關于購書：以質取“書”

Mother: How’s your day， son?

Alan: I had a nice talk with Grandpa about books. I think I’d like to go to a bookstore with you tonight so I can 1)check up on the books grandpa recommended. ①What do you say?

Mother: Sure. Let’s see if you can find books by the authors he liked as a teenager. Maybe you will realize ②he is not such an old prune.

Alan: Haha. But first of all， I want to google the books to see if I like the story lines.

(After a while)

Alan: Mom， can I use your credit card for a moment?

Mother: Alan， ③don’t hold your breath.

Alan: Oh come on， Mom! I see some books are on sale on 2)Amazon. It is a good 3)bargain as I can save up to 50 percent if I 4)purchase three books at a time.

Mother: Well， if you can do some work around the house， like 5)mow the lawn and do your 6)laundry， I may consider it. But you see， you’ve been buying stuff that is useless to your studies. ④If you go over this budget， your dad will kick your butt.

Alan: I know. But the price on Amazon is really appealing. I really don’t want to miss the boat. Please， Mom， can I just borrow your credit card for only this time?

Mother: ⑤Not a chance! I really don’t understand what is the attraction of buying books on the Internet. In my day， if we wanted to read a book， we didn’t just write a check or use a credit card. We went to the library to preview the book and then decided to take the book out 7)on loan. What makes you want to buy those books online except for a good price?

Alan: Well， the cover looks really cool and I believe the content would be as cool as its cover.

Mother: ⑥You can’t judge a book by its cover. You are just wasting my money if the book content isn’t what you expected. Why don’t we just go to the bookstore to find these books before you purchase them online?

Alan: Alright. Let’s go to the bookstore then. I’ll take a chance to see if we can beat the online prices.

Mother: Great! Don’t forget to bring the booklist with you. I’ll go to get ready now. We might get your dad a good read as a birthday present.

Alan: Cool. Mom， ⑦let’s get the show on the road. After the bookstore， how about having dinner at Sally’s Kitchen?

Mother: Feed the mind with books and feed the stomach with delicacies， not a bad idea!

媽媽：今天過得怎樣，兒子？

艾倫：我跟外公聊書聊得可開心了。今天晚上我想跟您一起去趟書店，找找外公推薦的書。您覺得怎樣？

媽媽：當然好。我們看看能不能找得到他年輕時喜歡的作家的書。可能你就會明白，他并不是個悶老頭。

艾倫：哈哈。可是首先，我想上網用谷歌搜索一下這些書，看自己喜不喜歡它的故事情節。

（過了一會兒）

艾倫：媽媽，能把您的信用卡借我用一會兒嗎？

媽媽：艾倫，別樂了。

艾倫：噢，別這樣，媽媽！我看到亞馬遜網站上有些書打折出售呢。很劃算啊，如果我一次買三本的話，能省下一半的錢呢。

媽媽：噢，要是你能干些家務活，比如剪草坪和洗你自己的衣服的話，我會考慮考慮。你看，你已經買了那么多與學習無關的東西。要是你超了預算，你爸爸絕對不會輕饒你。

艾倫：我知道。可是亞馬遜網站上的價格實在是太吸引人了。我真的不想錯過這個機會。求您了，媽媽，把您的信用卡借我吧，就這一次好嗎？

媽媽：沒門兒！我真搞不懂，網上買書有什么吸引人的。在我那個年代，如果想讀書，我們不會寫支票或用信用卡。我們就去圖書館先查看一下這本書，然后再決定把它借出來。除了價格低以外，是什么原因讓你這么想在網上購買那些書啊？

艾倫：噢，封面看起來真的很酷，而且我相信它的內容會跟封面一樣酷。

媽媽：你可不能以貌取“書”啊。要是書的內容不合你意，那你就只是在浪費我的錢。為什么我們不先去書店把這些書找出來看一下，然后再上網買呢？

艾倫：好吧。那么我們去書店吧。順便看看還有沒有比網上價格更優惠的。

媽媽：太好了！別忘了把要買書的清單帶上。我現在就去準備。說不定我們還能淘到一本好書給你爸爸當生日禮

物呢。

艾倫：酷斃了。媽媽，我們行動吧。逛完書店以后，我們到“莎莉廚房”吃晚飯怎么樣？

媽媽：以書籍充實頭腦，用美食填飽肚子，這個主意不壞！

Smart Sentences

① What do you say? 您覺得怎樣？

What do you say? = What do you think?

What do you say?: used to ask the other’s opinion on sth.（用以詢問他人的意見）。例如：

I’ll go back to the office to finish the report tomorrow morning. Then we’ll meet at the Garden Steakhouse for lunch and go to see the Harry Potter movie. What do you say?

我明天一早回辦公室完成那份報告，然后我們在花園牛排屋吃午飯，再去看哈利·波特電影。你覺得怎么樣？

② He is not such an old prune. 他并不是個悶老頭。

an old prune: an old and boring person（一個老而無趣的人）。例如：

Uncle Willy refused to be considered an old prune as he loves to surf the net， chat online and have quite a few teenage friends.

威利舅舅不愿意被人看成是個老悶蛋，因為他很喜歡上網沖浪，在線聊天，還有不少青少年朋友。

③ Don’t hold your breath. 別樂了。

hold sb.’s breath: get too excited for sth. to happen（過度興奮）。例如：

Don’t hold your breath for tomorrow’s picnic. Mom said Dad has to go on a business trip.

你可別對明天的野餐抱太大希望，媽媽說爸爸要出差。

④ If you go over this budget， your dad will kick your butt. 要是你超了預算，你爸爸絕對不會輕饒你。

go over a budget: spend more than the budget allowed（超過預算）。例如：

My trip to Beijing went over my budget because I bought a lot of Olympic souvenirs.

因為我買了許多奧運紀念品，我的北京之行超過了預算。

kick one’s butt: punish or discipline sb. harshly for what he/she did（嚴厲懲罰某人）。例如：

My boss is going to kick my butt for missing the meeting with his key client.

我錯過了與老板的主要客戶見面的機會，他會給我好看的。

⑤ Not a chance! 沒門兒！

Not a chance! = There won’t be any chance for it!

not a chance: it will be impossible for sth. to happen（不可能）。例如：

Go to see a movie on Tuesday night? Not a chance! Do your homework at home.

想周二晚上去看電影？沒門兒。在家做作業吧。

⑥ You can’t judge a book by its cover. 你可不能以貌取“書”啊。

judge a book by its cover: make judgment by the appearance of sth.（以貌取書，也引申為“以貌取人”，相似表達有“judge a person by his/her appearance”）。例如：

I know Susie doesn’t have the prettiest face in the world， but judging a book by its cover can be misleading.

我也明白蘇絲并不好看，但以貌取人會誤導人的。

⑦ Let’s get the show on the road. 我們行動吧。

get the show on the road: get sth. started quickly（讓某事趕快開始）。例如：

I love taking the whole family out to the countryside and can’t wait to get the show on the road.

我喜歡把一家人帶到鄉下去，已經迫不及待了。