缺了點什么？

左看右看，上看下看，總感覺生活中缺少了點什么？沒錯，很多東西可能與在家里都不一樣了。咖啡？奶酪？意大利面？離開了這些活不了了？沒那么嚴重吧？像Mark一樣先搞清楚狀況，然后，還是那句話——習慣了就好了。

Mark: Where can I go to get a good cup of coffee?

Pam: Well， I can tell you where to get a cup of coffee， but I can’t guarantee it will be good.

Mark: ①Am I pushing my luck to expect a soy latte?

Pam: Yeah， ②I wouldn’t hold your breath. It’s another thing you will have to get used to—some of the everyday things from home become luxuries in China. You can get most things， but sometimes it takes a lot of searching and a little bit of luck.

Mark: I don’t know how I’ll survive without a good cup of coffee in the morning.

Pam: ③The thing is， because everything is so cheap， you could buy your own coffee machine if you wanted and brew up your own coffee; just get some coffee beans sent over， or find some in the city at the foreign supermarket.

Mark: ④I’ll see how I go. But if I can’t find a tasty cup of coffee， I’ll seriously consider that.

Pam: I had the same problem with cheese when I first got here. I was craving a good bit of cheddar， or Camembert， or Brie， ⑤but fat chance of that happening.

Mark: There’s no cheese at all?

Pam: Well， you can get some of the cheap “plastic” cheese at the supermarkets， but ⑥it’s a bit of a stretch to find “real” cheese. So now every time we make a trip to the city， we stock up on goodies. I know we should be soaking up the Chinese culture and enjoying their food and all that， but there are some things we need a fix of every now and then.

Mark: I’m really going to need some spaghetti too.

Pam: Well， you can get that at restaurants， but it won’t really be an authentic Italian flavor.

Mark: Yeah， I guess it’s like how Chinese food doesn’t taste the same outside of China. Well， as long as I can buy some pasta， I can cook up my own spaghetti. ⑦Any other surprises I should prepare myself for?

Pam: ⑧I had a tough time finding foreign quality hair products and hairspray， but I don’t think that will be a problem for you.

Mark: No， not really. Oh， I did notice one other difference in the taxi yesterday.

Pam: Seatbelts?

Mark: Yes. It was weird not having to wear a seatbelt. I felt like I was breaking the law.

Pam: Yeah， the front passengers generally wear a seatbelt， but in the back it doesn’t matter so much.

Mark: It’s all part of the experience—adjusting to all the differences and things that are missing.

Pam: That’s it. And in time you realize that things you thought you couldn’t live without really aren’t that important.

Mark: ⑨From what I’ve heard， ⑩the whole thing puts things into perspective.

Pam: And it allows you to simplify your life.

Mark: Well， my life back home was too cluttered. I could certainly do with some simplifying.

馬克：我在哪里能喝到不錯的咖啡呢？

帕姆：嗯，我可以告訴你哪里可以買到咖啡喝，但我不能保證就一定是好

喝的。

馬克：我想要一杯豆奶拿鐵咖啡的想法是不是很過分？

帕姆：是啊，我不能讓你期望太高。這是你要慢慢習慣的另一件事情——在家里天天做的平常事情在中國會變得很奢侈。大多數東西你都可以買得到，但有時要費力地找一找，還要碰碰運氣。

馬克：我不知道如果早上沒有一杯咖啡的話我該怎么活下去。

帕姆：事實上，既然這里什么東西都這么便宜，如果你想喝咖啡的話可以自己買一個咖啡機回來煮，叫人寄些咖啡豆給你，或者到城里的外國超市去買。

馬克：我看情況吧，如果我找不到好喝的咖啡，我會好好考慮你的建議的。

帕姆：當時我剛到這兒的時候，找奶酪時也碰到一樣的問題。我很喜歡吃一些切達干酪，或是卡門貝干酪，又或是布里白乳酪，但（找到的）可能性很小。

馬克：這里根本沒有奶酪嗎？

帕姆：嗯，在超市里你也可以買到一些便宜的用塑料包著的奶酪，但要想找到真正的奶酪不太容易。所以，現在每次去城里，我都會儲備一些好東西。我知道我們應該吸收中國文化，享受他們的美食等等，但也有一些東西我們要時不時來上一口的。

馬克：我真的還需要一些意大利面呢。

帕姆：哦，飯店里就有，但可能不是正宗的意大利口味。

馬克：是的，我想就像中國菜在外國味道也不一樣了。呃，只要我能買到面條，我就能自己做意大利面了。還有哪些意外我要提前做好心理準備的？

帕姆：我好不容易才找到了國外質量好的美發產品和發膠，但我想你不會有那個問題。

馬克：不會，我沒那個問題。哦，昨天我在出租車上還留意到另一個不同的

地方。

帕姆：安全帶？

馬克：是啊。很奇怪這里都不用系安全帶的。我感覺我好像在干違法的事。

帕姆：嗯，坐在前排的乘客通常會系上安全帶，但后排的沒有特別要求。

馬克：這也是體驗的一部分啊——去適應所有不同的和缺乏的東西。

帕姆：說得對。而且你還會最終意識到，那些你認為離開了就活不了的東西其實沒有那么重要。

馬克：這么說來，這能讓我們正確全面地看待問題。

帕姆：而且它能讓你生活得更簡單。

馬克：嗯。我在老家的生活實在太混亂了，確實要簡化一下我的生活了。

Smart Sentences

① Am I pushing my luck to expect a soy latte? 我想要一杯豆奶拿鐵咖啡的想法是不是很過分？

push sb.’s luck: take additional risks when things are going well（得寸進尺，僥幸）。例如：

Winning two small prizes is really unusual. Don’t push

your luck.

贏了兩個小獎已經不容易了，不要得寸進尺。

② I wouldn’t hold your breath. 我不能讓你期望太高。

not hold sb.’s breath: not expect sth. to happen（不指望某事會發生）。例如：

Steven is picking you up at three? Don’t hold your breath; he has a meeting at 2:30.

史蒂文下午三點來接你？別指望他了，他兩點半有個會。

③ The thing is，… 事實上，……

the thing is，…: used to introduce a comment or opinion（用以引入一句評論或一個觀點）。例如：

I got a ticket to the Olympic Opening Ceremony. The thing is， I don’t want to spend all that money on travel expense.

我買到了奧運會開幕式的票，可問題是我不想花那么多路費。

④ I’ll see how I go. 我看情況吧。

how sb. goes: the result of what sb. is doing （某人做事的結果）。例如：

Depending on how I go with the project， I may go to the party tonight.

我今晚可能會參加派對的，要視項目的進展而定。

⑤ …but fat chance of that happening.

……但可能性很小。

fat chance: sth. is not likely to happen（可能性很小）。

例如：

—Do you think it will be sunny this Saturday?

你覺得周六會天晴嗎？

—Fat chance. There is a typhoon coming.

不大可能，有一個臺風快到了。

⑥ It’s a bit of a stretch to find “real” cheese. 要想找到真正的奶酪不太容易。

a bit of a stretch: with some difficulty， not easy（不太容易）。例如：

I believe it will be a bit of a stretch to find the right person for the role.

我覺得，要給這個角色找到一個合適的人有些困難。

⑦ Any other surprises I should prepare myself for? 還有哪些我要提前做好心理準備的？

Any other surprises? = Are there any other surprises?

prepare oneself for sth.: get oneself ready for sth.（為某事做好準備）。例如：

Professor Smith told us that we need to prepare ourselves for the grades tomorrow.

史密斯教授告訴我們，得為明天宣布成績做好心理準備。

⑧ I had a tough time finding foreign quality hair products and hairspray. 我好不容易才找到了國外質量好的美發產品和發膠。

tough time: difficult time; difficulty（困難）。例如：

I had a tough time getting John to agree on the time.

我好不容易讓約翰同意了那個時間。

⑨ From what I’ve heard… 這么說來……

from what I’ve heard: used to introduce the conclusion drawn from the above conversation（用以總結以上內容）。例如：

From what I’ve heard， working overtime this weekend is inevitable.

這么說來，這個周末加班是跑不掉了。

⑩ The whole thing puts things into perspective. 這能讓我們正確全面地看待問題。

put sth. into perspective: judge the real importance by considering it in relation to everything else（關系恰當地或合理地看待某事）。例如：

Nancy can always put things into perspective when she encounters a problem.

南希在遇到問題的時候，總是可以全面合理地看待事情。