和老外聊天的地道口语第119期:我都快入不敷出了

E: hi, Lander. What's wrong?

L: I can hardly make ends meet these days.

E: same here. I have't brought any new clothes for three months.

L: my income remains¹ the same but prices just continue to rise.

E: true. The news says that there is a general increase in the price of daily necessilities.

L: difinitely. I have to spend 300 yuan more on food every month.

E: the biggest price jump is for pork, so most people have to turn to chicken.

L: is that inflation²?

E: inflation is more than just the rising prices, I guess. But the central bank is warning about the risk of inflation.

L: has the government taken some measures to curb³ it?

E: yes. The government has banned price hikes in some key industries like energy.

L: but I'm afraid the price hikes will spill over from food into other areas of the economy.

E: you said it. I think we should tighten⁴ our budget and cut our spending.

L: how?

E: for a start, we can take the public transport to work. You know, running a car is a big expense.

L: sounds a good idea.
嗨,蓝德,怎么了?
我都快入不敷出了.
我也是.我已经三个月没买新衣服了.
我工资没涨,但是物价一直在上涨.
是啊,新闻说,几乎所有的日用品都涨价了.
的确,我每月要多花300元钱在食物上.
涨价最厉害的就是猪肉,所以很多人改吃鸡肉了.
这就是通货膨胀吗?
我想通货膨胀不仅仅是物价上涨,但是中央银行说有通货膨胀的危险.
政府采取什么措施了吗?
是啊.政府禁止主要行业如能源领域的物价上涨.
但是我觉得物价上涨会波及到食品业以外的其他行业.
所以我认为我们应该紧缩预算,减少开支.
具体怎么做啊?
首先,我们可以乘公交车或坐地铁去上班,开车花费太高了.
好主意.
 

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

3 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

4 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。