ACT 2-1  “你往哪里去？”

【故事梗概】

在驾车去Pete Waters的农场的路上， Grandpa 在靠近切斯特顿的一个汽车加油站停下来加油，并意外的从加油站的工作人员那里知道了一条去农场的近路。

Attendant: Hello. What can I do for you?
Grandpa: Hi. Fill 'er up. I need a full tank.
Attendant: Check the hood?
Grandpa: No, thanks.
Attendant: Whereabouts are you headed?
Grandpa: Pete Waters' farm, near Chesterton.
Attendant: I know it well. Pete Waters's lived around here almost as long as I have.
Grandpa: How long is it going to take for me to get here?
Attendant: About fifteen minutes. There's a short cut -- if you know it.
Grandpa: No, I don't. Could you tell me how to use the short cut?
Attendant: Sure. You take the next left turn. You'll see a stop sign. Make a right at the stop sign. Stay on that road, and you'll cross a blue bridge. Then you'll see a big old red barn. That's the back of Pete Waters' place.
Grandpa: That's quite a difference from the directions that Pete sent me.
Attendant: Now, if you take that route, it's probably a lot simpler, but it'll take you ten minutes longer.

【语言点精讲】

1. Fill 'er up. I need a full tank.
Fill'er up: 给车加满汽油。是常用的非正式说法。这是美国特有的俗语，专用于在加油站加油时；'er是 her的省略音。为了节约人工，现在加油站常设顾客自己动手加油的油泵，这句话的使用频率大为降低了。
tank: 汽车上的油箱。

2. Check the hood?
要不要检查一下引擎、机油什么的？
美国是汽车王国，一般家庭都有两部以上的汽车，各地加油站密布，大部分加油站都分自助区（self service）和全套服务区（full service），前者要顾客自己加油，后者由服务员帮忙加油，并提供擦窗，检查机油等服务，价钱较贵。

3. Whereabouts are you headed?
你往哪里去？
Whereabouts: 哪里，等同于 Where。在美国有些地区习惯于用这个词。
be headed (for a place): 是“朝某处去”，其语言略俗。

4. You take the next left turn. You'll see a stop sign. Make a right at the stop sign. Stay on that road, and you'll cross a blue bridge. Then you'll see a big old red barn. That's the back of Pete Waters' place.
这是加油站的工作人员在告诉Grandpa去农场的近路。让我们来看看其中的一些表达。
take the next left turn. : 在下一条路口左转。
a stop sign：停车标志。在小路与大路交叉的地方，在小路一侧常有写STOP的标记，示意车子到此应先停下，看清大路上没有撞车危险后再前进。
make a right : 右转。也可以说“make a right turn”或者 “turn to the right”。
Stay on that road, and you'll cross a blue bridge. : 在那条路上开，你会经过一座蓝色的桥。
barn：是美国农场上的大牲口棚，下层栓大牲口，上层贮饲草。有时旁边还有一圆柱塔形建筑，贮藏饲料。亦指贮谷物的建筑物，谷棚。

5. Now, if you take that route, it's probably a lot simpler, but it'll take you ten minutes longer.
喏，你要是走那条路线，可能简单得多，可是要多花10分钟的时间。
a lot simpler: 简单得多。在比较级上添加表示程度或幅度的状语时，要加在比较级的前面，又如: a little harder（有一点难），much bigger（大得多），an inch longer（长出一英寸），somewhat quicker（多少快一些）。

ACT 2-2  “该付你多少钱？”

【故事梗概】

Grandpa决定走加油站的工作人员告诉他的近路。在结过账之后，他继续向Pete的农场开去。

Grandpa: OK. Let me repeat it. I take the next left turn to the stop sign. Then a right across a blue bridge, and then a big red barn.
Attendant: Can't miss it.
Grandpa: How much do I owe you?
Attendant: Well, that'll be eighteen dollars and seventy cents. No charge for the cleanup. It's on the house.
[Grandpa takes a twenty-dollar bill from his pocket and hands it to the attendant.]
Grandpa: Well, here's a twenty.
Attendant: Ah. OK. That's a dollar and thirty cents change. There we go … will make twenty. Thanks.
Grandpa: Thank you. And thanks for the directions. [He gets back into the car and drives away. He thinks aloud as he follows the attendant's directions.] This must be Pete's barn. Turn right to the house.

【语言点精讲】

1. OK. Let me repeat it. I take the next left turn to the stop sign. Then a right across a blue bridge, and then a big red barn.
好吧，让我来复述一下。在下一个路口向左拐弯，开到停车标志，然后向右拐弯，开过一座蓝色的桥，再后就是一座红色的大牲口棚。
Let me repeat it. : 让我来复述一下。问路后可以通过简单重述的方式来确认自己的理解是正确的。

2. Can't miss it.
你不会找不到的。这是口语中指路时，常用到的说法。

3. How much do I owe you?
该付你多少钱？这是付款或还钱时常用的说法。

4. Well, that'll be eighteen dollars and seventy cents.
应付18美元 70美。
that’ll be…: 费用是……，应该付……。售货员或侍者在售货或提供某项服务之后，要告诉顾客需付的费用，这时，常用这个词语。

5. No charge for the cleanup. It's on the house.
洗车不要钱，我们白送。
no charge: 无需付钱。免费。汽车加油时附带奉送擦洗车子的服务，现在只是在乡间偶尔见之。
It's on the house. : 本店请客。本店代为支付费用。商店或饭馆有免费奉送的服务或赠送时，常用此语。the house指“本店”。 on指由谁承担价款。个人也可以用，例如，The lunch is on me.（午饭我请客。）

6. That's a dollar and thirty cents change. There we go… will make twenty.
找你1美元30美分。找给你……凑足20美元。
There will go… will make twenty. : 这里包含了中西文化上的一个奇特的差异。西方在找钱时，不是在脑子里算出差额，按差额找钱，而是以价格为底数，然后将找头逐步加上去直到凑足所给的大票数目为止。