美語情景對話 第299期:Christchurch 克賴斯特徹奇

Todd: So, Hello!

託德：你好！

Gabrielle: Hi!

加布裏埃爾：你好！

Todd: Can you say your name please?

託德：請問你叫什麼名字？

Gabrielle: Gabrielle:

加布裏埃爾：加布裏埃爾。

Todd: Gabrielle. Now, Gabrielle you talked to us last year.

託德：加布裏埃爾，我們去年曾經談過。

Gabrielle:That's right!

加布裏埃爾：沒錯！

Todd: And you said that you're from Christchurch?

託德：你說你來自克賴斯特徹奇？

Gabrielle: Uh-huh, from Christchurch in New Zealand.

加布裏埃爾：嗯，我來自新西蘭的克賴斯特徹奇。

Todd: OK, can you talk about your city?

託德：好，你能談談你所在的城市嗎？

Gabrielle: Absolutely! Absolutely! Well, Christchurch I guess compared to Japan is pretty small, but for New Zealand it's quite a big city. I think it's a great place. Yeah, we've got the beach, the mountains, yeah so city center and nature, really close.

加布裏埃爾：當然可以！當然！嗯，和日本比的話，克賴斯特徹奇非常小，但是克賴斯特徹奇在新西蘭是個大城市。我認爲那是個很棒的地方。我們那裏有海灘，有高山，市中心和大自然非常近。

Todd: Sounds nice! How many people live in Christchurch?

託德：聽起來不錯！克賴斯特徹奇有多少人口？

Gabrielle: Oh, that's a good question. Gosh! We're certainly not up to a million! I guess about 600,000 people.

加布裏埃爾：哦，這是個好問題。天哪！不到1百萬人！我猜大概60萬人吧。

Todd: Wow, that's it! Just 6!

託德：哇！就只有60萬！

Gabrielle: That's it. Big city in New Zealand!

加布裏埃爾：對。那是新西蘭的大城市！

Todd: Wow! So there's three big cities in New Zealand!

託德：哇！新西蘭有三個大城市！

Gabrielle: That's right! That's right! We're probably the second or third biggest city.

加布裏埃爾：沒錯！對！克賴斯特徹奇可能是第二大或者是第三大城市。

Todd: Uh, what's the transportation like?

託德：哦，那裏的交通怎麼樣？

Gabrielle: Well, I use my bike usually or a car. We certainly don't have the trains like Tokyo, but there's a bus system. It's not too bad, but most Kiwis have cars. Yeah, more convenient.

加布裏埃爾：嗯，我通常是騎自行車或是開車出行。我們沒有東京這樣的火車系統，但是有公交車系統。還不算太壞，但是大部分新西蘭人都有車。這樣更方便。

Todd: OK, now can I ask you about costs?

託德：好，我能問問你那裏的開銷嗎？

Gabrielle: Sure! Sure!

加布裏埃爾：當然！當然！

Todd: OK, and you can say Japanese yen prices.

託德：好，你可以用日元來表示。

Gabrielle: Yeah! Yeah!

加布裏埃爾：好的！好！

Todd: How much is an apartment? A one bedroom apartment, downtown?

託德：一間公寓要多少錢？市中心一間臥室公寓的價錢？

Gabrielle: Well, to be honest we don't have that style. We've got plenty of space so we usually rent a house which has three bedrooms and a garden, for example, and much cheaper, much, much cheaper. I'm just trying to convert.

加布裏埃爾：嗯，說實話，我們那裏沒有這種類型的公寓。那裏有很多空間，所以通常我們會租有三間臥室和花園的房子，而且比日本便宜很多，非常便宜。我正在努力換算。

Todd: Three bedrooms and a garden!

託德：三間臥室和一個花園！

Gabrielle: Yeah! And often we go "flatting" which means we share the house with maybe a couple of friends, probably pay about, I was paying $80 a week for my room so, oh, sorry my conversion rate is not working too quickly at the moment.

加布裏埃爾：對！而且一般我們會合租公寓，就是和幾個朋友一起租公寓，我租的房間一週大概要付80美元，抱歉，目前我匯率的換算不是很熟練。

Todd: That's really cheap though!

託德：那真是很便宜！

Gabrielle: It's incredibly cheap. Yeah, much, much cheaper! Much bigger!

加布裏埃爾：便宜得令人難以置信。對，比這裏便宜很多，便宜非常多！

Todd: Wow! sounds like a nice place! OK, how much is, New Zealand prices OK, how much is a loaf of bread?

託德：哇！聽起來是個很棒的地方！好，新西蘭麪包賣多少錢？

Gabrielle: A loaf of bread! To get the good bread, probably about $2.50 a loaf, yeah, so, maybe about, oh sorry, my conversion's not working, I've been in Tokyo for too long!

加布裏埃爾：一塊麪包！要買好麪包，大概要2.5美元，抱歉，我現在沒有換算出來。我來日本的時間太長了！

Todd: How about a movie ticket?

託德：電影票的價格呢？

Gabrielle: A movie ticket would be about $13, so it's much cheaper than here. Yeah, definitely!

加布裏埃爾：一張電影票大概要13美元，比這裏便宜很多。對，絕對是！

Todd: And bus fare!

託德：公交車費呢？

Gabrielle: Bus fare, a dollar fifty, two dollars for one way.

加布裏埃爾：公交車單程費用大概1.5美元或2美元。

Todd: How about if you're going to buy your friend a sweater, a nice sweater, how much would that cost?

託德：那如果你要是給朋友買毛衣，一件不錯的毛衣要多少錢？

Gabrielle: Well, I like the good outdoor brand sweaters so I would probably say about $50 but an everyday sweater you could get about $15 New Zealand. Yeah.

加布裏埃爾：嗯，我喜歡戶外毛衣品牌，那大概要50美元，不過在新西蘭普通的毛衣大概是15美元。對。

Todd: OK, Wow! Sounds like a great place. Oh, and last one, the weather, when is the best time of year to visit?

託德：哇！聽起來真是個好地方。最後一個問題，天氣，一年中什麼時候是去新西蘭旅遊的最佳時節？

Gabrielle: Oh, summer, definitely.

加布裏埃爾：絕對是夏季。

Todd: So that's December?

託德：那就是12月嗎？

Gabrielle: Yeah, so we're going into summer now so December to February, but we have four seasons in one day, so you can count on all weather even within summer. Yeah! Yeah!

加布裏埃爾：對，現在是我們國家的夏季，12月至2月是夏季，不過我們那裏可以在一天內體驗到四種季節，所以即使在夏天你也可以體驗到所有天氣。沒錯！

Todd: Do you have a really bad month to go, where the weather is not nice?

託德：那有沒有最不適宜旅行的月份呢？什麼時候天氣不好？

Gabrielle: Yeah, usually June, July, it probably rains the most, but we still get gorgeous sunny days in the winter so, yeah there's not really any bad time.

加布裏埃爾：有，通常一月和七月是雨水最多的月份，但是在冬季也會有陽光燦爛的天氣，所以，實際上並不算不適宜的時間。

Todd: Oh, sounds nice! Thanks Gabrielle!

託德：哦，聽起來真好！謝謝你，加布裏埃爾！

Gabrielle: No problem!

加布裏埃爾：不客氣。

重點講解：
1. compared to
與…相比；和…比起來；
eg. My handwriting is good, but it is poor as compared to my father's.
我的書法很好，但與我父親的相比，我的就很差了。
eg. Compared to his early work, this is a rather slight novel, ie not a major one.
這部小說與他早期作品相比，不甚重要。
2. at the moment
此刻；目前；眼下；
eg. There seems to be a dearth of good young players at the moment.
目前似乎好的年輕選手太少了。
eg. Everything's topsy-turvy in my life at the moment.
現在我的生活全都被打亂了。
3. a couple of
兩個；幾個；
eg. I have a couple of things to do.
我有幾件事要做。
eg. If you don't like this job, I know a couple of hungry guys that want to do.
要是你不喜歡這工作，我知道幾個躍躍欲試的小夥子正想要做呢。
4. a loaf of
一條（麪包）；
eg. I need a loaf of bread.
我需要一條麪包。
eg. I went to the baker's to buy a loaf of fresh bread.
我到麪包鋪去買了一個新鮮的麪包。
5. count on
期望；預計；
eg. Don't count on much, Billy.
不要抱太大的希望，貝利。
eg. He is counting on winning seats and perhaps a share in the new government.
他期望能獲得一些席位，或許還能參與新政府的執政。