英语博客：ESL Podcast 810 – Switching Cell Phone Plans

 　　Paul: I need a new cell phone plan. These roaming and overage charges are killing¹ me!

 

　　Shauna: I thought you had a good calling, messaging, and data plan.

 

　　Paul: I do, but I’m still going over each month.

 

　　Shauna: Have you thought about a prepaid plan? You’ll never be charged extra.

 

　　Paul: That’s not an option. I think I need an unlimited² plan.

 

　　Shauna: Okay, but I don’t understand. Why do you have roaming charges? Doesn’t your carrier have good coverage³ all over the country?

 

　　Paul: I’ve been taking trips to Mexico to see my new girlfriend and the coverage doesn’t extend to Mexico.

 

　　Shauna: Oh, I see. And the overage charges?

 

　　Paul: When you’re in a long-distance relationship, you have to do a lot of calling and texting, not to mention updating social media websites to stay in touch. I keep exceeding my allotted⁴ 5000 minutes of calling time and 100 megabytes of data.

 

　　Shauna: What?! To exceed that, you’d have to be on the phone all the time!

 

　　Paul: Not all the time, but I’m talking to her now. Do you want to say “hi”?

 

　　Shauna: You’ve been on the phone with her the entire time we’ve been having this conversation?

 

　　Paul: How else can we keep up on everything that’s going on in each other’s lives?

 

　　Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

3 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

4 allotted   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
• Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。