英語幽默精讀【30】A Business Trip
On a business trip to India, a colleague of mine arrived at the airport in Dilhi. He took a taxi to his hotel, where he was greeted by his hospitable Indian host. The cab driver requested the equivalent of eight dollars U. S. for the fare, which seemed reasonable, so my friend handed him the money.
But the host grabbed the bills and initiated a verbal assault upon the cabby, calling him a worthless parasite and a disgrace to their country for trying to overcharge visitors. The host threw half the amount at the driver and told him never to return.
As the taxi sped off, the host gave the remaining bills to my colleague and asked him how his trip had been. "Fine," the business- man replied, "until you chased the cab away with my luggage in the trunk."
※ Notes
（1） colleague n.同事
（2） hospitable n.好客的
（3） equivalent n.等值；等量
（4） initiate v.開始
（5） verbal n.言辭的
（6） assault （on/upon） n.猛烈而突然之攻擊
（7） cabby n.出租汽車司機
（8） parasite n.寄生蟲
※ Exercises
根據短文回答下列句子：
①Where was the businessman going?
② How did he get to the hotel?
③ How much money did the taxi driver request?
④ What did the host think of the charge?
⑤ How was the trip?
※ 譯文
出差旅行
我的一個同事去印度出差。他抵達迪爾黑機場，就搭出租車到賓館。好客的印度主人在那里迎接他。出租車司機索要相當于八美元的費用。我朋友覺得似乎是合理價格，就把錢給了他。
但迎客主人一把抓過那錢鈔，對出租司機大罵不止，稱他是一文不值的寄生蟲，并說他企圖宰國外來客，真是丟盡了他們國家的面子。他把錢鈔的半數扔給司機，告訴他永遠別再回來。
出租司機一踩油門跑掉了。主人把剩下的錢還給我的同事，問他旅途如何。“很好，”這位商人回答，“只是你把出租車趕跑了，我的行李還在車箱里。”
※ 練習參考答案
① India
② He took a taxi.
③ The equivalent of eight dollars U. S.
④ He thought it was too much.
⑤ Fine except that the luggage was still in the trunk of the taxi.
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