【kaka礼节美语】200 过生日,凑份子 2
来源:沪江听写酷
2012-09-26 22:00
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Sarah向原来的同事 Amanda 诉苦,说刚换了新工作,就赶上三个人过生日,都要凑份子,感觉心理很不平衡。Amanda 劝她说,
A: If I were you, ---1---. First impressions are important and it's not worth getting a reputation for being a Scrooge. Think about it this way: when your birthday comes around, you'll have at least one card and cake to look forward to.
S: ---2---, right? I wouldn't want my colleagues to think I am refusing to contribute to the pool even though I can, but this would put me way over my weekly budget.
Amanda建议Sarah硬着头皮凑份子, Bite the bullet 意思是硬着头皮接受自己不愿意做的事情。她说,first impressions are important, 第一印象很重要,不能为了这点钱给别人留下“守财奴”的印象。 It's not worth getting a reputation for being a Scrooge. Scrooge is spelled s-c-r-o-o-g-e, scrooge 意思是讨厌的守财奴。Sarah 说自己不是不肯出钱,contribute to the pool, 这里的pool, p-o-o-l, pool 指的是大家凑的钱,可如果出钱,一星期的预算就会超出很多。
A: What about a compromise? Maybe you could sit down privately with the person in charge of collecting the money and explain that ---3---. Offer to give her
five dollars for each birthday instead, and promise that you will make your famous brownies for the celebration.
S: That sounds like a good plan. ---4---.
Amanda建议Sarah去找负责收钱的同事商量,try to make a compromise. 看能不能找到一个居中的妥协方案,把份子钱从十块减少到五块,但同时保证烤自己拿手的蛋糕,来庆祝同事的生日。Sarah觉得这个办法不错,希望同事能 understand where I'm coming from. 意思是能明白和理解我的本意,don't hold it against me 不要记恨我。
A: I'm sure they will understand. ---5---. And, maybe once you get to know them better, ten dollars won't seem like such a big deal anymore.
S: Thanks so much for your advice, I feel a lot better about the situation.
A: You're welcome. Let's make sure we keep in touch, Sarah!
S: Sure, I'll talk to you again soon and let you know how it goes. Enjoy your lunch!
Amanda 叫Sarah放心,一定有很多人遇到过这种情形,lots of people have been in the same position before. 她还说,等Sarah和同事们熟了以后,凑十块钱的份子钱可能也就没什么大不了的了。
I would just bite the bullet and hand over the money
A Scrooge is someone who is stingy with his money even though he has plenty
coming from a smaller department you've never had to deal with so many birthdays at once
I hope they understand where I'm coming from and don't hold it against me
Lots of people have been in the same position before