美語情景對話 第810期:Pricey Places 物價高的地方

Jess: So, Tom, I was reading in the newspaper this morning, and I noticed a story which said that Tokyo and Osaka are now the most expensive cities to live in. I remember you told me you used to live in Tokyo. Was that your experience of living there?

傑西：湯姆，我今天早上看報紙時注意到一篇新聞報道，報道中說東京和大阪是現在最昂貴的居住地。我記得你說過，你曾在東京居住過。你住在那裏時有這種感覺嗎？

Tom: That's right. Tokyo was really expensive. I am so pleased that now I live in Bangkok. Living here is fantastic. My apartment — I have this lovely beautiful big apartment and the rent is a good deal. Thai food is famous all over the world and actually when you come to Thailand, you realize how cheap the food is and how available it is. You can buy food — every kind of food from any shop or restaurant — even on the street. They have street stalls where people cooking. They have people walking up and down the street pushing carts full of food and it's all really cheap and delicious. I like to go shopping in Bangkok. There's a lot of clothes and shoes and bags. The prices are really low and it's this lovely feeling being able to walk around and afford things. Did you know in Tokyo the most surprising expensive thing was getting a hair cut. I don't go much for expensive hair cuts and it used to kill me how much I had to pay just to get someone to chop off my scruffy locks. I know you've lived in Europe mostly. What was your experience? What was the most expensive place in Europe?

湯姆：沒錯。東京物價非常貴。我很高興我現在生活在曼谷。住在這裏太棒了。我在這裏租了間又漂亮又大的公寓，而且租金很便宜。泰國美食聞名世界，來到泰國以後，你就會發現這裏的食物有多便宜，有多易獲得。可以從任何一家商店、餐廳、甚至是街上買到各種食物。泰國有烹飪食物的路邊攤。還有商販推着裝滿食物的推車沿街販賣，而且這些食物又美味又便宜。我喜歡在曼谷購物。有很多可以買衣服、鞋和包的地方。而且價格低廉，逛街時看到有很多可以買得起的東西，這種感覺真好。你知道嗎，東京最令人意想不到的昂貴東西是，理髮的價格非常高。我一般不太常去貴的地方剪髮，只是剪掉雜亂的頭髮就花掉一大筆錢，讓我感覺非常不爽。我知道你大部分時間都住在歐洲。你的感覺呢？歐洲最昂貴的地方是哪裏？

Jess: Well, I've lived in three European cities: Budapest, Madrid and Paris and of the three Paris was definitely the most expensive. The things that stands out in my mind as being the most expensive were beauty services. Things like hair cuts, hair coloring, facials, waxing. I actually had to save and budget every month to make sure I was able to afford in Paris the the things I was used to getting without thinking about back home in Britain, but not every thing was expensive there. Beauty services were and rent was but the wine, brilliant French wine, was really cheap and there was a huge variety, so in that way, I guess it balanced itself out.

傑西：我在布達佩斯、馬德里和巴黎這三座歐洲城市生活過，其中最昂貴的地方肯定是巴黎。我現在記得最清楚的是巴黎最貴的是美容服務。包括剪髮、染髮、面部護理、脫毛這些。我每個月都要精打細算，這樣才能保證我在巴黎負得起那些我在祖國英國不用考慮就能得到的服務，不過巴黎並不是所有東西都貴。巴黎的美容服務和租金很貴，但是上好的葡萄酒非常便宜，而且種類非常多，這樣來看可以互相抵銷。

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重點講解：
1. used to do sth. 過去常常；過去曾；
例句：I used to look on him as a friend.
我以前把他看作是一位朋友。
2. all over 到處；遍及；
例句：The bank has branches all over the country.
該銀行在全國各地均有分行。
3. chop off 砍掉；割掉；
例句：She chopped off her golden, waist-length hair.
她剪掉了她那齊腰的金髮。
4. stand out 突出；出色；更爲重要；
例句：It stands out clearly from other objects.
它在其他東西中顯得很突出。
5. balance out （使）平衡；（使）相抵；（使）抵消；
例句：Outgoings and revenues balanced out.
收支相抵。