參團(tuán)好嗎？

Grace： Tom， Ive been thinking…

Tom： Uh oh！ Thats never good…

Grace： Hardy har har！ But， actually， its about our vacation.

Tom： Ive been thinking too， going over all the different sites we wanna visit， and its gonna be tougher than we thought to squeeze in all the hotspots on our wish list.

Grace： Yeah， I realized the exact same thing！

Tom： ①Well， great minds think alike.

Grace： And your wifes great mind is convinced that a package tour might be more our speed.

Tom： Cmon！ Its true that going off on our own wont be easy， but I hate being beholden to some tour guides tightly regimented schedule. Whereas， on our own， we can go at our own pace， and well get to do all those cool hiking adventures， which are still in season and right up our alley！

Grace： Of course we can do the hikes！ But consider this： this may be the only chance we have， in our entire lives， to spend a whole week in southern France. And I wanna do it all！ So let me run down the list of reasons why we should go with a tour.

Tom： Please dont…

Grace： First， I wanna see multiple cities， and figuring how to get from one to the next will be a huge hassle.

Tom： OK， but—

Grace： Second， the organizers arrange all the passes and tickets. Not just for travel， but for the local attractions as well， so we wont have to wait on those long lines.

Tom： I know， but—

Grace： Third， we—

Tom： ②Can I please get a word in edgewise？

Grace： No！ Third， are you ready to carry around our luggage the whole trip？ Cuz were gonna be schlepping around a foreign country with no one to help us.

Tom： I understand. I just—

Grace： Fourth， I know youve been brushing up on your French， but no offense honey， your pronunciation is incomprehensible. ③So wed do well to have an expert in the language and local culture to show us the ropes.

Tom： But， if I could just—

Grace： And finally， most of the restaurant reservations and wine tastings will be pre-arranged， so we dont have to worry about where our next meal will come from. Dont you want a stress-free and happy wife？ Well？ ④That was not a rhetorical question…

Tom： Oh， um， well…You know what they say： happy wife， happy life.

Grace： And dont you forget it！

格蕾絲：湯姆，我在想……

湯姆：嗯，噢！肯定不是什么好事……

格蕾絲：呵呵呵！不過，實(shí)際上，我是在考慮我們的假期。

湯姆：我也在考慮這個(gè)問題，游遍我們想去的各大景點(diǎn)，不過如果真要擠時(shí)間去遍我們?cè)竿鍐紊系乃袩衢T景點(diǎn)的話，那可比我們預(yù)想的難度要大。

格蕾絲：是的，我也意識(shí)到這個(gè)問題！

湯姆：唔，英雄所見略同。

格蕾絲：嗯，你聰明的老婆很確定參團(tuán)游應(yīng)該更適合我們。

湯姆：不是吧！我們自己去確實(shí)不容易，但我討厭被導(dǎo)游嚴(yán)格控制的行程所束縛。相反，假如不跟團(tuán)的話我們就可以按自己的步調(diào)走，而且所有那些目前很流行的、正對(duì)我們胃口的超酷徒步探險(xiǎn)我們都可以去。

格蕾絲：我們當(dāng)然可以去徒步探險(xiǎn)！不過你得想想：這次可能是我們一生中僅有的一次機(jī)會(huì)，花整整一周去法國南部旅行。而且我什么都想嘗試一下！讓我逐個(gè)理由給你說說為什么我們應(yīng)該跟團(tuán)。

湯姆：拜托別……格蕾絲：首先，我想去好幾個(gè)城市，而要考慮從一個(gè)城市去下一個(gè)城市該怎么走就已經(jīng)夠煩人的了。

湯姆：好吧，但是……

格蕾絲：第二，組織者會(huì)安排好所有的過關(guān)和購票事宜。不僅僅是旅途往返的購票事宜，還包括那些當(dāng)?shù)孛麆俚拈T票，所以我們不需要為買票而排長隊(duì)。

湯姆：我知道，但是……

格蕾絲：第三，我們……

湯姆：我可以插句話嗎？

格蕾絲：不可以！第三，你打算全程都自己扛行李嗎？因?yàn)槲覀兊迷趪馊套约喊徇\(yùn)行李，沒人幫的。

湯姆：我懂，我只是……

格蕾絲：第四，我知道你已經(jīng)在復(fù)習(xí)法語了，不過親愛的我沒有要冒犯你的意思，你的發(fā)音完全讓人聽不懂。所以我們最好有懂語言和當(dāng)?shù)匚幕膶I(yè)人士來指引。

湯姆：但，假如我可以……

格蕾絲：最后一點(diǎn)，旅行社會(huì)提前安排好大部分餐館的預(yù)訂和紅酒品嘗，所以我們無需擔(dān)心去哪解決飯餐的問題。難道你不想要一個(gè)輕松無壓力而且快樂的妻子嗎？怎樣？你得回答我的問題……

湯姆：噢，嗯，好吧……你知道他們是怎么說的：快樂妻子，快樂人生。

格蕾絲：這話你得記著！

Smart Sentences

① Well， great minds think alike.

唔，英雄所見略同。

great minds think alike： smart people have the same idea（英雄所見略同，不謀而合）。例如：

—The weather report said itll rain tomorrow. Sam， should we go hiking today instead？

天氣預(yù)報(bào)說明天會(huì)下雨，薩姆，我們要不要改為今天去爬山？

—Great minds think alike. I was about to say that.

英雄所見略同，我正想說這事呢。

② Can I please get a word in edgewise？

我可以插句話嗎？

get a word in edgewise： interrupt a conversation in which sb. talks incessantly（插嘴，插一句話）。例如：

Nancy was very talkative and we couldnt get a word in edgewise most of the time.

南希太能說了，我們大部分時(shí)間都插不上話。

③ So wed do well to have an expert in the language and local culture to show us the ropes.

所以我們最好有懂語言和當(dāng)?shù)匚幕膶I(yè)人士來指引。

show sb. the ropes： show sb. how to do a particular job（教某人如何做某事）。例如：

Taking online orders is not that complicated and Ill show you the ropes tomorrow.

處理在線訂單并不復(fù)雜，明天我教你怎么樣操作。

④ That was not a rhetorical question…

你得回答我的問題……

that was not a rhetorical question： used when an answer is expected from sb.， same as“you need to answer my question”（用以表明期待對(duì)方的回答，等同于“you need to answer my question”）。例如：

Do you think I should let you spend a book-free summer vacation？ Come on， that was not a rhetorical question.

你覺得我應(yīng)該讓你過一個(gè)不用看書的暑假嗎？快點(diǎn)，回答我的問題。