本栏目是由世博英语Starry_Night原创编写！
第二十篇
Ross 的生日快到了，Chandler已暗地里为他准备好了“节目”：
Chandler: Ok, while Ross is on the phone, everybody owes me 62 bucks for his birthday.
Phoebe: Um, is, is there any chance that you’re rounding up? Y’know, like from 20 ?
Chandler: Hey, come on, we got the gift, the concert, and the cake.
Joey: Do we need a cake?
Chandler: Look guys, I know it’s a little steep.
Rachel: Yeah, whoosh! (Imitates going over a cliff with her hand.)
Chandler: But it’s Ross.
Phoebe: It’s Ross.
Joey: Yeah, you’re right.
Chandler: Alright, okay, I’ll see you guys later, I gotta go.
【世博视角】
乘Ross在打电话的时候(while Ross is on the phone), Chandler向其它几个老友提到了为Ross过生日的费用问题，他说：“你们每人欠我62块钱（everybody owes me 62 bucks for his birthday.）“钱” 我们都知道是money, 但在口语中老美们经常用的是buck这个字，比如 “挣钱”就可以说成make a buck / make a few bucks。注意到没有？buck是个可数名词，因此它也可以用来代替 a dollar, 那么1美元就是one buck。顺便说一下，如果是1000美元的话，通常不说1000 bucks, 而是 one grand。再来看几个和buck有关的例句：
Everyone’s trying to think of ways to make a few bucks.
This guy makes serious money, I mean big bucks.
平时我们在算钱的时候免不了会出现几毛几分这样的零钱，为了方便我们经常会把零头部分去掉以求个整数，用英语来表示的话就是round down，比如：The total came to $10.04, but she rounded it down to $10. 而在上面的对话中，Phoebe用的却是round up, 她觉得62块钱这数字太高了，所以就调侃Chandler说：“是不是有可能你把20块给整成62块了？（Um, is, is there any chance that you’re rounding up? Y’know, like from 20 ?）” 哈，Phoebe说起话来就是这样离谱，20块钱到62块钱哪是什么round up呀，分明就是rip off (欺诈) 嘛！所以Chandler一听马上喊冤道：“Hey, come on, we got the gift, the concert, and the cake.”
生日礼物、蛋糕、再加上音乐会，花费的确不小，Chandler自己也承认说：“Look guys, I know it’s a little steep.” steep这个词的本意是指斜坡、楼梯等的陡峭，但它也可以用来形容价格过高或要求不合理，例如：
We enjoyed our meal at the restaurant, but the bill was a bit steep.
The membership fees at the golf club are pretty steep.
“She expects me to take her children to school for her every day.” “That’s a bit steep.”
Chandler话音刚落，Rachel就用手模拟了一座悬崖峭壁来表示62块钱可不只是a little steep, 最后Chandler只能说：“But it’s Ross.”为了朋友有人还两胁插刀呢，花点钱算得了什么？
*本篇所讲到的地道表达法：
make a buck / make a few bucks
round down / up
steep