美語情景對話 第402期:Life in Sweden 瑞典的生活

Todd: So, Ruth in Europe, have you traveled much?

託德：魯斯，你去歐洲的很多地方旅行過嗎？

Ruth: Yeah, actually, um, well, when I was younger I went on a tour around all of Western Europe and then when I was at university I backpacked around Scandinavia for a month with a friend. (Nice!) It was really nice, actually, yeah.

魯斯：是的，實際上我年輕的時候去西歐旅行過，我上大學的時候和一個朋友去斯堪的納維亞半島揹包旅行了一個月。（真好！）實際上那真的非常不錯。

Todd: Wow, so where did you go in Scandinavia?

託德：哇，那你都去斯堪的納維亞半島的什麼地方了？

Ruth: Well, we started off in Sweden and then we went to Norway and then we went to Denmark. We never actually made it to Finland. That was simply because we ran out of money, so.

魯斯：嗯，我們從瑞典出發然後去了挪威和丹麥。可是我們沒能去芬蘭。原因很簡單，因爲我們沒錢了。

Todd: So were you out in the wilderness, or were you just going from village to village?

託德：你是去曠野裏旅行了，還是隻是在各個村莊旅行？

Ruth: Really we just, we arrived in Stockholm. We went around Stockholm. We went to Oslo. We spent most of our time in the cities, although everything was so expensive. We ended up sleeping in youth hostels or on people's floors.

魯斯：我們去了斯德哥爾摩。我們在斯德哥爾摩四處轉了轉。我們還去了奧斯陸。我們大部分時間都在城市裏旅行，不過城市裏的所有東西都很貴。我們晚上會入住青年旅館或是睡在別人家的地板上。

Todd: What do you remember most about your trip?

託德：你在旅行中印象最深的事情是什麼？

Ruth: Um, probably just having no money, so we couldn't eat really for a fortnight.

魯斯：嗯，可能就是花光了錢吧，所以我們兩星期都不能好好吃飯。

Todd: You couldn't eat?

託德：不能吃飯？

Ruth: Well, we ate breakfast in the youth hostel, and then we would take a bread roll from the youth hostel, from the breakfast bar and have that for lunch and then in the evening we would eat if we could afford it.

魯斯：嗯，我們在青年旅館吃早餐，然後我們會從青年旅館的早餐吧檯拿一個麪包卷當做午餐，晚上如果我們付得起我們就會吃飯。

Todd: Actually, in terms of food, what do people in Scandinavia usually eat?

託德：實際上，談到食物，斯堪的納維亞半島人一般都吃什麼？

Ruth: Um, I think they eat a lot of potatoes and meat and things. I'm not sure really what a typical Scandinavian meal would be.

魯斯：嗯，我想他們常吃土豆和肉類這樣的食物。我也不太清楚斯堪的納維亞半島有什麼典型食物。

Todd: That's OK. You didn't have any money to buy any food right?

託德：好吧。你沒有錢買吃的嗎？

Ruth: We didn't eat so.

魯斯：對，所以我們沒吃飯。

Todd: Yeah, silly question. Um, so what do you remember most about Stockholm?

託德：好吧，這真是愚蠢的問題。嗯，那你對斯德哥爾摩印象最深的是什麼？

Ruth: Ah, they've got some really nice buildings in Stockholm. I've got relatives who live in Stockholm so we stayed with them, and also it was really hot when we went there, but it was also very pricey.

魯斯：啊，斯德哥爾摩的大樓非常漂亮。我有親戚在斯德哥爾摩生活，我們和他們住在一起，我們到那裏的時候天氣非常熱，而且東西也很貴。

Todd: So in every store you went into were they playing ABBA?

託德：那你們去的商店都有播放阿巴合唱團的歌曲嗎？

Ruth: No. Thank goodness.

魯斯：沒有。真是謝天謝地。

重點講解：
1. run out of
用完；耗盡；
eg. I guess he felt like he'd run out of options.
我想他覺得他別無選擇了。
eg. When Joe had run out of money, there was no man to befriend him.
喬的錢用光時，沒有人再協助他了。
2. end up (in) doing sth.
最終；結果；到頭來；
eg. You may end up making more money.
結果也許你會賺更多的錢。
eg. If you always give in to others you will end up feeling like a doormat.
如果你總是屈服於人，你最終會覺得自己像一個受氣包。
3. in terms of
在…方面；從…角度看；根據…來說；
eg. In terms of regional competition the attraction and competitiveness of a city are inseparable from its cultural background.
區域競爭中，城市吸引力和競爭力的提高離不開其文化底蘊的提升。
eg. These resorts, like Magaluf and Arenal, remain unbeatable in terms of price.
像馬加拉夫和阿雷納爾這樣的度假勝地，在價格方面仍具有絕對的優勢。
4. Thank Goodness
謝天謝地；感謝上帝；
eg. Thank goodness my nightmare was not my reality.
感謝上帝我的惡夢沒變成真的。
eg. Thank goodness my fears were all for naught.
謝天謝地，我的擔心都是多餘的。