华尔街高级英语学习教程第4课：约会Act1 (MP3和文本下载)

DAVID: Aiko!

AIKO: David! How nice to see you!

DAVID: And you, too. Hey, whose washing have you got there?

AIKO: It belongs to one of my clients.

DAVID: Your what?

AIKO: It's all part of the service, as they say.

DAVID: Yes, of course.

AIKO: Porter!

HOTEL PORTER: Yes, madam?

AIKO: Could you take this up to room 2613, please?

PORTER: I'm sorry, madam. Could you please speak more slowly and clearly?

AIKO: Take this to room 2613, please.

PORTER: Ah, yes, room 2316. Certainly, madam.

AIKO: Not 2316, 2613!

PORTER: Ah yes, madam. Certainly.

AIKO: This hotel is dreadful! Nobody understands English. You can't have your laundry done. They don't even clean the sheets properly. One of my clients refused to get into the bed. I had to change his sheets myself.

DAVID: Wow! If you don't mind my asking, what kind of job are you doing nowadays, Aiko?

AIKO: I'm a tourist guide: I work with groups of Japanese people on vacation around the world.

DAVID: Oh, I see! No, it's just the way the way you were talking about “clients” - it kind of gives the impression that you’re, like, some kind of geisha, if you see what I mean.

AIKO: Oh dear, was I using the wrong word? What should I call them - customers? But really - here I am, asking you for an English lesson one minute after meeting you again. You must forgive me.

DAVID: Hey, that's alright, Aiko. That's what teachers are for, giving people lessons.

AIKO: Then perhaps we can have a quick one later, as you say in English?

DAVID: Yes.

AIKO: Look, why are we standing around in this dreadful lobby? Let's go and have a coffee.

DAVID: Sure - why not?

AIKO: Would you like a roll and butter, David?

DAVID: No thanks, I'm not hungry. So, how much longer will you be staying in Washdon?

AIKO: Just two more days, that's all. Then we go to Copenhagen for one day, Manila for one day, and Johannesburg for a day and a half. And then back to Tokyo.

DAVID: It sounds exhausting! How many people are there on the tour?

AIKO: Fifty-five.

DAVID: None of whom speak English, I imagine?

AIKO: Hardly any of them.

DAVID: I'd go crazy. I suppose all the guys keep trying to flirt with you as well.

AIKO: Oh no, they're very respectable gentlemen! They're all senior executives from the Japan National Motor Vehicle Insurance Corporation.

DAVID: Oh, Geez! Traveling around the world from airport to hotel with fifty-five middle-aged insurance executives! Oh well, I suppose you're well covered, if one of them goes crazy and burns the hotel down, or takes off his clothes in the middle of Kennedy Plaza.

AIKO: Sorry David, I don't understand.

DAVID: I mean you must be covered by insurance, if anything goes wrong. Just a joke, that's all.

AIKO: Oh yes, I have to be insured against accident, both to me and to the clients. That's the law in Japan.

DAVID: I see. Anyway, I'm sure you can't wait to escape from your clients and live dangerously from time to time.

AIKO: Oh, David no, I enjoy my job very much. But I was going to ask you to join me this evening for a drink.

DAVID: Hey, thanks. Where do you have in mind?

AIKO: I'm not sure. Can you think of any really typical Washdon bars we could go to?

DAVID: Well yes, I know one or two bars. Let me think. I've got it: “Romeo’s” in Jefferson Avenue. That's got a nice intimate atmosphere.

AIKO: What do you mean - intimate?

DAVID: I mean, you know, ideal for a quiet drink. Getting to know each other - that sort of thing.

AIKO: I see. So how do you get to this bar?

DAVID: Well, as I said, it's in Jefferson Avenue, near Brookless Bridge. Just tell your driver to take a right before the bridge, and park anywhere along Jefferson Avenue.

AIKO: You're very knowledgeable.

DAVID: It's all part of the service, as you said earlier.

AIKO: Well, I must go now, David. We're invited to tea with some representatives of the Britican Insurance Association. You could come too if you like. It should be very interesting.

DAVID: Hey, it's real nice of you, but, uh… I've got something else on, as it happens.

AIKO: OK. Well see you this evening, then. About 8:30 at “Romeo’s”.

DAVID: See you later, Aiko.