Pandora： Papa， Papa??！

Papa： What is it， my lovely little Pandora？

Pandora： Papa， my clothes are all ugly！ I want new ones right now！！

Papa： What do you mean theyre all ugly？ ①I(mǎi) couldve sworn I gave you some money for new clothes just last week.

Pandora： Those clothes are all old and ugly now. I saw some 1）skanky girl sitting with Jimmy， and she was wearing a dress just like the one I bought. ITS NOT FAIR?。?！

Papa： OK my darling little princess， please calm down. How much does your papa have to give you this time？

Pandora： Just a couple hundred. ②Theres a big sale going on at Macys， so Ive gotta strike while the iron is hot. And there are so many hot styles trending right now， I probably need at least…five hundred.

Papa： Five hundred？？ Good heavens！ Has 2）inflation really gotten so bad nowadays？

Pandora： Please hear me out， Papa…

Papa： ③You know， when I was just a wee lad， a stick of gum cost five cents， and a pair of shoes cost less than a dollar. ④I think you take our financial status for granted.

Pandora： ⑤But youre like an old hairy dinosaur Papa. The world is different now. And besides， arent I your special little princess， and dont you want me to be happy？

Papa： Of course I do， my perfect little Pandora. But Im just a bit worried I may be spoiling you is all…

Pandora： WHAT？！ You think Im spoiled？ I dont have half the stuff my friends have.

Papa： I understand， but…

Pandora： But nothing！ All the other daddies give their daughters the newest and coolest stuff. Do you want me to look like a fool？ All the other girls are gonna look at me and be like“Oooohhhh， look at 3）plumpy plump Pandora in her 4）tattered old rags！ Her father must not love her at all.”

Papa： I highly doubt that they would say such

Pandora： And all the other kids parents will say “What kind of a father would let an innocent girl go to school looking like a 5）filthy train-hopping hobo！” ⑥Is that what you want Papa， for me to plunge into despair？

Papa： Alright my little princess， please calm down. Your Papa will give you whatever you like.

Pandora： （mumbles） ⑦Thats more like it. Papa： Let me just see how much I have in my wallet here. A moment…h(huán)hmmm…⑧Here you are my sweet little Pandora， a lofty sum for my perfect princess.

Pandora： Awesome??！ See ya later Papa！ Papa： Ahem…Arent we forgetting something？

Pandora： Um…What are we forgetting？

Papa： Perhaps a slight show of appreciation…

Pandora： Nah， I didnt forget anything. See ya！

Papa： （sigh）（aside）Youre welcome…Love you too…

Smart Sentences

① I couldve sworn I gave you some money for new clothes just last week. 我敢保證上個(gè)星期我已經(jīng)給了你一些錢(qián)去買(mǎi)新衣服了！

couldve sworn： used to emphasize the following statement is true（用以強(qiáng)調(diào)接下來(lái)的話是真的）。例如：

I couldve sworn he said that last night.

我敢發(fā)誓他昨晚說(shuō)那話了。

② Theres a big sale going on at Macys， so Ive gotta strike while the iron is hot. 梅西百貨將有個(gè)大甩賣，所以我要趁熱打鐵。

strike while the iron is hot： when you have an opportunity to do sth.， do it before you lose your chance， a proverb（趁熱打鐵，諺語(yǔ)）。例如：

Mom is in a good mood now. Strike while the iron is hot. Ask her about the party.

老媽現(xiàn)在心情不錯(cuò)，趁熱打鐵，問(wèn)問(wèn)她派對(duì)的事。

③ You know， when I was just a wee lad， a stick of gum cost five cents， and a pair of shoes cost less than a dollar. 你知道嗎，當(dāng)我還是個(gè)小屁孩的時(shí)候，一塊口香糖才5美分，一雙鞋也還不到1美元。

a wee lad： a young boy（小孩子）。例如：

When we were wee lads， we used to play soccer every day after school.

我們還是小屁孩的時(shí)候，每天放學(xué)后都會(huì)去踢足球。

④ I think you take our financial status for granted. 我想你把我們的經(jīng)濟(jì)情況想當(dāng)然了！

take sb./sth. for granted： benefit from sb.s help without showing gratitude（視為當(dāng)然）。例如：

You cant take money for granted just because your family is rich.

你不能因?yàn)槟慵依镉绣X(qián)就把錢(qián)視為理所當(dāng)然。

⑤ But youre like an old hairy dinosaur Papa. 但是你就像個(gè)老古董，爸爸。

an old dinosaur： sb. who falls far behind the time（遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)落后于時(shí)代的人，老古董）。例如：

You cant call Mr. Taylor an old dinosaur. He has an iPhone， updates his tweets everyday， uses WeChat， and even shops online.

你不能說(shuō)泰勒先生是老古董，他有臺(tái)iPhone，每天都更新推特，用微信，還會(huì)網(wǎng)購(gòu)呢。

⑥ Is that what you want Papa， for me to plunge into despair？ 讓我陷入絕望，這就是你想看到的嗎，爸爸？

plunge into despair： a sudden feeling of complete hopelessness（突然感到絕望）。例如：

Wendy plunged into despair when she was rejected by Yale University.

溫迪沒(méi)有被耶魯大學(xué)錄取后就深深地絕望了。

⑦ Thats more like it. 這才像話。

Thats more like it： used when sb. improves an offer or an

attempt， same as “That is better.”（用于某人提出更好的條件，或者某人作出某種努力，等同于“That is better.”）。例如：—How about I drive you to the airport？

我開(kāi)車送你到機(jī)場(chǎng)，怎么樣？

—Now， thats more like it.

那還差不多。

⑧ Here you are my sweet little Pandora， a lofty sum for my perfect princess. 給你，我最可愛(ài)的小潘多拉，為我最好的公主花多少錢(qián)都值得。

a lofty sum： a lot of money（一筆不少的錢(qián)）。例如：

Mom， why did you give me such a lofty sum of money？ Im only going to Shanghai for three days.

媽，你給我這一大筆錢(qián)干嘛？我只去上海三天呀。