Tom： Hey Gracie. You haven’t booked that package tour yet， have you？

Grace： Not yet. I’m still 1）ironing out which days I can take off from work.

Tom： Alright. ①So…I don’t mean to beat a dead horse. But—

Grace： Lemme guess. You wanna do a self-guided tour， right？

Tom： Well look at you， a regular know-it-all！

Grace： And I suppose you’ve gathered up evidence for your argument， to present before the honorable Judge Grace？

Tom： Thank you， your honor. If it pleases the court， I’d like to file exhibit A.

Grace： And what is this I’m looking at， counselor？

Tom： Your honor， these are the honest， if not sworn， testimonials of thousands of tourists who claim to have enjoyed their French adventures without the accompaniment of a group or tour guide 2）bogging them down the whole time.

Grace： I see. And do they all claim to have been bogged down by tours on prior occasions？

Tom： Yes， your honor. And many also claim to have been annoyed to the point of insanity.

Grace： Alright. Well， if there’s nothing more…

Tom： Actually， that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We also have this…

Grace： And this is what？ A bunch of places no one’s ever heard of？

Tom： With good reason. This is a list of sites， well 3）off the beaten path， that can only be found by avoiding all the tourists and finding our own path； the kind of places for people like us， who color outside the lines and follow the beat of a different drum.

Grace： Counselor， you are aware that you don’t get extra points for overused clichés？

Tom： Understood. But before you make your final ruling， take a look at this…

Grace： Wait！ Did you—

Tom： I know your honor cares about relaxing during a vacation， and doesn’t wanna worry about making hotel arrangements and travel plans and budgets and everything.

Grace： This is all true. Go on...

Tom： ②So， I took the liberty of planning out every last detail. And because I know you better than some 4）creepy， 5）mustachioed travel agent， I was able to incorporate all of your favorite activities. ③Including， the coup de grace， a revitalizing spa 6）retreat with couples massages and hikes through the hills and valleys of Southern France. ④So， how do you like them apples？

Grace： I just can’t believe you went to all this trouble. But if we follow your plan， the timing has to be perfect. If we miss one connecting train or bus， the whole schedule will fall apart.

Tom： Yeah， we’ll have our work 7）cut out for us. But， what do you say？

Grace： Eh…I’m not sold. But the case isn’t closed yet.

湯姆：嘿，格雷西。你還沒報那團吧？

格蕾絲：還沒。我還在琢磨我哪幾天能休假。

湯姆：好。那么……我不是想白費唇舌。不過……

格蕾絲：我來猜猜。你想自助游是吧？

湯姆：哇看你，總是洞悉一切！

格蕾絲：我猜你已經(jīng)準備好一切反駁的呈堂證供來呈現(xiàn)給尊敬的格蕾絲法官了吧？

湯姆：謝謝，法官閣下。如果庭上允許的話，我想呈遞物證A。

格蕾絲：律師，你給我看的是什么？

湯姆：法官閣下，這些是成千上萬的旅游者提供的真實可靠的（即便沒發(fā)過誓）證據(jù)，他們聲稱在全程沒有受到旅游團或者導游攪和的情況下，他們的法國之旅都很開心。

格蕾絲：我知道了。他們所有人都聲稱在之前的旅行中被攪和了嗎？

湯姆：是的，法官閣下。而且很多人聲稱被煩得幾乎神經(jīng)錯亂。

格蕾絲：好的，如果沒有更多的……

湯姆：實際上，那些聲明都只是冰山一角。我們還有這個……

格蕾絲：這是什么？一堆沒人聽說過的地方？

湯姆：沒聽說過很正常。這張清單上的景點，都是不為人所知的線路，是只有當我們避開所有游客、按自己的路線走才能找到的地方；也是適合我們這些喜歡打破常規(guī)、不走尋常路的人的線路。

格蕾絲：律師，你該知道反復地老調(diào)重彈對你沒什么好處的吧？湯姆：明白。但在你做出最終裁決之前，請看看這個……

格蕾絲：等等，你是不是……

湯姆：我知道法官閣下你想要一個輕松的假期，不想為酒店安排、旅游計劃、經(jīng)費以及其他一切而操心。

格蕾絲：沒錯。繼續(xù)說……

湯姆：那么我就自己做主計劃好了每一個細節(jié)。而且因為我比那些讓人害怕的、留著絡腮胡子的導游更了解你，所以我可以在行程設計中安排所有你喜歡的活動。包括兩個讓人叫絕的活動：一個是在水療度假村來個夫妻按摩，可以讓你迅速恢復精力；另一個是在法國南部的山林和峽谷里徒步。你沒意見了吧？

格蕾絲：真不敢相信你竟然花了這么多功夫。不過假如我們按你的計劃，時間必須安排得很緊湊。如果我們錯過了一班火車或汽車，整個計劃就泡湯了。

湯姆：是的，我們是得好好計劃。但是，你是否愿意自助游呢？

格蕾絲：嗯……我可沒被說服。不過這案子還沒結(jié)。

Smart Sentences

① So…I don’t mean to beat a dead horse.

那么……我不是想白費唇舌。

beat a dead horse： insist on talking about sth. that has already been thoroughly discussed（白費口舌，白費勁）。例如：

—Judy， I was thinking of asking Mom again about going to Jason’s birthday.

茱迪，我想再去問問媽媽去賈森生日派對的事。

—Well， I think that’s just beating a dead horse.

這個嘛，我覺得那是白費勁。

② So， I took the liberty of planning out every last detail.

那么我就自己做主計劃好了每一個細節(jié)。

take the liberty of： do sth. without permission（冒昧，擅自）。例如：

—Hey， dear， I took the liberty of organizing your desk while you were on vacation. It looks nice， doesn’t it？

嘿，親愛的，你度假的時候我自己做主收拾了你的桌子?？雌饋碚媸娣瑢Π?？

—What？！ No wonder I can’t find a thing！

什么？！怪不得我找不到東西呢！

③ Including， the coup de grace， a revitalizing spa retreat with couples massages and hikes through the hills and valleys of Southern France. 包括兩個讓人叫絕的活動：一個是在水療度假村來個夫妻按摩，可以讓你迅速恢復精力；另一個是在法國南部的山林和峽谷里徒步。

the coup de grace： the finishing and decisive stroke（最后決定性的一擊）。例如：

The landing accident last month was the coup de grace for the failing airlines.

上個月的降落事故給正在走下坡路的航空公司致命的打擊。

④ So， how do you like them apples？

你沒意見了吧？

How do you like them apples？： sth. you say mockingly when you want to show sb. how successful you are， especially when you have done sth. better than they have（在你成功完成某事，特別是做得比對方好的時候，嘲笑對方的話）。例如：

Hey， David， I thought you said you were the king of spelling. But I beat you again， three times in a row. How do you like them apples？

喂，大衛(wèi)，我記得你說過自己是拼寫大王啊，我連續(xù)三回都贏你了。現(xiàn)在沒話說了吧？