美語情景對話 第277期:Melbourne 墨爾本

Todd: Now, Aaron, you're from Melbourne.

託德：亞倫，你來自墨爾本。

Aaron: That's right.

亞倫：沒錯。

Todd: What's Melbourne like?

託德：墨爾本怎麼樣？

Aaron: Melbourne's the second biggest city in Australia but there's a big city area with big buildings, then there's a lot of houses and then it runs into the countryside, where it's just hills and mountains and a lot of greenery basically. The city is center is busy but it's not very busy. It's not as busy as Tokyo or New York. It's just a busy city but then it just slows down as you move away from the city.

亞倫：墨爾本是澳大利亞第二大城市，那裏是個大城市，有許多高樓，也有許多房屋，不過那裏也有鄉村，有許多山脈和綠色的草木。這座城市是澳大利亞的中心，是座繁忙的城市，但是其實並不是那麼繁忙。並不像東京或紐約那樣繁忙。它只是個繁忙的城市，而在你遠離城市以後就會發現它放慢了腳步。

Todd: Is it easy to find housing?

託德：那裏容易找房子嗎？

Aaron: It's very easy to find housing. There's a lot of hotels, accommodation, and a lot of places to rent. You can buy houses quite cheaply in Melbourne as well and there's only about 5 million people there so it's not crowded as well.

亞倫：找房子非常容易。那裏有許多旅館和住宿的地方，有許多出租的房屋。你可以在墨爾本買到非常便宜的房子，那裏只有5百萬人居住，所以不是那麼擁擠。

Todd: How much would a house cost? A decent house?

託德：一座房子要花費多少錢？一個不錯的房子？

Aaron: A decent house in Australia, or in Melbourne, would cost about 250,000 Australian dollars, which I guess compared to Japanese prices, isn't so bad, and that would be a big 4 bedroom house, maybe two stories.

亞倫：在澳大利亞，在墨爾本一座不錯的房子要花費25萬澳元，我認爲和日本房價相比的話，還不算太貴，這樣的房子基本有4間大臥室，可能有兩層。

Todd: Wow! Front yard and backyard?

託德：哇！有前院和後院嗎？

Aaron: Front yard, back yard, driveway, garage, 4 bedrooms.

亞倫：有前院，後院，私人車道，車庫，還有4間臥室。

Todd: What's the transportation like in the city?

託德：墨爾本的交通情況怎麼樣？

Aaron: The transportation is very good, but it's very slow. You have to wait twenty minutes for trains. They only run every twenty minutes, but the buses and the trams will take you to wherever you want to go, but the trains are very centralized, so they all run into the city, through four major train stops, and then they run back out to the suburbs on a big loop so they never cross over each other and you have to catch buses if you want to go away from the city.

亞倫：交通情況非常好，不過速度很慢。你要是坐列車必須要等20分鐘。列車每20分鐘運行一趟，不過公交車和有軌電車可以帶你去你想去的任何地方，而列車很集中，它們都在城市中運行，會通過4個主要的火車站，它們會在郊區循環一圈再返回市區，所以它們從來不會交叉，而如果你想離開市區的話不得不去趕公交車。

Todd: Is it a safe city?

託德：那是一個安全的城市嗎？

Aaron: It is a safe city but like any place it has it's troubles but you don't have to worry about living in Melbourne.

亞倫：墨爾本是安全的城市，不過就和其他地方一樣，它也有自己的問題，不過你不必擔心在墨爾本的生活。

重點講解：
1. slow down
（使）放慢；（使）減速；
eg. The car slowed down as they passed Customs.
過海關的時候，車速慢了下來。
eg. There is no cure for the disease, although drugs can slow down its rate of development.
儘管藥物可以減緩病情的發展，但是這種病仍然是不治之症。
eg. Damage to the turbine slowed the work down.
渦輪機的損壞降低了工作的效率。
2. compared to
相對…而言；對照；
eg. In 1800 Ireland's population was nine million, compared to Britain's 16 million.
1800年，愛爾蘭的人口數爲900萬，而英國則有1，600萬。
eg. The bank offered to lend us$5000 but it's chickenfeed compared to what we need.
銀行提出給我們五千美元貸款，但這筆錢與我們所需要的數目相比是杯水車薪。
3. cross over
跨越；交叉；
eg. Those wishing for luck will often cross one finger over another, a gesture that's said to date back to early Christianity.
那些祈禱好運的人常常雙手握攏十指交叉。這個姿勢據說可以追溯到早期基督教中。
eg. The straps cross over at the back and are tied at the waist.
帶子在背後交叉，然後系在腰部。