Joshua Odgen-Davis/肝腦涂地

童鞋們，你們在選擇一份工作時，通常會考慮些什么因素呢？公司的名氣、是否與專業(yè)對口、還是薪酬？據(jù)調(diào)查顯示，對于現(xiàn)在的90后大學(xué)畢業(yè)生來說，工作地點是否離家近已經(jīng)成為他們求職時的首要考慮因素。

Pedro： Hi， Anissa！ Youre leaving the office pretty late today.

Anissa： Yeah， I had to work overtime to get ready for that project next month. Whats your excuse？

Pedro： Me？ Nothing， really. I was just watching some YouKu videos at my desk before heading out.

Anissa： Really？ ①Youre not 1）itching to get home after a full day at the office？

Pedro： Cant say that I am.

Anissa： I just cant wait to get out the door. It takes me about an hour and a half to get home， so I always want to leave as early as I can.

Pedro： Thats the difference； I live just around the block， so being at work or being at home are basically the same.

Anissa： ②You lucky dog！ How can you afford a downtown flat on your salary？

Pedro： Oh， I dont have to. I still live with the rents.

Anissa： ③Holy mackerel！ How do you do it？

Pedro： What do you mean？

Anissa： ④If I still lived with my parents， I think wed be at each others throats every day. I just couldnt wait to get out of there； when I went to college， I ran away from my hometown and never looked back.

Pedro： Well， I kind of know what you mean. It can be a tricky situation， but moving in with my parents after college actually kind of made sense， after I thought about it.

Anissa： What kind of sense could that possibly make？

Pedro： Financial sense， for one. Tell me， why do you live so far away from the office？

Anissa： You mean， why do I live out in the 2）boonies？ Because thats the only place I can afford to live. Id love to live closer in， but rent is sky high these days！

Pedro： Exactly. Living with my parents， I get a great place in the middle of the city， and I just pay them a little bit of rent every month.

Anissa： Fair enough. But I still dont think I could take it. My rent payments are worth the peace and quiet！

Pedro： Wait， I thought you hated your roommate.

Anissa： Well， uh， yeah. I guess you got me there.

Pedro： And yesterday， you told me how much you hated cooking.

Anissa： ⑤Dont get me started！ Sometimes I wish I was living with a chef who would just cook all my meals for me.

Pedro： Actually， my mom is a chef.

Anissa： Youve got to be kidding me！ But now that you bring it up， my moms cooking wasnt half bad.

Pedro： So， are you rethinking your decision to move so far away from home？

Anissa： Nope. Not even a little bit.

Pedro： ⑥Wow， you must really be on bad terms with your parents！

Anissa： Not really. The reason I came to this city to work is that this was my dream job.

Pedro： Im sure you could have found a job like this in your hometown， though.

Anissa： Not necessarily. The job market is tough and getting tougher. After graduation， I decided to cast a wide net and see what I could get.

Pedro： And？

Anissa： I applied to over thirty companies all over the country. This one is the only one that took me to do the job I want.

Pedro： Ah， I see！ No wonder youre willing to brave evil roommates and strange cities. Guess youre pretty brave after all！

Anissa： Of course！ But...hey， do you think your mom would mind if I came over for dinner tonight？

佩德羅：嗨，安妮莎！你今天很晚才離開辦公室啊。

安妮莎：對，我必須加班來準(zhǔn)備下個月的項目。你留下來的理由是？

佩德羅：我？真的什么事也沒有。我只是在離開前看一些優(yōu)酷的視頻。

安妮莎：真的嗎？在辦公室一整天后，你不想飛奔回家嗎？

佩德羅：我不想。

安妮莎：我會迫不及待地想走。我得花一個半小時才回到家，所以我總是想盡早離開。

佩德羅：這就是區(qū)別。我住得離公司很近，所以上班和在家對我來說基本上是一樣的。

安妮莎：你真幸運！你的工資怎么能夠負(fù)擔(dān)得起租市區(qū)的公寓呢？

佩德羅：噢，我不用。我還跟我爸媽住在一起呢。

安妮莎：哇！你怎么能做到的？

佩德羅：你什么意思？

安妮莎：如果我還跟父母住一塊兒，我想我們每天都會吵架。我都迫不及待地想從那里出來。當(dāng)我上大學(xué)時，我頭也不回地離開了家。

佩德羅：好吧，我大概懂你的意思了。這是個艱難的處境，但是當(dāng)我考慮過后，覺得上大學(xué)后跟父母住確實有道理。

安妮莎：這樣做有什么道理呢？

佩德羅：經(jīng)濟(jì)的因素是一點。告訴我，你為什么住得離公司那么遠(yuǎn)？

安妮莎：你的意思是，我為什么住在郊區(qū)？因為這是我唯一能夠支付的住所。我也想住得離市區(qū)近點，但是現(xiàn)在的租金都是天價了！

佩德羅：對。如果和我爸媽一起住，我就可以住在市中心的一個好位置，我只需每個月給他們很少的租金就可以了。

安妮莎：有道理。但是我還是不能接受。為了清靜，我的租金是值得的！佩德羅：等等，我想你不喜歡你的室友吧。

安妮莎：好吧，嗯，對，那倒也是。佩德羅：昨天，你才告訴我你有多討厭煮飯。

安妮莎：別提了！有時候我真希望能和廚子住在一起，他能幫我做一日三餐。

佩德羅：事實上，我媽就是一名廚師。

安妮莎：你在開玩笑吧！但是既然你提起來，我媽的廚藝也不差。

佩德羅：那么，你會再考慮不要搬得離家那么遠(yuǎn)嗎？

安妮莎：不，我一點也不會考慮。

佩德羅：哇，看來你跟你父母的關(guān)系真的很差！

安妮莎：不是這樣。我來到這座城市是因為這是我理想的工作。

佩德羅：但是我確定你在家鄉(xiāng)也能找到類似的工作。

安妮莎：不一定。就業(yè)市場的形勢變得越來越嚴(yán)峻。畢業(yè)后，我打算四處撒網(wǎng)，看能有什么結(jié)果。

佩德羅：然后呢？

安妮莎：我給全國30家公司投了簡歷?，F(xiàn)在這家公司是唯一一家能給我提供理想工作的。

佩德羅：啊，我懂了！難怪你愿意接受可怕的室友和陌生的城市。我想你確實很勇敢！

安妮莎：當(dāng)然啦！但是……嘿，你媽會介意我今晚去你家吃飯嗎？

Smart Sentences

① Youre not itching to get home after a full day at the office？ 在辦公室一整天后，你不想飛奔回家嗎？

itch to do sth.： very eager or impatient to do sth.（渴望做某事）。例如：We are all itching to win next weeks game.

我們都急著要贏下周的比賽。

② You lucky dog！ 你真幸運！

lucky dog： a lucky person（幸運的人）。例如：

No， you didnt get the position because you are a lucky dog. Its because youve worked really hard these past four years.

不對，你不是因為運氣好才得到那個職位，你在過去的四年里真的很努力。

③ Holy mackerel！ 哇！

Holy mackerel： used to express exclamation， same as “wow”（用以表達(dá)驚嘆等同于“wow”）。例如：

Holy mackerel！ Is that the latest iPhone？

哇！那是最新款的蘋果手機嗎？

④ If I still lived with my parents， I think wed be at each others throats every day. 如果我還跟父母住一塊兒，我想我們每天都會吵架。

at each others throats： quarrelling violently with each other（激烈爭吵）。例如：

John and Bill have been at each others throats from the beginning over the color of the sofa.

約翰跟比爾從一開始就為沙發(fā)的顏色激烈爭吵。

⑤ Dont get me started！ 別提了！

Dont get me started： used to attempt to avoid a discussion that the speaker or hearer may wish to avoid（用以回避說話者或聽者不愿意提及的話題）。例如：

—I heard you had quite a discussion with the Accounting Dept. yesterday.

我聽說你與財務(wù)部在昨天有過一次不一般的討論。

—Oh， dont get me started. Ive had enough of it.

噢，別問我這事兒，我受夠了。

⑥ Wow， you must really be on bad terms with your parents！哇，看來你跟你父母的關(guān)系真的很差！

on bad terms with sb.： unfriendly with sb.（與某人關(guān)系不好）。例如：

John has been on bad terms with Nancy in QC.

約翰與質(zhì)量管理部的南希一直關(guān)系不好。