【譯文】
——好了，那么我們打算邀請誰來參加我們的宴會(huì)？
——唔，我們將邀請托馬斯一家，格雷一家，安德森一家，大約一共有12個(gè)人。
——不要忘了我辦公室的朋友安迪。星期五他無事可做，所以我邀請了他過來。
——但是那樣就有13個(gè)人！星期五我們不能有13個(gè)人吃飯！
——為什么不能？
——這是個(gè)老迷信。如果我們在飯桌上有13個(gè)人，那就意味著運(yùn)氣不好。安迪能帶他女朋友來嗎？
——我不知道。他最近才和他女朋友分手，我想他沒有心情這么快又找一個(gè)。
——但我們不能有13個(gè)人吃飯！
——我想你是在把問題弄大。這只是個(gè)迷信，沒有任何實(shí)際意義。
——絕對不是！我拒絕星期五13個(gè)人吃飯！
——好，好。我要我妹妹也來。那樣我們就有14人吃飯。
——那還差不多。

4.  Horoscope.
Ben:  Hey, what's new?
Kitty:  Not much.  Just sitting here eating some Chinese food.  Is that the paper?  Why don't you open it and tell me my horoscope9?
Ben:  Ok, wait a minute … let's see.  I'm a Taurus, and it says, “Mars is in the third house, and is soon to eclipse Venus”.  I don't know what that means, but then it says, “Your charm and drive will win others over to your way of thinking.  Remember to be positive.”  Sounds good to me.
Kitty:  What about Gemini?  What's the prediction? 
Ben:   “Since Mercury10 has crossed paths with Jupiter, your fortunes are falling.  Bad luck will follow you today, and you will lose that which you value.  Be careful.”
Kitty:  That sounds bad!  I'm really worried, what should I do?  Maybe I should go home and stay in the rest of the day. 
Ben:  But we have a date tonight!  You can't stay at home because of a stupid horoscope. 
Kitty:  But those things are dangerous!  I'm not going out if it means bad luck.
Ben:  That's silly.  They don't mean anything.  Here, give me one of those fortune cookies11 you're eating.  Let's see what it says.  “Sunshine will follow your feet if you let it.”  See, that sounds good to me.  It's ridiculous12 to let a horoscope control your life.
Kitty:  I don't know.  I've had days that seem to fit with my horoscope's predictions, but then there are days that it doesn't work.  I really don't know.
Ben:  Does this mean we're still on for tonight?
Kitty:  I guess so. 
Ben:  Good. 

【譯文】
——嗨，有什么新鮮事？
——沒有什么。只不過是坐在這兒吃一些中國菜。那是報(bào)紙嗎？為什么你不打開它，告訴我我的星位呢？
——好的，等會(huì)兒……讓我看一下。我是金牛座，上面說，“火星在第三座房子里，很快將吃掉金星。”我不知道這是什么意思，但上面還說，“別人因?yàn)槟愕镊攘屯苿?dòng)力也會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)到你的思維方式上來。記住要積極一些。” 我看很好。
——雙子座呢？預(yù)言是什么？
——“墨丘利神已經(jīng)穿過木星的軌道，你的運(yùn)氣正在下落。今天壞運(yùn)將跟著你，你會(huì)失去你認(rèn)為重要的東西。小心。”
——聽起來很壞！我真擔(dān)心，我該怎么做？或許我應(yīng)該回家，今天呆在家里不再出門。
——但是我們今晚有個(gè)約會(huì)！你不能因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)荒唐的星象呆在家里。
——但這些事情是危險(xiǎn)的！如果它意味著壞運(yùn)，我就不會(huì)出去。
——那樣做是愚蠢的。它們沒有任何意義。 喂，把你要吃的那些簽餅給我一個(gè)。看它說什么。“如果你愿意，陽光將跟隨著你的腳步。”看到了嗎，我看挺好的。讓一個(gè)星象控制你的生活真是荒謬。
——我不知道。我已經(jīng)有好幾天似乎和我的星象預(yù)言相符合，但有幾天又不相符合。我真的不知道。
——這就是說今晚我們?nèi)岳^續(xù)嗎？
——我想是。
——很好。

5.  The Missing Floor
Some Russian students are spending their summer in Philadelphia, visiting historic sights.  They are checking into a hotel.
Boris:  We'd like a room with two beds, please.
Clerk:  A double?  Let's see ... I can put you in room 1405.  It faces the river and has a wonderful view. 
Alexis:  That will be fine.  Since we're going to be fourteen stories above the ground, I think we should definitely have a room with a view. (Later, Alexis returns from a walk.)
Alexis:  Boris, I saw you sitting out on the balcony of our room.  I could see you from the street. 
Boris:  That's quite a distance.  How could you tell who it was?
Alexis:  I recognized your bright red shirt.  But there's something strange.  We're in room 1405, right?  Well, when I saw you on the balcony, I counted upward.  I only got to thirteen.  We're on the thirteenth floor.
Boris:   No, I'm sure we're on the fourteenth floor.  The desk clerk said so.
Alexis:  I know!  I'll look out the window and count downward. (She counts.)  I still say we're only thirteen stories up. nbsp; It faces the river and has a wonderful view.

《零距離美語會(huì)話[信仰]Lesson2:Doyoubelieveinpalmistry?》永久閱讀地址: http://www.jiazhineng.cn/yingyu/2458/