英文原版对话1000个:980 City Costs

Tom: Jess, I love hearing you talk about the different cities, you've been working in. Were they all very expensive places to live?

Jess: No, they weren't all expensive. The first city I lived in when I moved away from Britain was Budapest in Hungary, and when I lived there it was before Hungary had joined the Euro, so the currency was still the Hungarian forint and most things were really cheap compared to Britain.

There were things that were expensive: taxis were expensive there, I think especially for tourists or for people who the taxi drivers perceived¹ as being tourists. After I had lived there for awhile I kind of knew how much certain journeys should cost and I was very surprised at how often the taxi drivers would double that as soon as they realized I wasn't Hungarian, but overall² Budapest was a cheap city. I'm not sure if that's the case now. It uses the Euro, but then it was cheap and very good fun.

After Budapest, I went to Madrid, and that was a bit more expensive than Budapest, definitely³. Rent was certainly more expensive and a large proportion⁴ on my monthly⁵ salary went on rent but other things like eating out, supermarket shopping, clothes shopping, they were still quite a lot of choices that wasn't too expensive. The high street shops were about the same price as in Britain, but eating out there was cheap. Again, beauty services in Madrid - haircuts - I think they must be expensive all over the world cause they were really expensive in Madrid as well.

So, you've told me about Tokyo and Bangkok, where else have you lived Tom?

Tom: I had a short contract working in North Africa in Tripoli in Libya and rent was taken care of and I almost paid nothing while I was there and I was able to send seventy or eighty percent of my salary home to England to my savings⁶ account. Travel around Tripoli by these little minivans was a quarter of a dinar and food was a little bit more expensive but I could live on a very small amount of money each month and of course Tripoli is right on the Mediterranean⁷ so on my days off I could go to the beach very easily. The weather was always fantastic. It was an interesting place to live and the currency in Libya are these beautiful huge bank notes that you have to fold several times to put into your wallet. It was a really satisfying to have a fist full of those in your pocket.

Jess: Oh, it sounds fantastic. I'd love to go there.
 

1 perceived   

v.感觉( perceive的过去式和过去分词 )；视为；认为；理解为

参考例句：

• I perceived a change in his behaviour. 我注意到他举止有些改变。
• On entering his house, we at once perceived him to be tasteful. 我们一进他的房子，立刻感觉到他是个高品位的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 overall   

n.工作服，工装裤；全面的，全体的

参考例句：

• The shop assistant was wearing a white overall.那店员穿着白色的工作服。
• How much will it cost overall?一共多少钱？

3 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

4 proportion   

n.比率，比例；大小

参考例句：

• His head is out of proportion to the size of his body.他的头部与身体大小不成比例。
• The proportion of imports to exports is worrying the government.进口与出口的比例令政府担忧。

5 monthly   

adj.每月的，持续一个月的，每月发生的；adv.每月，按月； n.月刊；(复数）monthlies:月经

参考例句：

• The rent on his apartment was his biggest monthly expense.他的房租是每个月最大的开支。
• The monthly rent is $15,inclusive of light and water.每月租金15美元，包括水电费在内。

6 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。

7 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。