很久不见的好友Lisa, Karen和Gina一起吃饭。Lisa先到，注意听她帮朋友点了些什么菜。
Lisa: Karen! Gina! So good to see you! Sit down!
Karen: Hi, Lisa!
Gina: Good to see you, too! It’s been so long!
L: Indeed it has! I ordered your favorite dish: spaghetti with cherry tomatoes and I got Gina the vegetarian pasta!
G: Excellent!
K: I really do love the spaghetti here.
Lisa最早一个到，已经帮Karen和Gina点好了她们爱吃的菜their favorite dish。 Karen爱吃spaghetti with cherry tomatoes加小西红柿的意大利面条；Gina爱吃vegetarian pasta，素的通心粉，vegetarian is spelled v-e-g-e-t-a-r-i-a-n, vegetarian吃素的，素食的。
L: So what’s new? Are you planning a vacation this summer?
G: Well…frankly…I’m not sure we have the budget for a vacation this year.
K: Yeah, actually we’re thinking about skipping the vacation too.
L: I think money is tight for everyone these days. Last year we went to the Indonesian resort island of Bali for six days!
It was incredible, but we did end up spending over five grand!
K: We went to Mexico last year and stayed at a villa by the beach!
G: Last year we did Alaska…absolutely gorgeous…but pretty pricey as well.
Lisa问大家，夏天计划去哪里渡假。Gina说，I’m not sure we have the budget for a vacation this year. 今年恐怕没钱出去玩了。Karen也说，考虑skip the vacation，渡假就免了。Lisa说，现在大家手头都紧，money is tight for everyone. 去年她们一家去巴厘岛，结果花了五千多美元。 End up doing something，意思是最后，结果做了某事。five grand 就是 five thousand dollars. Karen去年去了墨西哥，Gina去了阿拉斯加，都很贵，pricey, pricey is spelled p-r-i-c-e-y, 是价钱很贵的意思。
L: Well, we have to face reality and adapt to it. There just isn’t any extra money lying around these days.
K: You can say that again! I’ve been penny-pinching all year!
G: Our family has basically stopped eating out. I cook almost every meal and while it takes some extra effort…cooking at home saves us a lot of money!
Lisa说，大家都要面对现实，适应现实，to face reality and adapt to it. 如今谁都没有多少闲钱，there isn’t any extra money lying around. Karen马上表示赞同，说她一年来花钱一直特别节省，I’ve been penny-pinching all year. penny-pinch，意思是一分钱掰成两半花，节省。Gina也说，她们一家现在基本上不出去吃饭to eat out，是出去吃饭的意思，相反的是cook at home自己在家做，能省不少钱。她们三个人还有什么省钱的诀窍呢？