礼节美语 Business Etiquette 216: Buying a Car (2)

 　　Chris准备买辆新车，向同事Jason征求意见。

　　Chris: What do you think about this one? Here....take a look.

　　Jason: I like it. It's quite stylish¹. But....it's also pretty small.

　　C: That's OK. We are only a family of three.

　　J: This model has a 1.3 liter engine. With a small engine, you'll save a lot of money on gas.

　　C: That's one of the reasons I'm considering this one. It gets good gas mileage² and overall has good value.

　　J: When I was young, having a car was all about power, prestige and fashion. But today, everything is about economy, value and savings³.

　　C: The world has changed.

　　Chris看中了一款车，征求Jason的意思。Jason说，车外观还是挺有形的，但就是有点小。Chris觉得，小点没关系，因为他们就三口人，a family of three, 小点也够用了。Jason说，这款车引擎是1.3公升的，省油，是优点。Chris承认，这也是他看中这款车的原因之一，It gets good gas mileage and overall has good value. 意思是说这辆车油耗低，总体上说很划算。Jason大发感慨，说自己年轻那会儿买车就是为了马力，时尚，如今大家考虑的却都是实用和省钱。

　　J: Have you considered getting a secondhand car?

　　C: My wife rejected that idea. She says that you never know if the car dealer⁴ is unscrupulous. The car could be water damaged or could have been involved in an accident.

　　J: She makes some good points. Anyway, having a new car is a great experience.

　　C: I'm also trying to decide if I should take the three or five-year payment option.

　　J: If I can make a suggestion: go with a three-year plan. The five-year might look easier, but in the end, the interest payments are not worth it.

　　Chris不准备买二手车，因为他太太担心碰上个缺德的二手车车行老板，把出过车祸的车买回家，上面所说的 unscrupulous is spelled u-n-s-c-r-u-p-u-l-o-u-s, unscrupulous, unscrupulous 意思是没有道德操守的。Jason觉得，she makes some good points. 她说的很有道理。在贷款方面，Chris不知道应该三年还清还是五年还清，Jason建议他做三年的贷款，因为五年贷款每个月付的钱看上去虽然少些，但其实把交的利息都算进去，就不值了。

　　C: I'll go home and do the math, but you're probably right.

　　J: How about the color?

　　C: Blue is my lucky color, so I'll pick blue if possible. My wife says we should consider black because it doesn't look dirty so quickly.

　　J: Cool! Well, let me know when you decide. I'd love to check out your new car!

　　C: Sure, Jason. Thanks for the input⁵.

　　Chris说，我回家算算 I'll go home and do the math. Do the math 是口语里很常用的一种说法，意思是算算清楚，特别是指明摆着的事情，比如：We cannot afford that house with our salaries. You do the math. 咱们的工资买不起那栋房，你自己算算吧。在颜色选择上，Chris说，蓝色是自己的幸运色，而太太觉得黑色经脏。Jason最后说，I'd love to check out your new car! 买了新车别忘了给我看看。

1 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

2 mileage   

n.里程，英里数；好处，利润

参考例句：

• He doesn't think there's any mileage in that type of advertising.他认为做那种广告毫无效益。
• What mileage has your car done?你的汽车跑了多少英里？

3 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

4 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

5 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。