2.   Ted and Laura are in a loud disco.
Ted:  Hi, my name is Ted, what's yours?
Laura:  What?
Ted:  I said, I'm Ted, who are you?
Laura:  Huh?  Oh, my name is Laura.
Ted:  Do you come here often, Laura? 
Laura:  Huh?  I can't hear you; the music's too loud. 
Ted:  Let's go outside and talk.  So Laura, do you come here often?
Laura:  Hold on, my ears are still ringing from the music… what was it you asked me?
Ted:  I asked if you come here often.
Laura:  Sometimes, usually once every few weeks.  Do you? 
Ted:  No, this is my first time here. 
Laura:  I usually come with a group of friends.  We dance a little, have a few drinks, and just have a good time.
Ted:  Yeah, that's why I'm here.  My friends dragged2 me here, because they think I spend too much time studying. 
Laura:  That's good.  It's good to hit3 the books, but you need to get out once in a while.
Ted:  I guess so.  But the music is too loud.  I don't mind getting out and meeting people, but next time I'll do it in a park.
【譯文】
——嗨，我是特德，你叫什么名字？
——什么？
——我說我是特德，你是誰？
——嗯？喔，我叫勞拉。
——你常來這兒嗎，勞拉？
——嗯？我聽不見你說話，音樂聲太大了。
——我們?nèi)ネ饷嬲劙?。那么，勞拉，你常來這兒嗎？
——等一下，我的耳朵中還是音樂聲……你剛才問我什么？
——我問你是否常來這兒。
——有時，通常每隔幾周一次。你呢？
——不，這是我第一次來這里。
——我通常和一群朋友一塊兒來。我們跳一會兒舞，喝點飲料，玩得非常開心。
——是啊，那就是為什么我在這兒。我的朋友們把我拖拉到這兒，因為他們認(rèn)為我在學(xué)習(xí)上花的時間太多了。
——那很好。喜歡看書很好，但你也要偶爾出去玩玩。
——我也是這樣想。但這音樂太吵了。我不介意出來見人，但下次我會去公園。

3.  Anna is Lucy’s American friend.  They’re talking about traveling.
Luke:  Hi, Anna. I haven’t seen you for ages. Where have you been?
Anna:  I’ve been away on holidays for sometime.
Luke:  No wonder I haven’t seen you recently.  Where did you spend your holidays?
Anna:  I went with my husband.  Our first stop was Bangkok4.  We stayed there for 5 days.  Then we flew to Hong Kong, stopover for 3 days.  Our last stop was China.  We visited the Great Wall.
Luke:  You must have a wonderful time.
Anna:  Yes.  We enjoyed ourselves very much.  Have you traveled much, Luke?
Luke:  No, my wife doesn’t like traveling.  We haven’t been traveling for more than ten years.  The first time we traveled together was in 1978 when we just got married.  We spent our honeymoon in the Alps.
Anna:  Oh, I see.  Yeah.  Some people like traveling, some don’t.  My husband didn’t like traveling at first, either.  He said ‘what’s the use of traveling?  A waste of money and a waste of time.’  At last I got him on the move5.  After all, he loved me.  We went to Bali, Indonesia6, one of the most beautiful places in the world.  That trip left a very deep impression on him.  Since then whenever we have holidays and money, we’d like to patronize7 the travel agency.  Isn’t it a bit dull to shut yourself at one place all your life?
Luke:  I know that.  But at present we just can’t arrange time for traveling.  The kids are still young.  The eldest one is in middle school, the second one is in primary school and the youngest one is still in kindergarten.  Besides, my wife is very busy with her doctorate8. 
Anna:  Life must be a bit hard for you at present.  But don’t worry.  You’ll certainly be better off9 when the kids are grown up.  Then you’ll have more time to travel, and your wife will change her mind, too.
Luke:  I hope so.

【譯文】
——安娜，你好。我很久沒有見到你了。你去哪里了？
——我度假離開了一段時間。
——難怪我最近都沒有見到你。你去哪里度假了？
——我和我丈夫一起去的。第一站是曼谷。我們在那里呆了五天。然后我們飛到了香港，中途停留了三天。最后一站是中國。我們參觀了長城。
——你一定玩得很開心。
——是啊。我們都玩得很盡興。盧克，你有沒有去旅游？
——沒有，我妻子不喜歡旅游。我們已經(jīng)有十年多沒有旅游過了。第一次是在1978年我們剛結(jié)婚時一起去旅游過。我們在阿爾卑斯山度過了我們的蜜月。
——哦，我明白了。是啊。一些人喜歡旅游，一些人不喜歡。我的丈夫開始也不喜歡旅游。他說‘旅游有什么好？浪費錢又浪費時間。’最后我使他也行動起來。畢竟他是愛我的。我們?nèi)チ擞《饶嵛鱽喌陌屠飴u，世界上最漂亮的地方之一。那次旅行使他留下了深刻的印象。從那以后，每當(dāng)我們有假日和錢，我們就喜歡惠顧旅行社。一生把自己關(guān)在一個地方不是有點乏味嗎？
——這些我知道。但是目前我們就是沒有時間來旅游。小孩還小。老大在讀中學(xué)，老二在讀小學(xué)，最小的還在幼兒園。除此之外，我妻子在忙于她的博士學(xué)位。
——現(xiàn)在你的生活肯定難一點。但是不要著急。孩子們長大了，當(dāng)然你的境況也會好一點。然后你就會比較有時間去旅行，而且你妻子也會改變她的想法。
——我希望如此。

4.  Taking a vacation.
George:  Lili, let’s take a vacation!
Lili:  George, how can we?  Vacations cost money.  And this month we don’t have much money left after paying the rent.
George:  Well, Lili, we can visit different places in the state in our van10.  We are not going to take a plane or stay at a hotel this time.  Trust me, it won’t cost much.
Lili:  Where will we sleep, then?
George:  In the van. 
Lili:  What about other expenses?
George:  Let’s see.  Gas, food, recreation11, we won’t spend much.  Come on.  Don’t hesitate.  We need to get out of the house once in a while.  We have been working hard, haven’t we?
Lili:  Maybe you’re right.  When do you plan to go?
George:  The sooner the better!  I can’t wait!
Lili:  Oh, I don’t know where we’re going yet.
George:  As long as we’re going, you can decide where to go.  I trust your judgments12.  I know you miss Chinese food, so we can eat at a Chinese restaurant this time.
Lili:  Let’s go to Chicago.  We can have lunch in Chinatown.  Then we can go to a ball game at Wrigley Field! 
George:  You have such good ideas! nbsp; We spent our honeymoon in the Alps.

《零距離美語會話[娛樂]Lesson1:Let'stakeavacation》永久閱讀地址: http://www.jiazhineng.cn/yingyu/2559/