情景：喬和林芝在聊旅行時怎么省錢。

Joe: So, I hear you're going to Heilongjiang next month?

Lin Zhi: That's right! I'm really excited about it.

Joe: How come?

Lin Zhi: I've never been there before, you see, and I hear it's very beautiful.

Joe: I think so. I haven't been for ages, though. I want to travel more this year.

Lin Zhi: I only seem to get to travel on business trips at the moment. It isn't very fun. You just have to spend time seeing charts and factories and meeting with boring old businessmen or local officials, and having drinks and banquets. Rather boring. But in Harbin this time we have some free time in the middle, so that should be more interesting.

Joe: On the other hand, at least when you go on a business trip it's all expenses paid.

Lin Zhi: That's true. Though I don't think it's going to be like three years ago, when they sent us business-class and we stayed in the really nice hotels. Maybe only four-star, not five, this time.

Joe: I love flying business class - you feel a cut above everyone else - though of course I can't afford it when I'm travelling by myself. I'm going to have to travel on a tight budget this year, I think. I'm trying to save to buy property back home.

Lin Zhi: You want to buy now?

Joe: It's cheap - prices crashed. And I'd like to have the security of having a place. But, you know, it's much harder to get a good mortgage nowadays, so I have to put down a much bigger deposit.

Lin Zhi: I see.

Joe: So it's going to be tougher. I'm trying to save more of my salary, but I still want to travel.

Lin Zhi: You know, you can travel very cheaply in China if you're a little tough. I mean, when I used to go home in the holidays, it would only be two hundred kwai for a twelve hour trip.

Joe: Wow! Hard seat?

Lin Zhi: Yes, and sometimes not even a seat at all, if you want to be really cheap.

Joe: I don't mind hard seat. But standing's a bit much for me. I stood on a train for sixteen hours once, but I ended up sitting on the floor, squashed between a fat guy and a woman with three kids and about nineteen suitcases.

Lin Zhi: That sounds pretty awful. The worst for me was when somebody threw up in the carriage.

Joe: Eeeuch!

Lin Zhi: How else are you planning to save money?

Joe: I guess I can stay in the cheaper hotels. You know, the ones that really cater to ordinary people, not businessmen or foreigners.

Lin Zhi: Yes, and your Chinese is good enough to do that, I suppose. That's why most foreigners don't like to stay in those places, nobody there speaks any English.

Joe: If I can, I like to stay with people I know. It's embarrassing, though - sometimes they want to put me up in a hotel, to be hospitable! But I'd really much rather stay in people's homes. I like to see ordinary life, and it's very pleasant to get home cooking.

Lin Zhi: So really you can keep your expenses pretty low.

Joe: Yes, and to be honest, even the tourist sites here are pretty cheap

Lin Zhi: Especially with a student card!

Joe: But you're not a student.

Lin Zhi: No, but I have my library card from my old university still, as a graduate. So I show that, and they normally give me the half-price ticket. As long as you don't fall for buying the tourist tat they sell, it's not bad!

Joe: You know, travel really can be cheap! I mean, think about it – in Beijing, if I go out, have a nice meal, some drinks, a taxi home - can be three hundred RMB anyway!

Lin Zhi: That just means you spend too much here!

喬：我聽說你下個月要去黑龍江？

林芝：是的！想到這個我就興奮。

喬：為什么？

林芝：我從未去過那兒，聽說那里很漂亮。

喬：我覺得是的。不過我好幾年沒去過了，今年想多出去走走。

林芝：現(xiàn)在我好像只能出差。沒什么意思。得看圖表，工廠，見無趣的老商人或地方官員，喝酒，參加宴會。很無聊。但這次在哈爾濱期間會有自由時間，所以應(yīng)該挺有趣的。

喬：話又說回來了，至少你出差的所有費(fèi)用都會報銷。

林芝：這倒是真的。但是不像三年前，當(dāng)時我們坐商務(wù)艙，住高級酒店。這次可能只是四星級酒店，不會是五星級了。

喬：我喜歡坐商務(wù)艙——感覺高人一等——只是我自費(fèi)出行時負(fù)擔(dān)不起。我想我今年用于旅游的錢不多。我正努力省錢在家里買房。

林芝：你想現(xiàn)在買？

喬：現(xiàn)在蠻便宜的——價格降了很多。有了自己的地方，我才有安全感。但是，你也知道，這年頭找個實惠的按揭不容易，所以我得多存錢。

林芝：這樣啊。

喬：所以很難辦。我想多存錢，但還想去旅行。

林芝：你知道的，如果你肯吃點(diǎn)兒苦的話，在中國旅行是花不了多少錢的。我放假回家時，12個小時的車程僅需200塊。

喬：哇！硬座？

林芝：是的，如果真的想省錢的話，有時連座兒都沒有。

喬：我不介意坐硬座。但站著實在太辛苦了。有一次，我在火車上站了16個小時，最后坐在了地板上，擠在一個胖男人和一個女人之間，這個女人還帶著三個小孩，還有超多行李箱。

林芝：太恐怖了。我遇到的最遭的是有人在車廂里嘔吐。

喬：啊！

林芝：你還準(zhǔn)備怎么省錢？

喬：我可以住便宜的旅館。你知道，普通人住的旅館，而不是商人或外國人住的。

林芝：嗯，而且我覺得你的中文挺好的，完全可以那樣做。這也是為什么大多數(shù)外國人不喜歡住在那些地方，那里沒人說英語。

喬：如果有可能，我想跟認(rèn)識的人住在一起。不過挺尷尬的，有時候他們想安排我住酒店，以示友好！但我真的想住在人們家里。我想看看普通的生活，喜歡吃家常菜。

林芝：所以你的花費(fèi)會很少。

喬：是的，而且說實話，這里的旅游景點(diǎn)也很便宜。

林芝：拿學(xué)生證更便宜。

喬：但是你不是學(xué)生。

林芝：不是，不過我還留著上大學(xué)時的借書證，表明我是那里畢業(yè)的。我會出示借書證，通常他們就會給我半價。只要你不買他們販?zhǔn)鄣谋阋素?，?yīng)該很不錯。

喬：你知道，旅行真的可以很省錢！你想想——在北京，如果我出去吃頓好的，再喝點(diǎn)兒，打車回家，就會花300塊。

林芝：那只能說明你在這上面花的太多了！

Notes

1. on a shoestring

意為“以極少的錢或不用錢，生活拮據(jù)”。

例句：The two boys traveled through Europe on a shoestring.

這兩個男孩以極少的錢游遍了歐洲。

We've been living on a shoestring since my husband lost his job.

我丈夫失業(yè)后，我們一直精打細(xì)算過日子。

2. a cut above

意為“高……一等, 比……強(qiáng)些”。

例句：He always thinks he's a cut above others.

他總以為自己高人一等。

Her work is a cut above that of the others

她干的工作比別人要好些。

3. on a tight budget

意為“資金緊張”。

例句：I need to live on a tight budget from now on.

現(xiàn)在起只得勒緊褲帶過活了。

4. cater to

意為“迎合，滿足”。

例句：I think it's changed to cater to Chinese taste.

我想味道稍加變化是為了適合中國人的口味。

Some tabloid newspapers cater to low tastes.

有些小報迎合低級趣味。

5. put up

意為“住宿，留宿”。

例句：We put up for the night at a farmhouse.

我們在一間農(nóng)舍投宿了一夜。