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Lesson 4 City and Country (Debbie is an accountant in a large company in the centre of London.)I need to be in my office by nine o'clock so I usually get up at seven o'clock. I travel to work on “the tube”. That's what people call the underground in London. It takes about fifty minutes. Usually, it's so crowded that I can't find anywhere to sit. I just stand. I'm always tired before I arrive at work. I don't like the underground! I spend all morning checking numbers. Lunch is always simple. I often get a sandwich in a nearby sandwich shop or I just have some biscuits and a cup of coffee. Then in the afternoon, I return to the paperwork in the office. On Monday nights, I have dance classes, and on Wednesday nights, I go to the gym. I need to do that because I don't get enough exercise otherwise. On Tuesday and Thursday nights, I have French classes. I work for a French company so I think studying French will help me in my job. I go to the cinema almost every weekend. Sometimes, if the weather forecast is good, my friends and I drive to the countryside for a weekend break. We like to visit nice, quiet places far away from the city and go walking where there are no shops, crowds or the tube. That fresh air is so good for my lungs. I love it. Paul lives in a small village in the north of England. I usually get up at four o'clock every morning when it's still dark. I live and work on the farm so I don't need to travel. After a big breakfast in my house, I walk out of the front door and I'm already at work. There are many things to do on the farm all day. We don't have the same work hours that office workers in the city have. We do jobs when they need to be done and that could be early in the morning or late at night. I have cows, sheep, pigs and chickens on my farm. I have to make sure they are free of sickness. I also grow wheat and vegetables so there are many things to look after. In the evening, I like to play with my children. I have two children, a boy and a girl. They are six and eight years old. I also like to study. Right now I am studying Chinese by distance learning. I am very interested in China and it's my dream to see the Great Wall one day. I love movies. My wife calls me a “movie fan”. But there isn't a cinema in my village so I don't get the chance to go very often. I go about twice a year, usually when I go to London with my family. We take a weekend break there when I am not too busy on the farm. My wife loves looking in the clothes shops and I like all the crowds and the noise. I also like to buy a few cigars. Unfortunately, my wife isn't as fond of them as I am. My son and daughter love to ride on London's red buses and they especially love to go on the tube! 城市和农村 (黛比是伦敦一家大公司的会计。) 我通常每天7点起床,9点钟前赶到办公室。我乘地铁上班。(the tube 就是人们通常所陈的伦敦地下铁路系统。)乘地铁大约需要15分钟。通常地铁很拥挤,很难找到座位,我只好站着。这样每天到办公室前,我就已感到很疲倦。我一点儿都不喜欢乘地铁! 每天上午我要计算数字,核对账目。午饭总是很简单,我常在附近的三明治店买个三明治,或吃些饼干,喝杯咖啡。下午我在办公室处理文字资料。 星期一晚上我上舞蹈课。星期三晚上我去健身房。我需要运动,因为每天运动量不够。星期二和星期四晚上我去上法语课。我在为一家法国公司工作,所以我认为学法语对我的工作有益。 几乎每个周末我都去看电影,朋友们称我为影迷。有时,如果预报天气好的话,我会和朋友们开车去乡下度周末。我喜欢去那些远离城市、幽静、风光秀丽的地方,在没有商店、人群、地铁的地方漫步。那里的新鲜空气对肺部有好处,我喜欢新鲜的空气。 (保罗住在英格兰北部的一个小村庄。) 我通常大约凌晨4点天还黑着的时候就起床。我在农场工作、生活,不用乘通勤车上下班。饱餐一顿早饭之后,我走出家门,开始一天的工作。 每天我都有很多事情要做。和在办公室工作的人不同,我们的工作时间依需要而定。可能在早晨就工作,也可能是在半夜。我的农场里有猪、羊、牛、鸡等,我得确保它们不得病。我也种麦子、蔬菜。每天我都有很多事需要料理。 晚上我喜欢喝孩子们一块儿玩。我有两个孩子,一男一女,一个6岁,一个8岁。我也喜欢学习。眼下我正在通过远程教育学习汉语。我对中国很感兴趣。我一直梦想着有一天能亲眼看看长城。 我喜欢看电影。妻子称我为影迷。遗憾的是,我们村没有电影院,所以我没有机会经常看电影。我一年只能看两次电影,通常是在和家人去伦敦的时候。只要农场活不太多,我们会抓住机会度周末。我妻子喜欢逛服装店;我喜欢看看人群、听听城市的嘈杂声。我还喜欢买几支雪茄烟,我妻子不像我那样喜欢雪茄。女儿和儿子喜欢坐伦敦的红色公共汽车游览观光。他们特别喜欢乘地铁。 |
