The english we speak(BBC教學)第90期:What's the damage 多少錢

Jen: Hello, I'm Jen–and with me in the studio today is Helen!

珍：大家好，我是珍，今天我們請到演播室的嘉賓是海倫！

Helen: Hi!

海倫：大家好！

Jen: Helen, just before we get started–did you get the chance to go to the farmers' market for me? I didn't have time to go myself.

珍：海倫，在開始節目之前，我想問你你有幫我去農貿市場買東西嗎？我沒有時間自己過去了。

Helen: I did, I chose some things I thought you'd like… Here we are… I bought some fresh apples, some crunchy carrots, a load of onions, a loaf of fresh bread and a jar of delicious honey.

海倫：我去了，我選了幾樣我想你可能會喜歡的東西，我們這裏有……我買了一些新鮮的蘋果、一些脆蘿蔔、一堆洋蔥、新鮮的麪包和一罐美味的蜂蜜。

Jen: Brilliant–thanks so much for doing that for me, I can't wait to try it. So what's the damage?

珍：太棒了，謝謝你幫我買了這麼多東西，我等不及要嚐嚐了。那花了多少錢？

Helen: Damage? I don't think there's any damage really. Although I suppose one of the apples is a little bit bruised and I nibbled the end of one of the carrots but it'll be fine if you just cut it a little bit.

海倫：損壞？我想並沒有造成什麼損壞啊。雖然我想可能有一個蘋果有些擦傷，還有一根胡蘿蔔的根部被我咬了一口，不過只切掉一小塊的話還是可以的。

Jen: I don't mean damage to the food. The phrase "what's the damage?" can be used to ask how much money you owe someone for something.

珍：我並不是指食物的損壞。這個短語可以用來詢問你因某物欠某人多少錢。

Helen: So you wanted to find out how much you owe me for the food?

海倫：所以你想知道因爲這些食物你欠了我多少錢？

Jen: That's right–let's hear a couple of examples of the phrase in use.

珍：沒錯，我們來看看應用這個短語的一些例子。

What a lovely meal–I think we should split the bill two ways though, so what's the damage?

多好的一頓飯啊，我認爲我們可以平分賬單，這頓飯多少錢啊？

Thanks so much for fixing the brakes on my car. What's the damage for the work you've done?

非常感謝你修好了我車上的剎車。請問修理費要多少錢？

Helen: So you could say "what's the damage?" in a restaurant or a cafe?

海倫：你可以在餐廳或是咖啡廳用這個短語？

Jen: That's right; you might use the phrase amongst friends when you get a bill, or you might hear it if you are paying a workman to do something. Generally we use it when we don't know how much something is going to cost or if the price has been estimated beforehand.

珍：沒錯。在拿到賬單時，朋友之間也可以使用這個短語，或者在你付款讓工人做某件事時也會聽到這個短語。一般來說，我們會在不知道某件東西的價格時或是提前預測某件東西的價格時使用這個短語。

Helen: Like when I went to the market for you today!

海倫：就像我今天幫你去市場買東西！

Jen: Yeah, I didn't know how much it would cost so I asked you "what's the damage?" So how much do I owe you?

珍：對，我不知道花了多少錢的時候，我就會問你“多少錢”？所以，我欠你多少錢？

Helen: ￡12.50.

海倫：12.5英鎊。

Jen: ￡12.50?! That's pretty expensive.

珍：12.5英鎊！真貴啊。

Helen: It's worth it when you look at the quality of the food–it's very good.

海倫：你看到食物的質量以後就知道它們值這個價錢，食物的質量非常好。

Jen: Alright then, here you are–￡12.50.

珍：好吧，給你，12.5英鎊。

Helen: And here YOU are.

海倫：給你食物。

Jen: Let's have a look then… Apples, yum… Well, they do look a little more bruised than you mentioned…

珍：我們來看一下，蘋果，它們看上去可比你說過的傷疤要多啊。

Helen: Yes, sorry, I dropped the bag…

海倫：很抱歉，我剛纔把袋子弄掉了……

Jen: Look at the carrots! You said you'd nibbled them, but there are only the tops of them left! I can't cook with those!

珍：看看這些胡蘿蔔！你說過你咬了一口，可是胡蘿蔔只剩下上面的部分了！這些我沒辦法做飯啊！

Helen: I was peckish, sorry.

海倫：我剛纔有點餓，對不起啦。

Jen: At least this jar of honey looks good… it's empty!

珍：至少這罐蜂蜜看上去很不錯……它竟然是空的！

Helen: Sorry, sorry! It looked so delicious that I couldn't help it!

海倫：對不起，對不起！它看起來太美味了，所以我實在忍不住！

Jen: Well, I think you should give me my money back. I'm not paying for food that's already been eaten!

珍：嗯，我想你應該把我的錢還給我。我可不會爲已經被吃掉的食物付錢！

Helen: OK, what if we go out for a meal and I pay?

海倫：好，我們出去吃飯，我來付錢怎麼樣？

Jen: Hmm… OK…

珍：嗯，好……

Later on…

一會兒之後

Jen: I'm stuffed! The apple and honey pie was really delicious.

珍：我吃飽了！蘋果蜂蜜派太好吃了。

Helen: Here's the waiter with the bill. Now don't forget, this is my treat after eating all of your food. Ooh, er… This is embarrassing.

海倫：服務員拿着賬單過來了。別忘了，我吃了你所有的食物，所以這頓飯我來請客。哦，呃……這讓人有點尷尬。

Jen: Is it expensive? What's the damage?

珍：很貴嗎？多少錢啊？

Helen: It's ￡40 for the meal but I've just remembered…

海倫：這頓飯要40英鎊，可是我剛剛想起來……

Jen: What?

珍：什麼？

Helen: I left my purse at the farmers' market! Can you pay for us?

海倫：我把錢包落在農貿市場了！你能買單嗎?

Jen: Argh!

珍：啊！

重點講解：
1. can't wait to do sth.
等不及；迫不及待；渴望做某事；
eg. We can't wait to get started.
我們迫不及待地想開始。
eg. I can't wait to tell all my friends.
我等不及要去告訴我的朋友們。
2. what's the damage
多少錢？
eg. What's the damage for the repair?
修理費要多少錢？
eg. After finishing a large dinner in the restaurant last night, I asked the waiter "What's the damage? " and prepared to pay the bill.
昨天，在餐廳的大型宴會結束後，我問服務員“多少錢”，準備埋單。
3. at least
（表示相對於不利條件或糟糕情形）起碼，不管怎樣；
eg. She's completely homeless at least I have my parents to fall back on.
她是真正無家可歸--我至少有父母可依靠。
eg. It was a comforting thought that at least her father hadn't suffered.
令人寬慰的是，至少她爸爸沒有遭受痛苦。
4. can't help
不禁；忍不住；無法控制；
eg. He can't help a suppressed giggle.
他忍不住偷笑了一聲。
eg. I can't help feeling sorry for the poor man.
我不禁爲這個可憐的男人感到難過。
5. what if
……怎麼樣？
eg. What if we rent a few video tapes from the rental shop?
我們去租一些錄影帶來看怎麼樣？
eg. Okay, what if I buy you anything you want from craft service?
那好如果我從工作餐那裏給你買點東西怎麼樣?