身临其境练一练

Grey's Anatomy,《实习医生格蕾》

A:And I'm not the one who called them.

甲:不是我打电话叫你父母过来的。

B:Yeah.

乙:对。

A:You called them right? And I'm guessing they had to fly in from somewhere. So you called them what...yesterday,the day before?

甲:那么是你打电话给他们的，对吗？我想他们得千里迢迢坐飞机过来，那么是你给他们打电话的…是昨天还是前天？

B:I went to the ER a while ago. And they told me to see an oncologist.But, I couldn't afford my rent let alone pay a bunch of medical bills.But, then I got scared.

乙:我有进过急诊室,医生叫我去见肿瘤专家，可是我连房租都付不起，更不要说一 大笔医疗费。我害怕极了。

A:You called your parents.

甲:你给你父母打了电话。

B:I didn't know what else to do.

乙:我不知道还能怎么办。

A:You sent them away because...

甲:你让他们走是因为…

B:Rachel's my best friend. And after she was baptized, she decided to leave the community. Which means she's shunned.But I couldn't let her go out in the world all by herself.

乙:瑞秋是我的挚友，她受洗后，决定离开这个社区，这意味着她要受隔离。（Amish 教派惩罚，意味着与世隔绝）可是我不能让她独自一人闯荡世界。

A:So you're shunned too?

甲:所以你也被隔离了？

B:No. I hadn't been baptized yet. But Rachel, she'll never...

乙:不，我还没受洗，所以我还能回去，可是瑞秋再也不能…

生活口语

Hi, Betty. Do you want to hang out tonight?

嗨,贝蒂，晚上要不要出来聚下啊?

I'd love to, but I'm behind my bills for a while. So I can't afford to go out anymore.

我很想去，但是我已经付不起账单了。所以没钱出去玩了。

重点讲解:

I can't afford to pay my bills.

I'm behind my bills for a while.

老外常用“付不起账单”表达经济上的拮据，“账单”就是bills,包括utilities fees“水电燃气费”、living expenses “生活开销”等，“付不起可以用can't afford to…句型表达，但是日常口语中，更常用behind one's bills表示，字面意思就是“被账单赶超了”，形象地体现了“拖欠账单”的狀态。