常是在自我辯解時用）。

例如：

I’ve been meaning to call you last week.

我上星期本來想給你電話的。

⑧ It’ll be good to have a western fix. 加上一點西方的元素也不錯。

fix: ingredient or element（元素，口味）。例如：

I love the local fix in this design.

我很喜歡這個設計里的本地元素。

⑨ There is no point breaking up the party， right? 那么就沒有理由結束這個派對了，不

是嗎？

there is no point to sth./doing sth.: it’s not necessary to do sth./doing sth.（沒有必要）。例如：

There is no point spending too much money on the dress.

沒有必要在這件禮服上花太多錢。

⑩ I’ve gotta fly. 我要（掛電話）走了。

gotta/got to/have to fly: must leave in a great hurry（必須馬上離開）。例如：

I have to fly or I’ll miss the plane.

我得趕緊走了，不然會趕不上飛機了。